So Long, London

Our last day in London--we were so excited to go to church in a different country, and the church itself was interesting--it has a small visitor's center attached, probably because it's in a touristy area near Hyde Park, and the ward was HUGE--and then, we quickly realized that almost everyone there was a visitor, mostly from the US.

Including this guy, Michael Drake, one of Daddy-o's fellow missionaries from Chile. He was leading a group of BYU accounting students on a study abroad term.

The one thing with the church being a huge tourist site is that they have a coatroom with space for luggage, and keep the building open until evening, so we were able to leave our luggage there for the afternoon. That had been a huge thing, trying to find a luggage storage location that was on the way to church, and then finally giving up because between the cost and challenge of getting to the luggage place and then to the church building, it didn't seem easy at all. But we felt weird walking into church dragging suitcases, and were relieved when we realized it wasn't unheard of and we wouldn't have to relocate them after sacrament meeting. (And another funny thing about this church--they basically told us that they didn't want us to stay for the second hour, haha. I don't blame them--it's hard to staff all of the Sunday School classes that would be necessary for so many visitors and probably very disruptive to have new people there every single week, but I've never heard them announce that they strongly suggest you check out one of the local museums instead.

We went for a walk through part of Hyde Park, where we found more statues,

and the Royal Albert Hall.

We made our way to Kensington Palace, and then decided it was time to get lunch.

We had some tired and hungry people at this point.

So after a quick peak from the other side, we fed the beast.

Then, time for another tube ride so we could make it down to Westminster Palace for Evensong.

I had read about these concerts/services, which were recommended for people who want to visit Westminster, but don't necessarily want to pay for a normal tour, and because a worship service is the only way to visit on Sundays, this worked out perfectly.

It was beautiful inside, and the choir was amazing. And the sermon was beautiful. I'm glad we got to experience this and see the church in a different way than all the others we've been in.

And we still got to see the Coronation Chair where all of the kings and queens since 1308 have been crowned, and Charles Darwin's tomb.

After a last look at Big Ben, it was time to catch the train out of London. We had booked a night in an old manor house about an hour out of the city which put us a little closer to our final day's experience. The train ride to Apsley was fine, but then, we found ourselves in a tiny station where they couldn't seem to find us any sort of taxi or car service to drive the 3/4 mile to the manor house.

And so, we get another photo of us traipsing through fields with our luggage.  People were NOT happy with this--even though it wasn't really far, it was warm, we had to climb a hill through a forest and then make our way across a golf course when we were hungry and tired and had thought we'd be in a vehicle of some sort. I had already been questioning WHY I thought it was a good idea to move locations so many times our last few days (I won't make that mistake again--even if it means more transportation between our activities each day, one place is better than 3!) 

But the rooms were lovely (and we actually had two rooms, which was nice. Everyone had a bed, no couch beds, and plenty of space to spread out a little. 

And the manor was lovely.

We went for a short walk around the grounds after dinner before it got dark, but once again, it was late and we were tired. And we had a big day ahead of us as our last hurrah.

Exploring London

Waking up somewhat refreshed, we were ready to go exploring. And because we were staying right by King's Cross Station, first order of business was to visit Platform 9 3/4. 

The photo spot had a long line and we had places to be, but we did pop in the gift shop to look at all the things Harry Potter.

This was to become a theme of our trip--because that is probably the biggest change since I visited 25 years ago--Harry Potter has taken over the UK. We're not complaining.

But then, we had to hurry down to the Tower of London for our entrance time.

Another view.

It was a great dive into the history of London. The castle is massive and open for exploration.

We read about the people who have lived here, attacked, snuck in, been imprisoned. . .

I loved seeing the medieval graffiti from prisoners. 

We didn't do a tour, but it was fun seeing the guides get people riled up and excited at some spots of the tour.

One of the bedchambers from hundreds of years ago.

I remember being a little disappointed by some castle tours because there were only a few rooms restored, but this one really lets you see all the areas and get a feel for what it would have been like to live here. It's a great starting point for the history of the UK.

And then we started our long walk for the day.

We crossed the Tower Bridge and enjoyed the views of the River Thames.

On the other side, we walked along the river with more views of the bridge, and old buildings everywhere.

At this point, we had some hungry people and Peanut was still struggling from the motion sickness the day before--it tends to linger for another 24 hours or so for him, with a lot of lightheadedness and generally just feeling crappy. And riding the tube that morning didn't help. So, we walked on to our next stop:

the Borough Market.

Super crowded spot under the train tracks with lots and lots of food stands, mixed in with a few booths selling other items, too.

It was really fun to see,

and we were able to grab food from a couple different stands--meat pies, fish and chips, and pastries. The food was all really good and even if it was pretty crowded, it was a fun location.

And then it was back to more walking. 

We crossed back over the river, stopped by the site of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, crossed over the Waterloo Bridge, and made our way to Leicester Square.

Saw the famous lions, and then it started to rain--we'd been so lucky all day that the chance of showers hadn't amounted to anything, but this was perfect timing.

We had made it in time to spend a little while in the National Gallery.

Bean is probably the most interested in art museums, but we all enjoyed seeing the Van Goghs and Monets.

Lots of interesting paintings.

And the architecture in the building was gorgeous!

We saw the main things we'd wanted to before closing time, and then needed to find something to eat because we had plans for the evening. There was a noodle place not too far away that looked really good and was easily customized, perfect for everyone to get something they liked. Peanut's stomach was still a little iffy, so he didn't eat much, but everyone else was happy with it.

And then . . .Hadestown!

We had a hard time choosing what show we wanted to see while we were in London--the kids have favorites, based off the couple they have seen, and Daddy-o and I have seen a couple more that we thought the kids would like, but kind of wanted to see something new.

Hadestown fit the bill and was really fun. Peanut is a fan of Greek myths, and we all really enjoyed the jazz music. I think it lived up to the hype.

It was late and drizzly when we finished and took the tube back to King's Cross. We are definitely getting out steps and appreciated the ride at the end of the day!

And even though it was late, we ran back over to Platform 9 3/4 to see if the lines were gone. They were, but so was the trolley. Guess that's only out during the day.

Another Week of Winter

I am trying to embrace winter--evening fires and cozy time with books, lots of soups and homemade sourdough bread, reading and game time while we're stuck indoors--and it's mostly going well, but February was too cold for me and I'm starting to feel done with it all. Winter could be over now and I'd be happy with that.

In the meantime, we are all catching up on our reading. Peanut, especially, seems like he is trying to make up for all the years he wasn't able to read on his own. He's gone through 25 Magic Treehouse books since the fall. My current reads--I just finished listening to Great Expectations which I've been wanting to reread for years now (and highly recommend the audio book--it was great!), just read Where the Crawdad's Sing (good book, some slightly awkward writing, but still enjoyed it), and am currently working through The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart, which is incredible! So full of ideas for creating an enchanting home life, especially for homeschoolers. She's getting me through the February/winter slump with hope and forgiveness and inspiration.

Which is why I had no issues with this kid spending most of one morning building a ukulele and learning about the history of it. Arts ✔ Music✔ History ✔ Woodshop✔ I'm sure there was some math involved in there, too. And reading and following directions is important. There was even some science of sound. School is taken care of for the day!

And getting to play an instrument you built yourself is kind of cool. I love that he loves these types of projects, and if I will just get out of the way, he's pretty awesome about both coming up with, and executing amazing ideas. This one was a kit we got (we're loving the new Eureka crates from KiwiCo.), but he has built some really fun things on his own, too. 

A miniature race track with sponsored cars, a pile of gladiator weapons,

a new calendar system (every month has 28 days, with a World Day at the end of the 13 month year to get us around the sun) and he figured out what day all our birthdays and the major holidays would fall on in this new calendar, because why not?

And speaking of creating, Peanut is obsessed with Wild Kratts and has made so many disks for his Creature Power suit (which Bug made him a couple years ago). He watches an episode or two, and then comes to me with a sheet of disks to laminate. I'm loving watching him get into the creativity craze, just like his siblings.