#11 - We're off to London to see the Queen...

I'm going to do several blogs in one night in a bid to catch up with all the times that i've either been too tired or too engrossed in some silly chick flick to write anything.

Pretend its Saturday, because on Saturday we took J to London to see the Queen (whom I was later told doesn't actually reside in Buckingham Palace at present) and some dinosaurs....

-

Today we went to London to see the Queen. except she wasn't there, so we looked at the men in funny furry hats instead, becuase what else is one to do with a three year old at Buckingham Palace. Imagine the havock we could wreck inside!
I discovered that the monument outside is great for several things:

1. Plane & Helicopter spotting - J's very favourite past time, aside from possibly bugger (digger in German) spotting and chasing people with dinosaurs.
2. Watching the Army blokeys run past
3. Poking fun, both at the Guards in their hats, and at the silly marching they do.
4. Eating picnics constructed by genius au-pairs

Having managed to successfully tackle rush hour traffic in Tonbridge, we made it onto the train in one piece. I chose quite the wrong place to sit, becuase I kept getting very dirty looksf from the people infront of me. Personally I'm thinking this could be for any number of reasons, maybe they just didn't like me, or children. Or maybe I looked like a teenage mum. . . I don't know really. Anyway, Katherine (last years wonderful au-pair) met us on the train, after having managed to board on the wrong side of the fire door and making a dash out of one carriage and into another during the brief time the train stopped at one of the stations, we were finally united. Katherine is quite London savvy, so we made it first to the Natural History Museum in quite a sauve fashion, especially considering we had the buggy with us. without getting lost at all. We spent a good couple of hours browsing the collections of delightful stuffed animals, and ferocious looking dinosaur skeletons we found the magical picnic area!!! Now this I definately recommend to anyone wanting to eat in the museum. Down in the dungeons there is their designated "picnic area" which I had no idea even existed. It's all kitted out with some pretty cool tables, chairs and playing space, a couple of vending machines and a little shop where you can get sandwiches and muffins and things.
After lunch J fell asleep so we decided that embarking on any kind of public transport was pretty much asking for it, so we walked. and walked. and walked. until we quite conveniently ended up in Sloan Square, home of the Saatchi Gallery. Talk about perfect timing. J having just nodded off bought us a few hours in which we could look in peace at everything on offer.
We stopped for coffee and nibbles when J woke up and made our way towards Buckingham Palace. I truely believe that he would have quite happily sat for hours by the Marble Arch just watching all the big red buses, london cabs and the assortment of vehicles that passed. Not to mention the planes and helicopters passing over, which he thought were brilliant.
By the time we'd finished at the palace it was getting late and we were all tired so we decided to head back home, stopping at McDonalds for a McFlurry to take on the train becuase we behaved so very well all day.