Audrey's birthday - a trip to Londontown!

Audrey turned 7 on February 9 and we decided to take her to London to see Wicked! I'm sure you've seen Pat's Blog, but I thought I'd add a bit of my perspective!

I was honestly a nervous wreck about taking my babies to such a massive city - but I worked hard to keep my cool so that the kids wouldn't get freaky.

The day we went was Audrey's actual birthday, so we started the morning with gift opening (and me obsessing about what everyone should wear, what should we bring - snacks, drinks umbrella, in case it rains, kleenex for the eternally running noses, wipies and sanitizing liquid for grubby hands, an extra pair of pants for Zoe in case of an accident - Good God, I'm going to need a mule to carry everything!)

The train ride was very exciting for the kids - they were really good the whole trip - and they ate almost all of the snacks I brought (obsession has its benefits). Half way to London I looked at Audrey and suddenly realized that in all the craziness of getting out the door, I had totally forgotten to brush their teeth and hair - they were both wearing the new outfits I had bought for the special day, but they looked like ragamuffins from the neck up! And somehow, in the 80 lbs of crap I had in my bag, I didn't have a comb or brush or anything... WHOOPS!

We got into London Euston train station at about 9:45 (it takes about an hour from Northampton to Central London). We then had to take the Tube (London Underground - don't call it a Subway here - subways are pedestrian walkways that go beneath really busy streets - they often hook up with a Tube stop, but not always!). We grabbed the Picadilly Line which took us to Leicster Square (pronounced Lester) - this is where all of the "cheap" ticket places are. The queues were long at all of the ticket booths - we were a bit worried that Wicked would be sold out, but it was for not - they still had seats for Audrey and Pat. I planned to take Zoe to the movies - didn't seem to make sense to pay $70 for a 3 year old to see a musical that might scare the hell out of her - besides, we probably would have spent the whole performance visiting the loo!

After we bought the tix we started exploring - it was a BEAUTIFUL day, we barely even needed our jackets (let alone the scarves, hats and mittens I had lugged along :) ) It was sunny and warm and daffodils were blooming - it was so nice!

We wandered over to Trafalgar Sq. where preparations were underway for a Chinese New Year celebration - there were red paper lanterns going up everywhere! We kept walking toward the Thames (sounds like Temz), walked up by the houses of Parliament just as Big Ben was ringing in midday - we carried on toward Buckingham Palace by way of Hyde Park - which was beautiful and full of people - daffodils and crocus were coming up through the grass and there were Swans and geese and even pelicans! The changing of the guard ceremony was in full swing and there were swarms of people watching what was in my estimation a parade behind bars - there are dudes all decked out in fancy uniforms playing instruments and marching around, but you can hardly see anything unless you are pressed right up against the palace gates - and even then, its just a bunch of guys dressed up in uniforms marching around - whatever...

Everyone was ready to have some lunch so we made our way to Victoria Station, which is across the street from the Apollo Victoria where Wicked is playing. We got some sandwiches from one of my favorite takeaway places, Pret a Manger (don't ask me to pronounce - I f-it up every time - its French...) Of course they had nothing there that Zoe would eat, so I had to get her a smoothie and some fruit from a different shop... We sat on benches in the train station while we ate, shooing pigeons and watching the travelers hurry by. There are tons of shops in the big train stations, which was nice - there was a Boots (like a Walgreens) - yes, I bought a comb AND a brush and some gum so I could sort the kids appearance out :)

Post hair brushing :)

After lunch we decided that Zoe and I would go back to Leicester Square for the movie - it was weird going on the Tube with her by myself - I've always been with another adult when traveling in London - we did great though - it was kind of cool having it just the two of us!

We had several choices of movies - there are like 4 theaters and 764 restauraunts... Speaking of which, Zoe was hungry (hmmmm, wonder why?) I gave in and took her to McDonalds for chicken nuggets - we needed to waste some time anyway - she chose Enchanted for her movie - we just saw it at Thanksgiving, and it is ok, but - oh well, you only go around once- anything for the kids :)

I was speechless when the ticket guy told me that it would be ₤19 for 2 tickets (yes, that is $38!), so I said, do you have a children's discount and I pointed to little Zoe... oh yes, he said, that will make it ₤17 for two tickets - which part of the theatre would you like to sit in? What do you mean where do I want to sit? I will figure that out when I get there - no -assigned seats at the cinema - ok - middle of the theatre - great. Next on to buy some popcorn... ₤10 for a small popcorn (you have a choice of salty or sweet - none of that nuclear yellow stuff either - just plain old popcorn - kinda nice actually), a diet coke (without a single piece of ice -ew) and some candy - wow...

We then had to climb 5 flights of stairs ( I am not kidding) to get to our theatre. There was a guy at the door taking tickets and showing people to their seats - not that it would have been hard to find our seats - there were only about 40 seats in the whole place - I think my family room in Colorado is bigger than this theatre was - very wierd...

Zoe's eyes were glued to the screen for the entire movie - and it was nice for me to just hang out with her - after we went out into Leicster Sq. to wait until Pat and Audrey were out of Wicked... we had a bit of time, so we wandered over to China Town, which was plastered with Chinese lanterns - it was surreal! It was like something out of a movie set -

Once Pat and Audrey caught up with us, we decided to just get back to the train station - Pat and I would have loved to go out for a meal and spend some more time wandering about Londontown, but the kids were totally wiped out and we still had over an hour on the underground and train and car before we got home.

Audrey really loved the show - Dad had gotten her a program and a green flying monkey to help her remember the experience - oddly, the first thing she said when she saw me and Zoe was, "no fair!" as she pointed at Zoe's Happy Meal box - kids...