On the Road: Legoland

Everything is Awesome!  And it is true!

Late in June we arranged a weekend away to coincide with a friend visiting from NZ. It happened to be H's birthday weekend and we happened to decided that Legoland was in order for a fun family day.

We didn't tell the girls. We left on a Friday evening after school, had a wonderful dinner with different old NZ friends and got up on the Saturday morning giddy with the excitement of the surprise day ahead. On our way there the girls saw one or two signs and started speculating... could this be the surprise?? Cue disbelief and huge joy when we arrived there. Awesome.

The rides were fun, the Lego creations were amazing, the shows had the girls fully engaged and we were all thrilled to bits.  We didn't even get around the whole park!  We were there for over 7 hours and utterly deliriously happy and exhausted when we left. Coincidentally we had managed to save the wet rides for the end of the day and did a couple more than once... or twice! We were stupidly joyfully drenched. It was a super day. Just fantastic. Just... Awesome!!

L xx

On the train: London - Day 3

Monday morning brought the start of our last half day in London. On the tube we hopped and got ourselves to St Paul's Cathedral. It was a lovely quiet morning and we could really take in its size, and all the detail and a cup of coffee as we walked around it. It was a lot bigger than I expected. We only ventured into the front foyer - no photo's allowed inside - but what we glimpsed was awe-inspiring. The girls mostly wanted to know where the birds were so we could feed them ;)

We loved using the tube. So easy, so accessible, even for a complete and utter stranger to the whole thing like me. We got some Oyster cards for the weekend and it was such a breeze. You could also just use your contact-less bank debit card - it really couldn't' be easier. Next we walked the Tower Bridge. It was a beautiful day again and we had lovely views of the bridge, the surroundings and the river Thames.

Right next door is the Tower of London which we visited next.  Again the history of this place is fascinating and deep.  We visited the Crown Jewels which would have been a highlight for the girls.  They could not believe we were seeing the real deal!  All so shiny and sparkly! (No photo's allowed!)

We also ventured into the White Tower and loved the amazing nooks and cranny's and displays. The detail on some of the armour was astonishing - hard to believe they would do battle in something so intricate and beautifully made. We would have loved to visit some of the other areas too (it's such a huge place with so many stories and areas!) but we needed to get going and catch the train back home.

We got home high from a fab weekend and still pinching ourselves that we had really been there and done it! It's not hard to see why people love it and we will be back for more visits in the future!
L xx

On the train: London - Day 2

Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny and beautiful so we decided to go and see the sights first thing. Southbank, Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings, Parliament Square, then on to St James Park and Buckingham Palace.

There was a chartity fun run on around the place and it was packed, so it took a while to get to the front, but we did manage to see a guard changing. The girls especially loved being in front of a real palace, where a real king and queen live!

On the train and off to a scrummy lunch not far from the Natural History Museum.  We had been hanging out to come here.  The girls were terribly excited about the dinosaur skeletons and the mechanical t-rex.  I was terribly excited about the gorgeous building and the amazing details in everything.  Little things like monkey's scaling walls, birds and animals watching from carved hidden corners.  Patterns everywhere.  Such serious eye-candy.  The museum was beautiful, the exhibitions fantastic.  We didn't get to nearly half of what there was to see but gosh it was great!

We decided to make a small detour on the way back to M&M World.   So much chocolate and colour.  L just about lost her mind being the little chocolate nut that she is.  Well worth a visit :)

Another awesome day in the Capital.
L xx