Monday, December 31, 2007

Brighton Rocks


We went to Brighton today. Brighton is a popular getaway on the southern coast of England. It's about an hour train ride from London.

We walked around some cool shops and restaurants in an area of narrow streets called The Lanes. Then we walked down to the beach and spent some time on the Brighton Pier. There are arcades, rides, and fish & chips joints on the pier. Here's a video of me on the merry-go-round. I held on to the horses ears pretty tight just so Mama wouldn't worry. I wasn't scared at all...


After we rode on the merry-go-round, we walked around the pier a little bit. McKenzie was a little tentative walking on the planks. You can see the ocean underneath them.



After we spent a while on the pier, we walked along the beach. Here's a picture of Mama and me sitting near the beachfront. You can see catamarans lined up on the beach. That's the remains of the West Pier out in the ocean. It burned down a few years ago, after being closed for about 30 years before. I guess no one has the heart to tear it down all the way.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Science Museum


We went to the Science Museum yesterday. The Science Museum is in West London, near the South Kensington tube station. Admission is free. And not the kind of free where you're supposed to give a "donation" to get in, either. It's just free.


The museum is so big, we only saw three of its seven floors in the three hours we were there. We'll go back again later for the rest. We saw a bunch of airplanes, some cars, trains, and some other stuff that's cool for us kids. We also observed the principles of fluid dynamics by playing in the water.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Tower of London


We went to the Tower of London today. We took the tube to the Tower Hill station. Here's the view walking out of the station.

The Tower of London isn't much of a tower. At least not the way I build towers with my Lego blocks. It's more like a castle. There were lots of walls and stairs. And ravens too.


Here's a picture of McKenzie behind the White Tower. You can see the Tower Bridge in the background.

We also saw the Crown Jewels while we were there. They wouldn't let us take any pictures of the Jewels, so I can't show them to you. But take my word for it: somebody really likes diamonds.


After we explored the Tower of London for a few hours, we walked across the Tower Bridge. We saw some cool views from the bridge. Below is a picture of the Tower of London taken from the Tower Bridge, with the city in the background. The next picture is of the London Bridge (lit up in red) with the HMS Belfast in the foreground, taken from the Tower Bridge. Daddy took that picture, so it's a little blurry. Contrary to what the song says, the London Bridge is not falling down.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas



Merry Christmas everyone! Actually by now it's Boxing Day.

Happy Boxing Day!

We had a fun Christmas. We opened presents, played with toys, ate a good dinner, and opened crackers. Crackers are little wrapped tubes. Two people yank on each end until it pops. Whoever ends up with the middle part gets what's inside: a toy, a lame joke, and a paper crown. It's a British tradition. Check out the video:



In case you're wondering what I got for Christmas, I got a bunch of cool stuff, including new tracks for my train.

Christmas Shopping


We did some Christmas shopping London style last weekend. On Saturday we went to Oxford Street, one of Europe's biggest shopping streets. We took the tube to Tottenham Court Road and then walked down Oxford Street past Oxford Circus for a while before heading back. Oxford Street was packed with people, including these santas playing Christmas music.


On Christmas Eve we went into Croydon. There are a couple of malls there. While we were walking around Croydon, we stumbled onto the Surrey Street Market. It's a big street market with lots of vendors, mostly selling fresh fruits and vegetables. We got a fresh pineapple and some mangos and avocados. We ate them as soon as we got home. They were yummy.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Hyde Park




We went to Hyde Park last Saturday for the Winter Wonderland. We rode on the tube to get there. That's what you blokes probably call a subway.

Winter Wonderland is a festival that runs through December in one of London's largest and most famous parks. They have rides and a some booths selling Christmasy stuff. After I rode on a few rides, we bought an ornament for Grandma. Don't tell her, though. It's a surprise.

Christmas Parties

A few weeks ago we had our Ward Christmas Party at church. The activities chairperson asked Mama if she would cook a turkey. So, we ordered a turkey online and had it delivered to our house. Mama cooked it up perfect. Only problem was, it's hard to get a turkey to church without a car.

We live walking distance from church, but walking distance carrying a turkey is a little longer than walking distance pushing a stroller. Unless you combine the two: put the turkey in the stroller. We wrapped it up in aluminum foil and a towel and secured it with Daddy's belt. About 15 minutes later, it arrived safely at the church.

The next week, we had our Stake Primary Christmas Party. We played games, sang songs, and got presents from Santa. Santa talks with a funny accent when he's in London...

Wimbledon

You haven't heard from me in a while because we haven't had internet access. The landlord was kind enough to let us free-ride on his old account for a while, but after a while he cut it off. It's back now and I'm back to posting.

One of our first weekends here we went to Wimbledon. The town, not the tennis courts. Wimbledon is about a 10 minute train ride away. Daddy had to do a little shopping there.

While we were walking down the street, we stumbled across this little kiddie ride right in the middle of the sidewalk. I made Daddy pay £6 so Mama, McKenzie, and I could ride it.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Fish & Chips


We got a taste of the local culture this week and went to a fish & chips restaurant. ("Chips" is what they call fries, here.) It seems to me that going to a fish & chips place here is like going to a burger & fries joint in the States. It's fast, greasy food. And the cheaper it is, the better it tastes.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

My Toys Came to London!

My toys finally came to London. It's a good thing, too, since I was getting pretty tired of playing with wooden spoons and pots and pans.

It was like an early Christmas. As Mama opened each box I'd say, "Wow! We have this same thing in Atlanta." Mama explained that it's the same stuff from Atlanta. It just moved here. When McKenzie saw something she recognized, she shouted, "McKenzie's room!"

Anyway, it's good to see something familiar, not to mention have something to play with.