London with Allyson!!

My very first visit to London took place a few weeks ago with Allyson. Pretty sure it will be a big let down when I go back and she is not there to show us around!! It was such a fun day and leaves me anxious to get back and see more.

Devin had sort of been before - if you think this counts: While waiting during his 6 hour layover home from his mission, he took a tour on an open bus around London in freezing cold weather 13 years ago. Needless to say, he was also pretty excited to visit again.

We didn't have a lot of time to spend but we really wanted to make it to London to see Allyson while she is there on her study abroad. Between our schedule and hers, we finally decided on a weekend that would work well. We took the train down on Friday night and the kids loved it. I learned my lesson on trying to save money on hotels...we checked into our hotel and while it "met our needs", it wasn't necessarily "comfortable". Clara & Jonas did not share my opinion. They loved it! Clara could jump between the four twin beds (yes, I said that right...we each had our own twin 1950's style bed) and had a blast. Both of these pictures are taken mid-air.

Jonas was able to sleep in a big boy bed for the first time and he was all smiles.

The next morning we took a walk through Hyde Park and walked past Kensington Palace.

We also walked by the Princess Diana memorial gardens (part of which were not opened yet). Here we are walking through Hyde Park, but Clara is into this backwards walking thing - it really drives me crazy but I am trying to choose my battles. At least that's what "they" say to do, right?

We then walked through some really cute streets on our way to the Science Museum where we met Allyson and her roommate Ali.

Clara had some fun with the exhibits but we were anxious to get out and see the city.

We took the tube in and saw the massively impressive Houses of Parliament.

Then we saw Big Ben. It was so incredibly beautiful.

Then we walked across the Thames River which provided an amazing view.

We also saw the London Eye which made me really want to go back at night, I'll bet it is even better then.

By this time, we were starving and found a really delicious French cafe where we ate some yummy food.

By now, we had to start heading back to catch our train home. We took a double decker bus through Oxford Street and got off a bit early to walk the rest of the way.

I was so impressed with Allyson!! Many of the tube routes we tried to take were closed down and we ended up going from Plan A to about Plan E or F. She was amazing at figuring it out and even the bus system. Clara didn't want to let go of her hand all day.

It was sad to say goodbye after such a short, fast day but I am at least glad we had that.

It was a perfect day and like I said, I can't wait to go back and see more. The only thing (and I thought about it constantly) was how much fun it would have been to transplant Wendy there with us for the day. Then it would have been truly perfect. Maybe someday???