Suddenly Six!: LONDON!

What a beautiful, full, crazy whirlwind the past few weeks have been! The kids started school a few days ago.

In a quiet moment, John lay down on the bed with his eyes closed.

"Why am I so tired?" John asked me, truly perplexed and frustrated.

I was amused that he asked such a question in earnest puzzlement.

We had an incredible-albeit exhausting-summer with the kids being home; John worked two full time jobs; in the past two weeks we ran Hood to Coast; flew to London the following day, all while making sure everything was ready to go to school after we returned home.

We finished our 3rd Hood to Coast race.

Our summer started off big with going to Chicago; it ended with an adventure in London.

London was a trip that was imagined and planned within a few weeks.

John wanted to give our family an adventure, a trip different from the amusement park type trips that we usually take. We mulled over it for weeks and weeks on where to go.

I had suggested National Parks; John didn't seem satisfied with those ideas. He had something else in mind. Finally, I just handed it over to him and declared: "I will go wherever you decide you want to go." He planned London.

London turned out to be the perfect place to go. It was the perfect mix of adventure, history and fun. When I close my eyes now and think back to this trip, several moments come to mind that I will remember forever. They are the ones when we are just together as a family, enjoying a new place.

One of these moments was picnicking in St. James park. Our kids were fascinated by pigeons -of all things-and excitedly rallied around them like obnoxious Americans. John was annoyed; I relished the moment and the absurdity of it.

I can feel that moment, sitting against that tree, my tired, jet lagged mind resting as I had to do nothing except watch my kids enjoy life.

Another such moment was a beautiful Sunday afternoon after a wonderful church service we attended. It was again another gorgeous summer day and we dined al fresco on a quaint, bustling street. It was a beautiful, carefree moment, sitting in central London with my family.

Traveling with six people in London is not an easy task. Europe is not made for big families it seems. In fact, we hardly saw any other kids the entire time we were there. We were a spectacle of sorts walking down the streets and into restaurants. People marveled at us, unsure of what to do with us.

John was an absolute expert at navigating the streets and subways of this magnificent city. He got us all around, never making a wrong turn or losing anyone! It was such a different experience commuting on public transportation with people from all over the world.

London is a remarkable city, largely because its roots go back to medieval times. It has a beautiful balance of modern cosmopolitan living and deep rooted historical story. I could walk those streets all day. I hoped my kids would see the charm and recognize the privilege of being in the presence of things so old.

I savored every moment of our family time together in this wonderful city.

The kids did great with the audio tours of churches and tours of the castles. A few times (ok, more than a few times) we got frustrated with James because he was fixated on finding dropped English coins on the streets. A few times John had to tell him to get up from under church pews as he hastily reached for dropped change.

I think they did appreciate the fact they were in the presence of things so old and ancient; being in Europe always makes American history seem contemporary. 1800s vs. 1000.....It really gave them-gave us all- perspective.

Warwick Castle, 1066

Windsor Castle 1070

The British Museum had a whole bunch of ancient artifacts

Preserved man, 3500 B.C

Part of the Greek Acropolis, 5th century B.C

The Gates of Nineveh, Biblical times

James and the Rosetta Stone

We saw the city from above on the Eye of London.

Evelyn really loved it all.

Kings Crossing, Platform 9 3/4.
The kids have started to get into the Harry Potter books, so they really appreciated all the fun Harry Potter related tourist sites.

We saw a show on the West End, The Lion King.

Afterwards, we got Indian food at 11:00 at night. We were the only ones with kids in tow.

But they did great.

Another concern I had was the food. Evelyn is a really good eater, but the boys usually order cheeseburgers, fries and pizza. London is filled with diverse cuisines; it is truly a thriving food scene. Although they did order their fair share of burgers and fries, they also had middle eastern food, and even enjoyed some great Indian curry.