England pt. 1 - London

From the moment Sarah and Andy announced their English countryside wedding, it was clear this would be an absolute *dream* trip. And it exceeded even my wildly high expectations: at the end of the trip all 8 adults and Lydia rated it a 10/10 trip (with a couple of us giving it a 12/10 ☺️). 

We spent two fairy tale weeks in England, visiting London, the Lake District, Wootton Hall and the Cotswolds. Matt, all three kids and I spent most of the trip with my parents, Sarah, Andy, Ellen, Corey, and baby Cameron, who my family met for the first time while there! 

We decided that the girls and I would fly into London 3 days before Matt and Luke to spend Sarah's wedding week with her. It was the best decision because even though we crammed every waking hour with activities we didn't even get half way through my London wish list. Already dreaming of going back! 

Matt drove us all to the airport in DC, and after he helped us get to security he and Luke went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. They loved it!

It was a looong travel day. 

 

Sarah had a driver waiting for us outside of customs at Heathrow, and he took us straight to our hotel in Piccadilly. No one else was there yet so the girls and I explored! First stop: Fortnum & Mason since it was 2 blocks away. I'd been dreaming of visiting ever since sending Sarah and Andy's F&M hamper for their wedding gift. 

Then we walked 15 minutes away to Buckingham Palace! We had snacks with a view of the palace and found a playground just down The Mall a bit in St. James Park where the girls got some wiggles out. 

Can you spot Lydia perched on top of the wall?

F&M was decorated for the Platinum Jubilee

We also shopped and Lydia got into the hotel pool before Sarah and Andy arrived!

By the time we got back to the hotel Lydia was so exhausted (she and I barely slept on the flight) that she fell fast asleep in the lobby. When Sarah arrived and tried to wake her up Lydia didn't even budge. I had to pick her up and shake her a little bit to get her up! We tried to go out to dinner all together but Lyd was just too tired - so we headed back and called the first day a success.

Day two was for exploring London. Sarah was the best, most patient and thoughtful tour guide and took us to Hamleys, Liberty and Oxford St., then on a double decker bus (Lyd was delighted to sit up top with her while I stayed down below with Elise in the stroller) to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, a stunning carousel, Kensington Palace, and the Diana Memorial at the Sunken Garden, with lots of stops in between.

Day three included breakfast in the room and back on a double decker bus to Portobello Road Market, Biscuiteers Notting Hill, and the dreamy Notting Hill Book Shop. 

Then Mom and Dad arrived! Mom met us at a restaurant at Kensington Palace. 

That evening Gpa Mark read our new Notting Hill Book Shop books to the girls, and he and Sarah offered to watch them so Mom and I could go see the play Six in the West End. I overheard a woman there who summed it up by saying, "No trip to London is complete without seeing a West End play."

The next morning after breakfast at the hotel all six of us got into a black taxi cab and headed for the Columbia Road Flower Market. 

Matt and Luke arrived that afternoon! They took the Tube from Heathrow and met us at the hotel. Our first stops were Buckingham Palace and St. James Park. :) 

Our whole group also went to take pictures with Big Ben at a specific spot I'd planed out and to London Eye and Borough Market. We ended the evening with a big Sunday Roast with fish and chips for the kids. When in London on a Sunday... 

Ellen and Corey arrived the next afternoon, just in time for one of the most planed-for and anticipated moments in London: afternoon tea at Sketch for a sort of second bachelorette for Sarah. Lydia felt very grown up that she got to join Grandma Trudy, Ellen, Sarah and me, and we were all in awe of its gorgeous, British over the top-ness. I still wish I had one of their signature scented candles that were burning all over the many opulent tea rooms and work-of-art bathroom. 

The weather was even so good that we got to walk there and back. I actually teared up when the waiter was explaining to Lydia what kind of tea cakes and finger sandwiches she had - she just looked so grown up and happy, and it was so special to share the incredible foreign experience with her. Travel is broadening and I could see it doing just that as she saw and heard things that are different from what we experience in our normal at-home routine, all through the trip.

That night was dinner at Dishoom (which I sat out of with the babies and Matt - the four of us needed a rest!), before I joined Mom, Dad, Sarah, and Andy to go out for drinks, sticky toffee pudding, and a ride home in a bike rickshaw. :) Of course we blasted London Boy by Taylor Swift.

The next morning, just hours before our driver came to take us back to Heathrow to pick up our rental car, we squeezed in a final stop: Tower Bridge and Tower of London. After seeing so many pictures of it in the books we read, Lyd was pretty impressed to see it in real life!

Luke and Lyd hailing a taxi

We couldn't possibly have fit more into our short stay in London. One day when we make it back we might be able to see the museums, Westminster Abbey, more gardens and parks, the Churchill War Rooms, the Sky Garden, Covent Garden, and so so so much more. I truly think our family could live in London for a month and find new and interesting things to do every single day. The city is refined (women wore pretty dresses everywhere we went), deeply cosmopolitan (it was fascinating to hear the kids at the playgrounds speaking all kinds of languages), clean and vibrant, with two thousand+ years of rich history. I loved experiencing it with Matt and the kids to help broaden their worldview to include this magical city.