Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and some tea!

I LOVE London. I can't say enough great things about it. I posted on FB that I thought I liked it more than Paris, and I know some people were pretty surprised to hear that. I think the jury is still out on that one, I'd have to go back to each place a few more times to really decide. I really loved Paris, but I also really really loved London. The things that made it great were the weather was gorgeous, the city is very charming with lots of character, the architecture is amazing, it's very clean, it had lots of things for the kids, the people were super friendly, speaking english was a bonus, and we even had really good meals. One of my favorite parts was the taxi cabs. They were so cute! The drivers were also really nice and funny.

We spent 3 full days in the city and were able to fit in many things. Keep reading because I have a few more posts on London! One of the highlights was we took a tour inside Buckingham Palace. I was going to skip it, but then I saw that the Princess Kate exhibit was only going to last for the next month, and I knew Addy would love it. She did, she can't stop talking about Kate, drawing pictures of her dress and shoes, etc. We couldn't take pictures inside the Palace, but enjoyed the tour. The Palace had a ton of history and very ornate items. We didn't get any pictures outside the front of the Palace because the Changing of the Guard was happening when we finished the tour and there were way too many people around to get a picture. We did watch the ceremony.

This is outside in the Garden, the back of the Palace:

A better view of the Garden, it's HUGE!

Jeff's coffee at the Palace Cafe.

The guards marching away from the palace:

Westminster Abbey is a short walk away from the palace. This was part of the building that I thought was beautiful:

Here is the front of Westminster Abbey

We had tea and scones after Buckingham Palace at Fortnum & Mason, the scones were delicious!

Addy liked the tea too

Luke after his "tea" (aka ice cream). I don't think he did the Queen proud...

Princess Diana Playground

With the beautiful weather, we had to take advantage of taking the kids outside. The Princess Diana Playground is an adorable playground inside Hyde Park. It's modeled after Peter Pan and comes complete with the Pirate ship. Addy had a great time climbing to the top, and even Luke enjoyed crawling/scooting around.

Jeff was trying to get the kids to pose, I thought this picture was hilarious-- Luke was so annoyed to share with his sister!

London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben

The London Eye is basically a huge Ferris Wheel that has fantastic views of London. Luckily for us, we had beautiful weather to see London from a distance. The best part was the view of Parliament and Big Ben from the top! It was deceiving how high we actually were.

View from the top

Addy and Daddy in front of Big Ben

Parliament:

Big Ben, and you can see the London Eye across the Thames.

London Museums

Some of our time spent in London was without Jeff, since he was working. I took the kids to Exhibition Road in London that is in a great part of town with many museums. The best part is that they were all FREE. The buildings were beautiful, and the inside certainly was not disappointing! The Natural History Museum was awesome. The Science Museum was also great for the kids-- they had such a fun day!

Outside of Natural History Museum

Even the door was cool

Inside the museum (one of the entrances)

The dinosaur exhibit was the best I've seen in a Natural History Museum. This giant T-Rex was quite a hit! He moved and roared at the kids, even Luke thought he was pretty neat.

The mammal exhibit

Inside the Science Museum:

There was a really neat area called the Pattern Pod that was perfect for smaller children. Addy and Luke could have spent hours in this little area:

Addy's 4th Birthday Party

Addy has had quite the birthday week. She was able to celebrate her 4th birthday in Paris and it was complete with a trip to Disneyland. She also had a birthday celebration at her German school. I was tempted to not throw her a birthday party, but I just couldn't not let her have a party! So we had a very nice low-key birthday party in the backyard yesterday afternoon. We invited 6 kids (3 of which are our German neighbors and her classmates), and we were very happy they all came. I decided that I was not making any lunch or dinner. So an ice cream party complete with cake and cupcakes seemed like the perfect idea. Addy's favorite food is ice cream so she was very much looking forward to the celebration. The party ended up being very simple. The weather was perfect too! No rain, and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

Birthday girl very excited to indulge in the treats:

The cake, which turned out to be very easy to make. Addy helped and we did 3 layers (chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry)-- a Neapolitan Cake to go with the theme. It was frosted with a vanilla buttercream and we poured chocolate ganache over the top.

Ice cream bar:

Cupcakes frosted with vanilla buttercream to look like ice cream:

Party favors (because the kids didn't already have enough treats)

Addy told me this was the highlight of the party: Pin the Cherry on the Ice Cream Cone!

Candy scavenger hunt, the kids decorated their bags earlier during the party

Singing happy birthday! Her German friends also sang in German which was very cute! I love the ice cream candles, I had found them months ago (not knowing if I was ever going to do an ice cream party), but they were too cute and I thought I could always use them for something!

Kids enjoying their cake, although at this point they were pretty sugared up!

Opening presents

Buying party supplies or craft supplies in Germany is not easy. In fact, there is no craft store. I am very glad I have a nice stash of craft supplies, ribbon, paper, even plates/napkins, etc. This party basically came together with things I had collected over the past few years. I didn't have to buy anything new!

Paris

Labor Day weekend was spent in Paris. We wanted to take Addy for her birthday (who am I kidding, I really wanted to go!). We left Thursday evening and the drive took us just about 5 hours. The first 2 nights were spent in downtown Paris. The first full day we went to the Eiffel Tower, the Seine River Cruise, the Champs Elysee, and the Arc De Triomphe. The second day we visited the Sacre Coeur Cathedral and the Louvre. We took so many pictures and I could have posted a TON more, but I decided just to quickly cover the highlights. I think my favorite part was the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was almost dark and a beautiful way to see Paris at night. We had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower! I also loved the Louvre because it had a beautiful garden outside with many cafes in addition to some great play areas for the kids. The museum was great too!

This was the first morning we arrived, it was so nice to have this view as soon as we walked out of the Metro!

On top of the Arc de Triomphe

Loved this view of the Eifel Tower

Addy and Jeff went to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral on Saturday morning while I stayed behind to let Luke take a much needed morning nap.

In front of the Louvre:

Had to get a picture of the famous Mona Lisa! Addy was really excited to see it too. I was amazed at the amount of security that surrounded this painting. Also the amount of people taking pictures!

One of the many gorgeous views inside the Louvre:

Outside the Louvre-- it's huge! We could have spent a week in there.

Addy being a goofball

Addy's Birthday in Disneyland!

Days 3 & 4 in Paris were spent in Euro Disney. The best part of this was Addy didn't know we were taking her. It was a big surprise! We switched hotels the night before her birthday. We woke her up, sang happy birthday to her, and then told her we had a special surprise. She was sooo excited! She has never been to Disneyland or Disneyworld but knows all about it. We had a great time. The park is pretty similar to the one in California, but it's a little smaller. Most all of the same rides are there and there is also another park that is really cute. I don't have any pictures with characters. The park lines were small and we hardly waited long for most of the rides. However, the lines to meet any characters were soooo long! The only line we waited in was to meet Mickey, and that was quick. Unfortunately, as soon as it was our turn to meet him the camera wouldn't work. Luke was so adorable and LOVED Mickey! I wish we had it on camera. We refused to wait an hour to meet Cinderella-- Crazy! Addy did get her princess fix after the parade when Snow White and Ariel both came over to hug her and talk to her. We spent 2 days and had a blast-- Me and Addy both didn't want to leave!

Addy in front of the Sleeping Beauty's Castle

On Main Street enjoying her princess lollipop, and being silly:

Me and Addy walking on Main Street toward the Princess Castle

This Cars ride was in the 2nd park. The park had some adorable rides-- Luke loved this one!

This Toyland was also in the 2nd park, all of the rides were based off Toy Story.

Addy and Daddy on Dumbo

Mommy and Luke on the rockets

Luke's first ride- the tea cups. He had fun, but wanted to stand the whole time!

At the end of the second day. Sweet baby Luke was Disney'd out! He loved Mickey so we bought him this doll and it's his new favorite toy!