Day 14: Windor Castle (Windsor - England)

Thought we might pop-in and visit Windsor Castle this morning, so we literally walked across the road to the castle. The kids enjoyed listening to their audio headsets while walking around - I swear I'll be a headset engineer by the time this holiday will be over.

No photo's were allowed inside the castle - but it was really quite impressive (better than we remembered from last time).

Queens room is somewhere in the wing behind us

Flag was up, so the Queen was there - clearly must have been sleeping in this morning though, as she didn't pop down for a visit.


The Queen's flag was up indicating she was there

a


Gardens were lovely

The Chapel inside Windsor Castle 

We then caught the train into London for the night.  Almost missed the connecting train which we could see arriving, but sheer determination in lugging bags up the stairs and over to the other platform would have been a sight, but we just made it in time.

We then checked into our room the size of a matchbox, with no A/C and barely enough room to put our bags down, but we didn't care as it was next to the Eurostar terminal and we were off in the morning.

We have had an awesome time in the UK in the past two weeks.  Now its time for the next part of our adventure!

Dear 5/6 white and Miss Ferguson,
I am in Windsor Castle, It is beautiful! After this I have to catch a train to St Pancras Station.Its hard to believe that I have been in England for 2 weeks now and I am going to Europe on Wednesday.   Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest Castle in the world! And the Queen was there when we were. We also visited the State Apartments ( the Castle) and St George Chapel where the Queen's mother was buried.

PS - wow I've just seen some of your comments. Thankyou for writing to me.   I'll have to write back to you soon.
From your awesome classmate Emily

Day 12 and 13: Legoland (Windsor - England)

"Oh my God" "Oh my God" ...."Oh my God" ....seriously how could this day get any better.  Naturally, we had made it to Legoland.


Policeofficer Emily and Ingrid, after Buzz the bandit

You should have seen Thomas's face when he saw a life-sized Hulk Buster after walking into Legoland.
#IJustWantOne    #SantaBetterStartBuildingNow

Ninjago wasn't too bad either

Thomas's iPod camera went balistic when he saw The Avengers Helicarrier ... If you need any angle then just let him know.


S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

There was pleny of stuff for the Dad's too ... and kids that like Star Wars.

The LED lit engines were  impressive...most impressive

We then hit the rides...hard.  The Pirate Ship was first...

 

In perfect poise the trio gracefully entered the water below....

As seen when zoomed in...

....Heeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllppppppppppppppp

We all could actually hear the point of impact based on the pitch variation in Emily's voice.

That was totally wicked!!!!! Can we go again?

That ride was awesome.....!

There are so many photos, we just can't put em all up .... but the kids had an awesome time and didn't want to leave.

That son of gun cut me off......Should I give him a piece of my mind....

Needed the speed settings to keep up with this one....must of been food around the corner

Overall, a really enjoyable couple of days in Legoland.

Dear 5/6 White and Miss Ferguson,
Today I went to Legoland! It had water rides, rollercosters, and other kinds of awesome rides. We went on one called Pirate Splash! It is like sitting in a log and at first you sit back and relax for the first part, but then you get dragged up to the top and............ you go screaming down the to the bottom! I was scared and I was screaming ( true fact!) but it was awesome and if you look at all the photos at the top you could see me being a little little bit scared.

From your awesome classmate Emily

Dear 2 White and Mrs Barrett,
Today I went to Legoland. I hopped on a lego car with my sister.  I had to stop at a red light. I drove well. I had a photo with the hulk buster lego suit it was next to the lego shop.  My favourite part was everything.

From Thomas

 

 

 

 

Day 10 and 11: London (England)

Happy Birthday Dani!!!!


What an awesome couple of days.  London has been fantastic, with gorgeous weather - perfect for strolling around and seeing the sites.  Walking around Southbank of London we came across this English Guard who really made us laugh by breaking tradition.




The kids were meant to be standing to attention and NOT smiling - but they couldn't resist

Even saluting they were meant to be serious

The Chelsea Pensioners rolled up in the best cars ever, and were kind enough to let us take a snap or two.

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace was interesting

 



barely anyone was there to see it...

...at all.  Glad we got there early!

Thomas finally got to see Big Ben - he'd been asking everyday, in every town, with
every clock, if that was Big Ben .... So he finally got to see it.

....as well as a lot closer than this

The London Eye was great as well.  The kids loved wandering around taking photos

Proof that Ink (despite being afraid of heights) came up in the London Eye

The next morning we headed off to the Tower of London, to check out the Crown jewels.



Inside Tower of London

The Jewels were very impressive (you werent allowed to take photos), and so was the massive set of vault doors we went through.

We had a couple of quick snaps with the Royal Guards, and enjoyed lunch with a view of Tower Bridge

By this stage the kids were used to the Underground, so we flew off to Harrods.  Thomas loved the lego there - he took photos on my phone of everything he wants (it took a while)...

The also had girl-stuff

Photo by Dad....not Thomas

We then picked up Thomas' beloved iPod from getting a smashed screen replacement - cost only 70 pounds (total bargain right), but its back now and glued to his hands.

Next up was the Lion King, at Lyceum Theatre (Covent Garden).  That was really impressive.

Going into the Lion King

The kids loved it - they were literally sitting on the edge of their seats watching intently for most of it.   Even had time for a selfie or two.



...Taking a few snaps before the 'no photo' rule kicked in

Almost forgot to mention, while waiting for it to start Thomas was busy taking photos with his iPod, of the photos he took earlier in Harrods - he'll be checking those little suckers out later.

Dear 5/6 White and Miss Ferguson,
While I was in London I went on the London Eye,Tower Bridge,The Tower of London, London Bridge and Buckingham Palace. The London Eye was slow but very high and fun. At The Tower of London I saw the Royal Jewels, they were amazing! At Buckingham Palace we saw The Changing of the guard. We saw The Lion King Lyceum Theatre, It was a play.It was amazing! We leave Loindon on the first of July and go to France! Its going to be so much fun! 

From your awesome classmate Emily


Dear 2 White and Mrs Barrett,
We went to the London bridge it was good. Then we walked to Tower Bridge and we went on the London Eye. It is like a feris wheel but it goes slow. we could see big ben and everything!
the next day  we went to see the Lion king at night and people were dressed up it was cool.
from Thomas

 



Day 9: Stratford-Upon-Avon to Stonehenge to London (England)

Happy Birthday Leanne!!!

We said 'Hi' to Rita Meadows from Brian 'n Sue - Rita genuinely remembered you, and we took off to Bourton-on-the-Water (a lovely little town).



Main street in Bourton-on-the-Water




...same street

We arrived at Stonehenge - which is a little different to when we last saw it 13 years ago with it being roped off now, and 40 pounds for a family to see them.  The kids loved the 2km walk from the visitor centre (which we thought was a lovely idea, as it was such a nice day), and they barely complained as the transit buses flew past us every couple of minutes.  They also enjoyed the potent smell of manure as we walked along (which, I have to say, was really strong!) so the ride back to the visitors centre in the transit bus ride was a treat.

Once we arrived (thoroughly refreshed) at Stonehenge, the kids actually enjoyed listening to the commentary.

Pretty impressive structure given it was constructed 4500 years ago.

North face of Stonehendge

We then made it into Heathrow and jumped on the Heathrow Express in Paddington, and were really quite impressed. It was clean, new(ish) and there was plenty of space - and we arrived in 15 minutes.  We had a small adventure tracking down our keys for our first air b 'n b apartment in Marylebone, but found the place and went out for dinner with our extended family in London.

It was really good to see Kath, Stephen, Christine, Les, Doreen, Gian, and Jane once again, and we had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant at St Pancras International Station (thanks for organising it Doreen!).   It was really good to catch up with everyone, and see some familiar faces overseas - we really enjoyed it.



Christine, Gian, Stephen, Les, and Greg

Kath, Thomas, Emily, Jane, and Doreen

Kath said thankyou to Brian 'n Sue for their gift

Kath (91) and the kids

After Dinner

Day 8: Warwick Castle (Stratford England)

Look out folks - the Leonard's are giving archery a crack at Warwick castle today



....and this is how happy everyone looked at the beginning of the day...clearly it was going to be a quiet one ...

These might come in handy at home ...LOL...

Em and Thomas thought they'd give archery a go this morning, and did pretty well we thought

Getting the basics down pat...

aiming like a demon...

Not a bad effort for their first time... given we started with 12 arrows and they are all visible at least

Would have been good to have this bad boy going, but it was out of action for today

We spent the rest of the day wandering though the castle and its grounds.


To quote Shrek  From the highest room in the tallest tower



There she waited for true loves first kiss ... but that didnt happen



Especially with Buzz on watch ...

Warwick Castle was really good - and the kids had a great time exploring the grounds and passage ways throughout the castle.

We then made it back in plenty of time to Monk's barn to watch Kindergarten Cop - an easy family movie together.