Day 11: Natural History Museum

Our dear friend Holly was able to take the morning off work, so we could spend some time with her.

We had to have all the kiddos meet her, but Gavin and Ali were extra lucky...

as they got to go on a date with her, Mommy, & Daddy to the Natural History Museum.

Hello Mr. Dinosaur!

Beautiful staircase behind his tail...

and a gorgeous bridge above his head.

Another long neck.

Ali was ready for her daily nap.

Gavin said he liked the triceratops best.

Yep, even extinct the T-rex is terrifying! 

But all little babies are sweet.

Even with feathers, these guys are scary!

After viewing the many dinosaurs we paused for lunch.

For a museum café, the food was really good.

We had to say goodbye to Holly here, but we were so glad we got to see her!!

We decided to check out the birds.  There was a huge display of hummingbirds of which this is a very small portion.

In that same display were these little guys.  They were seriously the size of my thumb!  I love their red spiky "hair" above their shimmery blue faces, but their polka dot wings are the best.

This guy reminds me of Hogwarts.

Oh how I love painted roosters!

I was in awe of these classic, and sadly extinct dodos.

The exhibits inside were many and amazing, but the building itself is a work of art!

I love this shot.  Typical London with beautiful architecture everywhere!

Thank you Victorians for showing us that form and function can exist simultaneously!

I love this sweet girl of mine!

And these sweet boys too!

I took as many pictures outside as I did inside.

I just want to live somewhere that will fit all of my family comfortably and have a nice piece of land that we can all run on.  Is that too much to ask?  Ha ha!

What are you hiding little door?

A treehive, how clever!  See the honeycomb in the top window?

Not all the bees were in the hive.

Here's another one! 

We could not believe how much sculpture was inside and outside this magnificent building.  It was so stunning!

Cute little berries.

Gorgeous water lily.

This sculpture was quite impressive (although half of it was hidden behind a bench).  It had jaguars, turtles, giraffes, butterflies, etc, etc.  We had a dinosaurs, birds, and bees kind of day though.

The building had so many windows too.

I loved its two-toned bricks.

Our gentle Gavin,

and adorable Ali- we love you so!

Thanks NH Museum for being a great date venue.

Thanks Ali and Gavin for being great dates!

(Don't they look alike? Such sweeties!)

Day 10: Shrek's Adventure

We took Noé and Teague on a date to County Hall.

(The old building behind the London Eye.)

Donkey stopped us and said we had to help him find Shrek.

Noé and Teague said they were up for the challenge!

Donkey helped us get all packed up for our journey.

We found Shrek and he taught us how to roar like an Ogre...

...and run like an Ogre, Hi Fiona!

He also took us to visit the Queen.

But there's no place like home!

We're glad we found you Shrek, and thanks for the valuable life lessons.

The kids also met up with Po and tried out their Kung Fu skills.

They sought inner peace with Master Shifu, but they lacked the patience for it.

They broke a board with their crazy strong arms, hi-ya!

There were two openings at Mr. Ping's Noodle shop, but those noodles were slippery!

They tried their hands at being airline pilots with Madagascar Air.

They also shared a big ol' pair of clown pants and juggled telepathically.

I can't believe Noé and Marty shot Teague from a cannon.

(I think this is my favorite picture of Teague!)

They tried some ballroom dance with Gloria too.

We had to cross this bridge and thought we were destined for doom.

Luckily, Hiccup trained Toothless well and they brought us all to safety.

After that adventure...

we were quite hungry...

and enjoyed these tasty gingerbread men.

Don't worry they weren't related to Gingy!

We also got lunch at McDonald's (ugh, kids) so unfortunately our bellies were full when we spied this froyo bus.  How cute is it though?  I want to go back, I like a good snog, ha!

We had a nice stroll along the river Thames and were awed by the Palace of Whitehall.

Originally York Palace, it was the residence of the British monarchs from 1530-1698, when much of it was destroyed by fire.

In its heyday, Whitehall Palace was the largest palace in Europe.

Corner tower of the Old War Building, where Churchill led the British war effort in WWII.

A closeup shot of the Palace from within Whitehall Garden.

This tree wanted to grow horizontally instead of vertically.  It has 5 steal beams supporting it.

This tree was growing just fine...

and was covered in these gorgeous blossoms.

God Save the Queen!

(Hello Lion and Unicorn!)

Thanks Teague

and Noé for a fantastic date!