English vacation (Day 8): London, 3rd time's a charm

Today was the first day we were unleashed in London by ourselves. I brought my little canon digital elph camera Hyrum got me for my birthday, so I have pictures of the day. It's funny because he kept telling me to take the camera back since I rarely use it, in comparison to my big camera I had, but I'm glad I kept it because it's all I have for the rest of our vacation now. Plus, it's easy to carry around since it's so small.

We took the train into London this morning, then we grabbed the tube and went over to the Tower of London. Executions were held at the Tower, so Tilly and I decided to get our heads chopped off too.


We took a great tour by the beefeater (Yeoman Warder), who was the person that would lead the traitor to the scaffold. If you go to the Tower, don't miss the guided tour! It's hilarious! Even Talea kept bursting out laughing at him. They're called beefeaters because once a week they would be allowed to dine with the king, and they were fed beef.


We looked inside the White Tower and found King Henry VIII's codpiece armour (the perve), we saw the crown jewels in the jewel house, we saw the site of the executions and the chapel on the grounds under which some of the beheaded were buried, and the Queen's quarters.



We ate some pretty good food in the restaurant. The kids tried their first chocolate mousse.



Tilly thought the guards were pretty impressive, so she wanted to imitate one.


As we walked around the Tower, we got a lot of looks, laughs and questions about our family when they'd look in our stroller to find 2 kids, with one more on Hyrum's back, and another in my belly. I'm finally at the point where people know I'm pregnant and aren't just wondering if I'm fat or have excess Kiersa weight (which I never bothered to lose before I found myself pregnant again). It's always reassuring to get to this point, though I've never gotten here so soon before.


After the tower, we took the tube over to the Westminster bridge and retook photos we'd lost from the camera theft incident.


We had to stop and get some peanuts from a street vendor in honor of Edward (he refuses to eat anything from a street vendor).


If you're a James Bond fan, you'll recognize this door from Casino Royale, I believe. I think it's Bond who runs into it and it's a secret doorway leading somewhere. Well, that's Hollywood for you. It's just a closet sized room with security guys who watch the South Bank. The steps are full of people too. I had to wait to get this shot.


Then we went on to the London Eye.


It was the perfect time of day and year to ride the Eye because there were no lines and the temperature was perfect. I just wish we'd had Daisha or Edward with us to tell us what all the buildings were.




After the eye, we took the kids to the park nearby, which is also close to the site where my camera was taken from me. They were still cleaning up the mess from the festival the night before. I can't believe how much litter there was, and this was after a lot of cleanup had already been done! And I thought county fairs were bad!


The park was the kids' favorite part of the day. Hyatt's getting really good at climbing, and after the first time of him climbing with me under him ready to catch him, I saw he was advanced enough that he didn't need my help. How did he grow up so fast? There was a great little obstacle course, and the baby swings were pretty funky.



We talked to a few Americans and found a new cool bottle that I want to try, and then we headed back on the tube to the train station. We were going to wait for Edward, but he was swamped at work with all the stress from the investment bank troubles (he works for Goldman Sachs), so we had to leave without him.

Daisha made mini pizzas for me again since I'd requested them (sooo good!) and she also made pesto spaghetti, which she insisted was overcooked and underpestoed, but I loved it!! You can see a rare photo of Dakota. He's been very elusive during our stay.


All in all, this day was much better than yesterday, since nothing was stolen and we didn't get lost on our own.