the beginning of time

We went to Greenwich today. What a lovely little town! Every thing exhibit-wise is free and there was a great children’s playground. Actually we played on two playgrounds. We stood on the Prime Meridian Line, which was very cool. We also had fun with the interactive exhibits in the planetarium. We had fresh cream scones and tea. Just a delightful day. After we came back into London, we had a picnic beside Westminster Bridge. Then we met Christine for one last time before we head home in a couple of days. Walked through St. James Park and into Trafalgar Square. Had dinner and caught a bus home. Fun, fun, fun!!

playground

What K has missed most on this trip is time with children her own age. Today we spent over 4 hours in Hyde Park and rectified the situation. We went to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground — oh my, what an amazing place. Even the toilets are child-sized. There is a cafe with pizza and ice cream and fruit. There are large musical instruments integrated into the playground and slides and forts and places to climb galore. The centrepiece is definitely the large pirate ship that sits in a huge area of sand. Loads of fun for all the children. It was exactly what we needed to get K back in her groove. She made friends with a girl and her brother and then later with a group of older girls who enjoyed quizzing her about America. We finished the day by going out to Christine’s house for dinner. What a great day!

Windsor

We had the most delightful day out today. We saw mummies and the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum. Then we went to Windsor Castle. It quit raining in time for us to enjoy walking around the town of Windsor for a bit after seeing the Castle. Since the Queen was in residence there this week, we could only see parts of the Castle. We had Afternoon Tea (cheese and ham sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and tea) at the Crooked House, which was lovely. We came back to London and did a little street shopping for souveniers along Oxford Street as we made our way back to our hotel. What fun!

moving hotels

Well we effortlessly changed hotels this morning to one about 5 doors down. The room was ready so we’re already in it, here at 9am. Yea!

more London

Today we went to the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern. Very expensive day but certainly worth it. We’re eating a lot of “museum food” at cafes inside museums, which is nice. Tomorrow we’re off to Windsor and hope to have afternoon tea at the Crooked House (can’t find the link at the moment).

hi from London

K and I arrived safely to find that it was snowing in London! We spent most of Monday riding around the city on double decker buses and walking around town with my friend Christine. On Tuesday we went to the Victoria & Albert Museum and completed a backpack-tour for kids there. We went to the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum (saw a life-size replica of a blue whale) but weren’t thrilled with either of those museums. We went to Evening Prayers at Christine’s church and had dinner at her house. Today we went to Leicester Square and decided against seeing a show (at K’s request). We went to Trafalgar Square, took pics of Lord Nelson and went in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Came back to the hotel to rest for the afternoon and then went to the British Library this evening and saw the Magna Carta. We’re tired and our feet hurt. K is a good traveller overall. She moves much slower than I’m used to, but that’s ok. She also gets bored with the waiting that you have to do while traveling. I’m glad we have plenty of time to see London, as I don’t think I’m going to attempt to stay outside the city this trip. We’ll just do day-trips if we leave at all.

all ready

Our three bags are packed. We’re not planning to check any luggage. Just the one rolling case and our two little backpacks. I’m soooooo excited! So is K. We’ve never had such an adventure, just the two of us!

teeth

K lost her second tooth today. I am sooooo glad we didn’t have to deal with that on the plane. Two weeks ago at the dentist, she had 3 that were loose. The bottom two are now out, and she has a pretty good gap in her smile. The upper one isn’t all that loose, so I think we’re okay for a while on that one. Thank god she is capable of handling the blood because it still freaks me out. Poor kid, she won’t be able to eat well while we’re in London.

stress

Between the packing and the last minute travel details, PMS, the fact that I go no sleep last night since E woke up at 4:30 this morning and then all this crap with the IRS (which has decided that my nonprofit that they APPROVED in 2004 was terminated in 2004), I’m about to lose my mind. I’ve got to copy every thing the IRS has ever sent me plus all the official board minutes and documents from the beginning of my nonprofit and now I have to prove to the IRS that I exist. I guess all those quarterly income taxes my nonprofit has been filing all these years with accompanying forms that the IRS SENT TO ME don’t prove that I’m legitimate enough for them. This is utterly ridiculous.

the nicest thing

K has a great relationship with her bus driver; she just loves her. Her bus driver had a baby back in January and has been out since then. We’ve had some nice substitutes, but today our regular driver was back! I was talking to K’s teacher this afternoon as she called to touch base about K’s homework assignments to work on while she’s out of school next week (I also wrote down an address to which we can send K’s class a postcard while we’re away). Her teacher mentioned that K’s bus driver, who just had a little girl, said she hoped her little girl grew up to be the kind of little girl K is. I was so touched by that.