Day 25- August 11, 2008

Greetings from London!

We have enjoyed seeing the sights of Britain these last two days. Aron took today off work as one of his extended weekends that they offered him. Yesterday we visited the Tower of London and today we went to Windsor Castle. We went out early in the day and were back before evening so it was really nice to get out and see things, but also have some down time.
The weather was very cooperative both days. Yesterday it began to rain, but it only lasted a few minutes.
Yesterday we stayed home in the morning and let Isaac take a nap. We left before noon and took the underground to the Tower of London. When we got off the underground the Tower was right there! Pretty neat to see. It was much bigger than I remember it. When we got inside the gates Aron went off to tour a chapel while I stayed with Isaac. It looked like there were a lot of stairs and would be impossible to navigate with the stroller. I thought he would go up, look around, and be back down in ten or fifteen minutes. Isaac fell asleep within ten minutes of me walking him back and forth on the bumpy brick road so I was ready to take advantage of being able to focus my attention elsewhere. 40 minutes later I'm still waiting for Aron to emerge from the chapel. I had no idea he was being led through a whole tour of a tower. So I hauled Isaac, asleep in the stroller, up a flight of stairs and got in line to see the Crown Jewels. While in line I see Aron come off his tour. I give him a smile and say, "Hi honey. I hope you enjoyed your tour. I've been waiting so patiently for you. Now let's go see the Crown Jewels." I'm sure his version is much different and maybe a little more truthful, but I'm writing this blog so you get to hear MY version. And hopefully by the time you ask him what really happened he will have forgotten. :)

Of course you can't take pictures of the jewels, but they were very beautiful. They have on display crowns, rings, swords, maces, and sceptors. While in line they show a video of the Queen's ordination. She starts out in simple dress and by the end of the ceremony they have covered her in the robe and crown and given her the sceptor to hold. It showed the masses of people at Buckingham Palace that day and how they all ran up to the fence to see her and the rest of the Royal Family out on the balcony.
We also toured the White Tower which contains weaponry and armor. I had to hold Isaac the whole time because you go up and down several flights of narrow, winding staircases. He did great and just stayed in our arms the whole time. The armor looked very heavy and very hot. It was, of course, all hand crafted and some had beautiful detailed designs on it.
Today we left earlier than yesterday. We left at around 10 am, before Isaac had taken a nap. We took the underground to Waterloo train station and rode the train into Windsor. It took an hour to get there. Before we went into the Castle we had lunch at McDonald's across the street and a man cut in front of me while waiting in line to order. He did apologize though. Not for cutting in line, but for not speaking english well and having a difficult time ordering. Lesson in patience #10 of the day.
So we finally get into the Castle after waiting in line for tickets for quite awhile. It's really amazing when you first walk in. The Castle is all around you and looks massive. You aren't able to tour what seems like the majority of the Castle. The Queen resides there on most weekends and there are 150 people that reside there on a permanent basis.
We first toured the Queen's doll house from when she was a little girl. To call it a doll house does not give the proper impression of what it looks like. It is so detailed! It has electricity and running water. The place settings are made of real silver. It's like an actual mansion, but everything is miniature. Then we toured the State Apartments which contain several rooms. We saw the room where the Queen holds her fancy dinners with the huge table. Of course it wasn't set up for a dinner at the time.
You're not allowed to take photographs of any of this. I'm sure they do that so you'll buy the guidebook.
Isaac fell asleep while we were touring this part of the Castle and I held him because strollers aren't allowed in this area.
After that we walked through St. George's Chapel. There is so much detail in every part of the Castle.
We really had a great time and took as many photos as we could and Aron took some video as well. We're so glad that the weather cooperated. And Isaac cooperated also. He did really great both days. After Saturday I was a little nervous, but he did fine. I think he has grown since we've been here. All of him....his hair, his head, his feet. I bought him a new pair of shoes and they are a size 18-24 months. Today on the train he did two things that he's never done before. I put some pieces of a cracker of the tray of his stroller for him to eat and he started feeding them to Aron. He's never shared before! What a giver! :) He thought it was so funny to put it in Daddy's mouth and watch him chew it. Then on the return train ride he covered up his eyes with his hands and I said, "Where's Isaac?" and when he moved his hands I said, "There he is!" and he just laughed and laughed. He thought peek-a-boo was a lot of fun. He was worn out from today and is asleep now. Last night he slept for 12 hours with one wake up. In the evening when he's getting tired he'll walk around with his knees bent a little. It's like he can barely stand up or something.

We hope you all are doing well and had a great weekend.
We love you lots!