We made it!

I can't get the pix to move on this computer- so this is a little unorganized- oh well, here is our little apt kitchen and living room- very IKEAish

Big ben
London Tower- with Maddie in the pouch :) I got a great leg workout carrying her up and down all the stairs
Pretty London Bridge
St Paul's at night, it is way bigger than it looks in the pix
T on the underground with the stroller :)
Our cold little world traveler
London eye is behind T and M- random pix


We made it! Maddie and I survived our 16 hour long journey from SLC all the way to London. The day we left was really hectic and super stressful because T and I realized we had been reading my ticket wrong for weeks now. It said I was leaving Dec 4 at 12:10 am. For some reason we have been thinking it was Thursday night. So I had to find a sitter for the kids for another night plus find one for the little boy I was watching that week while his parents were on a cruise, plus pack for all of us, do like 4 loads of laundry, buy food for the week, and take care of a sick baby and little boy, and clean the house for the people who would be staying there with the kids-ugg. So Wed night we were off. Maddie did so good an the planes, I couldn't have asked for a better journey. Flying the red eye is the way to go with a baby. The planes were empty so on the flight to JFK I had three seats in a row and slept all stretched out with Maddie on my chest, then the 3 hour lay over Maddie slept on the chair next to me while I people watched- people watching in New York is pretty interesting :) The next flight was a huge plane and nearly empty so Maddie and I had another three seats all to ourselves to stretch out and sleep. The flight attendants on every plane were so helpful, wanting to hold Maddie when I needed a b-room break and even carrying my luggage for me to the next gate for a plane change, even the check in people tried to get me the absolute best seats so the flight would be easier for me- so nice! T arranged for a car to pick me up at the airport, I loved seeing my name held up on a sign along with all the foreign business men. The car ride to the apartment was about 45 minutes and my driver and I talked about JK Rowling's new book and his daughters Christmas pudding. We finally found the apartment after circling the block for times and ringing at three different buildings. It was so good to see T and felt sooo good to soak in a hot tub for an hour. I was so jet lagged I slept all night , was up a little with Maddie and and then we slept till 1:30 in the afternoon. T was at work so I piddled around the apt and tried to do some laundry- ha! I planned to do 4 loads, couldn't figure out how to get the machine to dry the clothes and ended up washing the same load 4 times before they finally got dry ( it was a two-in- one machine), when I went to put the next load in I realized I had put the soap for the previous load in the wrong place so the one load I got done was never really clean. At 10:30 pm the first load of actual clean laundry was finished. This was day one- figuring out the washer/dryer- seriously :)

On Saturday we headed out on the train to Paddington station and then took the underground to ?? - it felt so good to finally come up for air. I loved walking up out of the dirty underground to cold crisp air. The city seemed so grey, it was overcast and chilly and all the buildings looked so old and grey. A couple minutes later the sun came out and it was a wonderful. We walked around and saw the London eye ( which is a huge ferris wheel), Big Ben, Westmintster Abbey, House of Parliament then Terrell and I said goodbye and he jumped back on the tube to Fullum for a soccer game and I went exploring with Maddie for the next 5 hours. It was such a fun day. I absolutely loved setting my own pace and just walking around this beautiful old city. I love all the interesting architecture and beautiful gardens, I came across a ceremony- I think it was the changing of the horse guards- not the famous changing of the guards- we were a little late and missed it. I walked all the way to the British Museum and spent 2 1/2 hours walking around- it was amazing. I loved loved loved seeing the mummies and the ancient Egyptian statues and I also really loved looking at the really old books- I am so nerdy. I met up with T again on a street corner- thank goodness for my trusty map- I can't believe I didn't get lost! I dragged him back in the museum and showed him some of my favorite things and then we took the trains back to Reading- which is the city we are staying in, ha dinner and I took another long bath :)
Saturday night was miserable and instead of waking up early to head back into the city we slept in and headed in around noon. Another gorgeous day today- seeing the sun is so rare this time of year- we explored the London tower today- it was so interesting, saw the crown jewels and took a ton more pix. Walked around St Paul's Cathedral- since it is Sunday today we couldn't go inside which is kinda sad but the grounds were beautiful. We also went shopping on Oxford street- which was way crazy- so many people! I love how there are people from everywhere, so many different languages and people dressed in their native clothing- it is just amazing, I loved every second of it. Here are some pix of Day 1,2, and 3.