CA to Palm Beach

7/14/2014

Around the Town of London part 2

We went to Platform 9 3/4 at 10:00 one night. Hoping that the line would have magically disappeared. We were wishing Matt and Grandma were with us since they LOVE Harry Potter.

Stevie was all giddie about being there as you can tell by his jump in the air.

This picture sums up their relationship about now.

Marky LOVES riding the trains. He liked to get in the middle of two trains and pretend he was on a roller coaster.

Here are some random photos of us from our trip to London. We have so many different photo taking devices it is hard to remember which photos are on what device.

A picture from the Tour de France. Marky was crouched down between all these legs taking pictures.

Back at the Towers.

Kensington Palace:
They had an exhibit of the gowns worn by England's royalty. We were in Princess Diana's section.

Pictures are a bit out of order since we have 14 different photo taking apparatuses. Now we are back at the Tower of London.

Buckingham Palace.

Westminster Abbey

Eye of London

On our walk to Kensington Palace. Chelsea was so wanting to see Kate at Kensington. She was very excited and thought that Princess Kate would be walking around the palace.

Trying on some fashion. . ,

Back at Trafalgar Square.

On a double decker bus looking at the sights.

Kensington Palace

Chelsea got to be in a special performance of the Queen getting dressed for the evening.

It was quite the ordeal for woman to wear all those layers and then having to get pinned into the dress.

We then walked outside and played in Princess Diana's Memorial Playground.

While the kid were playing, I heard helicopter come in for landing in very close proximity. I ran over to see what was happening.

Princess Anne had just come from Buckingham Palace (we think she was having tea with her mother the Queen) and she was taking a helicopter back to her apartments at St. James Palace.

Very cool to see.

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7/13/2014

Around Town in London part 1

We love starting our day with a traditional English breakfast.

Well, Steven Loves breakfast and he was in heaven.

I prefer my all-time favorite breakfast of Eggs Benedict.

The kids LOVED taking the train aound town. So, wish the United States had a train service like Europe's. Sure would make things easier for everyone to get around.

After the Tour de France viewing on Monday, we walked over to the Tower Bridge of London. This bridge is so amazing that most people (including us) think that this is the London Bridge. Actually, the London Bridge is quite plain and non distinguished compared to this more recent building.

Steve and I have been telling history stories so the kids could understand what they are seeing as we see these amazing sites. European history lends itself to incredibly interesting stories at the expense of the Royals. The Tower of Torture is called because of the lost princes, beheadings, and the means of torture placed upon those accused of crimes against the king. The two young sons of Kind Edward IV were locked up there by their evil uncle. Beginning of a great story?. . . well, actually a sad one as most people did not fare well in the Tower of Torture.

The execution of Lady Jane Grey took place here. This painting by Delaoche shows the execution of Lady Jane Grey. She was 17 when she became Queen of England in 1553 for 9 days. She was executed a year later.

The Imperial Crown of India was made when England's King George V traveled to Delhi as Emperor of India. This special crown was made because the crown jewels can not be taken out of the United Kingdom. It was only worn once.

I especially liked this crown with the sapphire. It was so interesting to see all the different crowns wore during the coronation of the Kings and Queens.

Trafalgar Square
Legend says that if Big Ben chimes 13 times, the four lions will come to life.

Chelsea got a little artsy with Big Ben.

Of course, no trip to London would be complete without locking your sister inside a telephone booth.

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7/12/2014

Our Adventure Begins. . . Chasing the Tour de France

We begin our summer adventure

With this cute signature.

Here is to a month of fun, adventure, and trying new things.

We landed and rushed out to see:

Stage 3 of the Tour de France in London. Of course, right when we pushed ourselves and crawled to the front row It started to rain. The energy on the street was energizing.