London Trip, Part 2

We woke up on Sunday morning to wish Lily a happy 9th birthday!  I cannot believe she's 9!  Knowing we would be in London, we asked what she wanted to do to celebrate.  Her response was to see the crown jewels and ride the London Eye, so that was our plan for the day after enjoying some fresh muffins from Sainsburys.

 Of course, you have to take the tube just about everywhere.

 It was an amazingly beautiful day, and we were so thankful for this.  We were all looking forward to touring the Tower of London.  It's hard to see in the picture on the right, but Flat Arthur joined us via cell phone for his first appearance. The school was having a competition to see where Flat Arthur would turn up over the break, so he joined us several times on the trip.

 Everyone liked seeing the guards outside the crown jewels area.  And no, he didn't smile even at our adorable kids!  You can't take any pictures inside the crown jewels area, so I don't have any pictures; they were beautiful though!  We all enjoyed learning more about the Tower and the history that happened here.

 You know we're going to visit the gift shop.  Mia had fun pretending to be both a princess and a knight (and sword fighting Brian).  She decided she wanted her trip souvenir to an awesome knight costume from here.  Lily also wanted her trip souvenir to be from the Tower, and she chose a sweet little princess doll; she named her Queen Elizabeth.

 When we left the Tower, we headed down to the River to see the Tower Bridge and snap a few pictures.

 So thankful for this family!

 After we finished everything at the Tower, we headed over to Westminster to ride the London Eye.  Since it was a lovely day, we were able to enjoy some great views of the city.  This is a great way to get your bearings of what's where.

 The kids were inseparable for pretty much the whole trip.  They have such a sweet friendship.  I was so thankful to be back in London with Ryan!

 After the 30 minute ride on the Eye, we walked across the bridge to see Big Ben, Parliament and the outside of Westminster Abbey.  We then had a bite for dinner at a local pub, and then we started back to the flat.

 After getting the kids to bed, the grown ups enjoyed hanging out in the living room and catching up.  We are so thankful for this family, and it was great to spend time together.