London in July

(note: "London" should actually read "surface of the Sun")

Unsurprisingly, I am a little behind on blogging. I really want to document our time here well, so I am going to go back a few trips and play catch up. We were in London July 17-20.

We moved into our flat on Tuesday, July 15, and left for London on Thursday, July 17. And went to IKEA in between because for totally unknown reasons I thought that would be a good idea. It was a busy few days and possibly a wee bit on the crazy side, but Thomas had a work party to attend in London on Friday, so the kiddos and I decided to join him in good ole London town.
We took the 12:35 train out of Central Station--which I arrived there with kids and bags at 12:30 because I had GONE TO THE WRONG DARN STATION on the bus and had to take a taxi to Central. Therefore the whole trip started out on a breathless, panicky note but we made it (and made some friends on the bus ride to the wrong station. Go, God!). Little did we know that the hardest parts of the day were still to come.
It's a 4.5-5 hour train ride from Glasgow to London. The kiddos much prefer the train to the airplane because there is no way to restrain them...so it's definitely an active ride for Mom and Dad. Each of them slept a little; L watched a little Peppa Pig; E played on the floor; and we enjoyed the endless parade of meals and snacks that come when you sit in first class. T was working from the train, which justified the expense, and kids under 5 are free on trains. Huzzah! As we journeyed, I watched as my phone went lower and lower in batteries. Which led to the discovery that neither of us had packed the charger, each thinking that the other one had. And Thomas still didn't have a phone, which lead to an amazing confluence of events:
-London Euston station at rush hour (MADNESS)
-No hotel address, though we knew the name and the tube stop
-No Internet capabilities
-No phone capabilities
-No map (usually T would carry one but we got phone lazy)
-No way of knowing that our tube station was not wheelchair accessible and therefore nearly impossible to navigate with bags
-85+ deg temps in a city with no A/C, fans, moving air, etc.

Looking back, I am still amazed that we managed to get to our hotel--thanks to God's grace and the kindness of strangers who did things like carry our stroller down FOUR FLIGHTS OF WINDING STAIRCASE STAIRS INTO A TUBE STATION AS HOT AS A BLAST FURNACE, and look up directions on phones, etc. We=idiots. I still feel embarrassed when I think about just how dumb we were. Thank goodness our kids are troopers.
Fortunately this was the low point of the trip, and things went up from there.
On Friday, Thomas worked at Blackbaud in London (v. cool office on the Thames) and the kids and I did the open air bus tour with our friend Alicia, whose husband was also working that day. The temperature in the apartment we were staying in hovered at 80+ the whole time, so hanging out there was not an option.
I love a good " 'decker" bus as L calls them, and we had an awesome time tooling around the city with the millions of other tourists. We had so much fun on Friday that we decided to do it again on Saturday with Thomas. With kids, it really is a good value for a nice survey of the city. Most things in London are way too expensive to visit with ticking time bombs kids, so at least this way you get to see Westminster Abbey even if you don't want to risk going in, and you get to hear a lot of history from the tour guides. Plus there was moving air most of the time.
Both days also included good park breaks (Green Park next to the Ritz was our favorite); eating the cheapest food we could find (read: not actually cheap); sticky, sweaty bus naps--we were stroller-less both days which was amazing; and general awe at the amazing-ness of London. We also did things like watch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace with 908097987 of our closest friends; a little Thames river cruise from the Tower of London down to the London Eye; lots of playing in Trafalgar Square; and a dinner in Covent Garden (sounds more awesome than it actually was with over-tired kiddos).
Night-times were a little rough given the temps and layout of the 1 bedroom apartment were were staying in...meaning that lots of coffee was ingested during the day. Lots. Even though it made us even sweatier.
All in all, it was a fun weekend, and I love that a month later, I really only remember the good parts. Ha!

Playing in Trafalgar Square in front of the National Portrait Gallery. E's knees were black at the end of each day. 

Crossing the Thames and loving the bus