We continued the girls' birthday celebration with a weekend trip to London. Randall was flying back from Boston, so on the morning after Kenzie & Lexi's birthday we met him in London. We kicked off our weekend with a pint (& cucumber water for the girls) and some fish & chips in a pub around the corner from our hotel in South Kensington.
We then strolled towards Kensington Gardens, enjoying the sunshine!
We checked out Kensington Palace and the girls were excited to play at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground ... although Kenzie was quite disappointed that Price George & Princess Charlotte weren't playing outside even though the sun was shining (we only later found out that they were actually skiing in the French Alps ... too bad we just missed each other).
Then we were off to The London Eye and took in amazing views of the city on this beautiful day.
That evening we went to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, as we had surprised the girls with tickets for their birthday. It was such a fun show, and I can say that all four of us thoroughly enjoyed it. After the opening act, Kenzie was sitting on the edge of her seat in awe, and whispered, "Woah! I mean .... this is just the coolest thing ever!" The costumes were pretty amazing! Such a special treat!
After a good night's sleep we were ready for another day of exploring London. We hired a private tour guide for the day and our first stop was at Westminster Abbey. It is such a beautiful church, which has so much history ingrained in it. Jeff told us countless stories that were just fascinating. Kenzie & Lexi enjoyed following the Children's Trail especially given the incentive of earning a golden (chocolate) coin if they completed it. At one point a verger let the girls sit in the special choir pew and helped them answer a question on their scavenger hunt (later Jeff told us, that he was the one who did a cartwheel down the red carpet following Prince William & Princess Kate's wedding in the Abbey out of sheer excitement, and was then severely reprimanded for it).
After we left the Abbey we walked over to watch the Changing of the Horse Guards, before heading to the Tower of London.
The girls really enjoyed the Tower of London, especially searching for Merlina, the top Raven (previously named Merlin, but renamed once they discover that he was a she). Jeff told us she would be wearing a pink bracelet so they were on the lookout the whole time, but it turns out that she had chewed off her bracelet. But we found her anyway having a conversation with one of the Beefeater guards.
Lexi's favorite part of the visit was seeing the Crown Jewels. We had read about them and she was so excited to see them in person! Unfortunately no photos allowed.
That evening we walked down Brompton Road and did a little shopping before heading to an amazing Indian restaurant for dinner.
On Sunday morning we went to Mother's Day brunch (March 6th in the UK, so had to celebrate since we were there) near the hotel and then made our way to Saint James's Park and Buckingham Palace.
The girls enjoyed playing hide and seek in the Park and then we lined up to watch the changing of the guard.
The sun came out just in time for the changing & it was the perfect way to wrap up a wonderful weekend in London!
Such a quick trip, and so much we didn't see. We will surely be back and next time we will have to make sure that we coordinate our schedules better with the Royal Family, because Kenzie really wants to have a playdate with George & Charlotte ;)
I would highly recommend both the hotel we stayed in & Jeff, our tour guide. We stayed at The Pelham, a boutique hotel in an old townhouse in the heart of South Kensington. It was a terrific location and a great deal for a luxurious stay with a very London feel. We booked our tour through DGA Tours and were very happy with Jeff.
