London - Part III

Wednesday - may 6th: We got another early start to our day at 11:00am and had breakfast at The Waffle House - Patisserie, which was neither our idea of an American Waffle House or a French patisserie. It was delicious all the same!

We took the Rick Steves City Walk, led by our fearless leader and his pensive wife:

Some sights along the way...I like the red buses in this picture that Brian took:

My favorite English tea:

And a very interestingly named tavern:

This interesting fountain palace that resulted in a fun, albeit wet, stop for Michael:

Little Eden even joined in on the fun. We purposely sat her on a dry spot with no water so that we were sure she wouldn't get wet.

But then the wind shifted and she got COMPLETELY soaked!

Brian decided to get some World's Strongest Man Silhouettes

And a Brother's High Five Pose:

After having fun there...we found St. Paul's Cathedral:

Which was kind of strange because it's in the middle of all these business building so it seems a bit weird and out of place. And then, inside, you have to pay to see the church. WHAT? That just seems wrong to me.

We continued with our walk and ended up at the Tower of London:

only to find out that there were no more tours for the day so we would have to pay full price and not get any tours. So we opted to walk across the Tower Bridge:

And sit and play in a green park overlooking the Tower Bridge:
Of course, a game of steamroller was a must:

And pictures of all of us enjoying some down time with our kids:

While we were there, we changed 4 diapers total. Michael pooped once. Got changed. Went to tackle Uncle John. And while hovering over Uncle John's face, did another poop. Eden did not want to be left out so she did a pee diaper and then a poop one.

Ahhh...the great outdoors!

5 days down, 2 more to go! Tomorrow, will be Windsor Castle/Stonehenge (lots of pictures too) and then our last full day (Tower of London/Shopping...not so many pictures).

P

London Part II

On Monday, bank holiday in England, we barely made it out of the house in time for the changing of the guards at 11:30am at Buckingham Palace. Did I mention we were on vacation?

Anyways, here is the best we could do, in the rain, and behind crowds:Michael met a pair of horses. He told me about the black horse that was dirty because it had boogers all over it:

I got a whistle blown at me for wandering too close. I should have known I was too close when I noticed that I was wandering through horse poop.

After this, we took a pretty long walk along side a park. Michael decided he was too tall for this barrier:

We ended up at Covent Market Garden where there was an antique market and various artists. Bryan and Katie haggled and got 5 pounds off their cute painting and we paid sticker price for a photo of Trafalgar Square.

After this, we decided to split up to do shopping. Brian was pretty antsy to go to Oxford Circus and shop so he lit out of there pretty quick! Who would have guessed it was BRIAN who would be so anxious to shop in London?

We met up with J&K and B&K&E around dinnertime and had fish and chips at a good pub near Oxford Circus. After filling our bellies full of grease, we went home and the boys decided to watch About a Boy and sit in the living room while having a farting contest. It was SO incredibly smelly that us girls watched the movie from the dining room. How is it that they got the comfortable seats near the TV and we were relegated to the living room? HOW?

The next morning, Tuesday, we got out to enjoy a full English breakfast with eggs/sausage/mushrooms/tomatoes/beans/toast/tea at Cafe Diana. Which, not surprisingly, was devoted to Princess Diana and was plastered with pictures of her and also letters from her thanking them for the bouquets of flowers they had sent her for her birthday.

After this, we walked through Nottinghill to shop at the outdoor produce market/area: Portobello Market Road.

Here's a pic of a building lined Nottinghill:

The kids fell asleep from sheer boredom during our long walk to Portobello Market Road:

We bought fruits and vegetables for the kids, stopped at some tres chic boutiques and popped over to the Travel Bookstore with the blue front, made famous from the movie Nottinghill with Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts.
Baby Eden decided to bedazzle us with her amazing walking abilities. This girl is too cute for words:

Michael got a treat for being patient while waiting for us to shop:

And when we got back, Brian got pictures of their matching outfits. Thanks Besancons for bringing/buying us these Kinsler jerseys!

In the afternoon, Eden took a nap at home while Katie and Bryan generously straightened up the flat. Team Besancon Paris and Boston decided to visit the Churchill Museum and the underground command center (War Cabinet Rooms) of the British government during WWII. Very cool.

This night, us girls watched the kids as Brian, Bryan, and John went to a pub to watch the ManU v. Arsenal game. We got delicious Italian takeout and the boys enjoyed a night out!

When they came back, we had:

GAME NIGHT. We watched Brian and Bryan duke it out in a very exhilirating game of Memory. As John (the Master Memory Player) called it, a competition between getting zero and zero. It was INCREDIBLE how much these 2 guys forgot where pieces were. Considering I am no Memory professional, I am saying this from john's point of view.

Also, I played Connect 4 with Brian. The first 3 games, I lost in like 30 seconds. And when I finally got my act together, I did beat him in the last game. BOOM. Roasted.

4 days down, 3 more to go!

Love,
P

London - 1st of Several Installments

On Sat. May 2nd (Happy birthday MOMMY!), our nuclear family hopped on the "fast choo choo...go underwater," otherwise known as the Eurostar bound for London.

We arrived at 84 Inverness Terrace around 1:30pm and checked into our 2 story, 3 bedroom flat. We threw our bags down and headed to Hyde Park to check it out and the Princess Diana Memorial Playground (PDMP).

Upon arriving, we found a huge line into the playground. With a bouncer. For a playground. Does anyone else find this as wrong?

I guess I can undestand since it was Saturday after all around 4pm on a sunny day in London. So we decided to play in the grass with our balloon and explore the lake.

Michael loved playing with the balloon. And then when it popped, he loved getting sprayed in the face with Brian's spit when he blew through the balloon end. And of course, running around always is fun for Michael:

After this, we went to Tesco and M&S to buy groceries for a dinner at home and breakfast. And we waited until John & Kelli Besancon and Bryan, Katie, and Eden Thomason arrived! Around 9:45pm, we sat around eating pizza and horrible nachos and catching up/talking. It was a great 1st day!

The 2nd day, Michael got up around 7:30am and by 9:30am was going crazy. Since everyone else was still asleep, we went back to Hyde Park (it's just a 5 min walk away) and went to the PDMP! It was early and there was no line. So we went to town.

First up, the pirate ship:

Michael enjoyed climbing up the ropes, but it was a bit anticlimactic once aboard. So Michael was climbing back down fairly quickly:

Then, there was a huge tree house, so we did that:

Brian decided to do the kids' slide and found out he basically was the length of the slide...and according to this pic, the width as well:

After which, there was a teepee land...so that was at least worth a stop:

And Michael decided that Indians most definitely did this inside them:

After this, we went back to the flat to meet up with everyone else and left around 11am for the Rick Steve's Westminster Walk. We saw Trafalgar square:

Westminster Abbey:



Some horse guards:
Big Ben and Parliament:
And ended up at the London Eye:

Michael could spot this carrousel on the ground after being up in the eye. Kid's got my vision:

After this, we walked along the cold, sunny, and windy River Thames to do the Jubilee walk and headed home for a nice calm dinner at home!

That's 2 days. Only 7 more to blog! So I know you will be checking back every half hour for more...I know it.

London or Bust

We chose to "BUST" because that is what our stomachs are doing after spending a week in London eating fish and chips and all sorts of different pies. Oh...comfort food at its finest.

And let's not forget the Cadbury "Twisted" candybar that Kelli B. found. It's a cadbury cream egg...but in the shape of a candy bar. Heaven. And then there was the caramel filled cadbury chocolate bar. Not to be forgotten.

And so...I am going to have to go into my maternity pants without being pregnant.

Pictures to come...of course. First up is Silly Sister-in-Law pics. We were in rare form.
P

Parc Floral Saturday

Today, we went and played at Parc Floral. For both Michael and us!

Brian came up with a new game called Steam Roller. Brian rolls on the grass...Michael runs toward him...and Brian pretends to roll over him like a steam roller. You get the idea:
Michael saying "Cheese" among the tulips:

And of course, tulip pictures:

This is what boys do to flowers:

Mommy and Michael hanging out:

Daddy time:

Lunch time treat:

Michael loved this slide:

It was a HUGE slide complex:

Our little slider:

And Michael passing out:

Fun

Michael and I are having fun. Yesterday, I took him to the mall. Ok, no need to pass judgement.

I took him to the mall for a free puppet show there! We went to the toy store before hand where he played for a long time. Then, he tried to convince me that he wanted to go home. He even made that big eyes brimming with tears and a frown face that makes you want to go, "Oh, fine. OKAY."

But I said we would just stop by and if he didn't like it, we could go home. He agreed to that and we got there to hear the pre-show music coming from the speakers.

In the words of Jason Schumacher, I think "the house music just took over" for Michael because he was interested enough to stay. And when the puppet show started, he was in complete AWE. HE. LOVED. IT. Talked about it for the rest of the day: Puppet show. Michael liked it. Dog puppet. Pirate puppet. Dog talked to pirate.

Today, we went to the Luxembourg Gardens to feed the ducks/fish. Then went to Poussin Vert, the playground there that you have to pay for but it's big and great. And then Michael wanted to go eat at a cafe so he ordered duck with a cauliflower gratin and green beans. Seriously. I told him the menu choices (quiche, beef, duck). He picked the duck. That's my boy for ya.

AND.HE. LOVED. IT. Ate all of his share and a little scoop of ice cream. We had such an awesome lunch, out in the sun, in a Paris cafe.

It is SO. FUN.