Very early on in our UK trip we had our big embassy appointment in central London to renew our visas. We got this in early because they actually take your passports and mail them back to you when they are complete. So to avoid some extra grey hairs at the end, it was best to do this right at the start of the month.
We were SO tired and traveling into London is a big day at the best of times. Thankfully, my Mum and Aunty Emma stepped into the rescue and took care of the baby boys for the day so that we could go with just the big two. You never really know how long you will be at these sorts of meetings, and I was desperately trying to avoid a situation where we were stuck in the embassy for hours with four jet lagged children.
London feels so very familiar to J and I, but to Belle and Freddie it was this magical city that they had only read about in the many London story books that we have in our home (we try!).
Whilst J and I had our list of our favourite coffee spots and markets, that all had to be set aside because these two slipped all too comfortably into the ‘American tourist’ role and listed off all the main attractions that they wanted to hit in the few hours that we had. It was fun to see London through their eyes though. It is a very special place.
We got a very early train in and scheduled our embassy appointment in as early as possible. You should knoe, a Homeschooling Mum is rarely unarmed and I had strategically packed some school work for them to work on whilst we were waiting… always good to keep them busy!
And then Freddie and I may have taken a cheeky little nap much to J’s embarrassment. I never used to be the kind of person who could sleep anywhere, but since having kids I am world pro …
Thankfully, it was much quicker and smoother than we had expected, which left us with the rest of the day to explore London!
We had to give these little American’s the full British experience and so we took them to Nando’s for lunch. It was nowhere near as good as I remember it, but they loved it. It was so special being out and about with just them. Getting to listen to their sweet little conversations and see them without the babies boys around. The felt SO grown up!
Because Belle and Freddie are our ‘big kids’ it is easy to forget that they are actually really little. We didn’t even think to bring a stroller and they just could not keep up with the walking. J suggested that we just went all in and jumped on one of those hideous tourist buses. That way we could sit down and see all the sights. Whilst there are 1000 better ways to see London and if anyone was visiting London there is noway that I would recommend doing this, with just a few hours and four very tired travellers, it was the perfect thing to do. Little Fred’s even fell asleep again… this time on J’s lap. You will be please to know that I actually stayed awake for the whole bus ride. Progress.
The bus tour finished with a switch to a river boat along the Thames for the last bit. That was actually really fun and we got the best views of this very special city.
Despite the major jet lag that hit us all like a truck, we had such a great day. Belle had a project that she was working on whilst we were away, where she kept a journal of her trip, wrote an entry most days and carried her polaroid camera around to document special moments which I think is just the sweetest thing ever. I know that she will cherish these photos for years.
