Day 10 - Wet Sheep

We woke up to a very cloudy and rainy day. Later we found out that the beautiful sunshine we arrived in is a nice tease in these parts. I walked in the kitchen to put some dishes away and start making breakfast and say hello to our wet sheep :)

View from the window above the kitchen sink

While I made breakfast the rest of the family played hide-and-go-seek.

Kian counting as Hannah and Daddy ran to hide

We were all still a bit tired from traveling a lot the previous day and so decided to take it easy and spend time at home and around the farm. Hannah wanted to play outside on the rocks and Kian wanted to visit the pet lambs.

Hannah Playing with the rocks

Kian visiting the pet lambs

The wind was too strong to stay outside so the kids came back in and started playing a game of tic-tac-toe together. 

Playing tic-tac-toe

But of course in every game there is a winner and a loser and the loser was not particularly happy about the outcome of the game.

Losing is no fun especially for a 2.5 year old :(

After this we decided to head into Louisburgh to buy some meat for dinner from the butcher in town. This was my first time driving the stick car and much stalling was in order. It is also quite terrifying driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Asides from remembering that you have to drive on the left you are also very confused about keeping proper distance on the left side. I almost nicked the mirror on the passenger side!!  Oh and did I mention the roads are very very narrow and the locals drive pretty fast. At least it seems fast to a driver terrified of stalling and being on the wrong side of the road! 

We bought the meat and managed to make it home unscathed. Kian helped me make dinner, Beef Stroganoff with rice. 

Teaching Kian how to cut peppers 

Kian mastering the art of cutting peppers :)

While I finished up a few final touches the kids played with daddy-o.

pre-dinner fun and games

Dinner was served shortly after.

Beef stroganoff and white rice - The kids also ate this with mostly the meat and also some yogurt on the side

After dinner the clouds finally parted and we were able to enjoy some beautiful views over the ocean.

Sunset over the atlantic Ocean - View from our living room.

We wrapped up the night by watching The Little Mermaid for our family movie night which happened to be on Wednesday this week. 

Family Movie Night - The Little Mermaid

Day 5 - Who says traveling with kids is no fun

A nice early(ish) start to our day as we headed out a bit before 11 am to go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. It was built in 2000 as a memorial to Princess Diana & her love of children. 

An adventure playground geared very much towards the Peter Pan and Pirate enthusiasts. 

Kian on the Pirate Ship in the main section of the playground

The playground has many different sections so the kids could be entertained forever.

Hannah on a small boat

We had plans to meet my friend Joan-Ann for lunch at Giraffe. We had to promise the kids that we would go back since there really wasn't enough time to explore everything and the weather was just wonderful. 

We walked through Kensington Gardens towards Kensington High Street and grabbed some lunch. Giraffe is a great place to eat with Kids. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the kids liked the food.

Love.Eat.Live

Coloring Super Giraffes

Kian enjoying his meal

Chicken Nacho Burger

Lunch at Giraffe

Thanks Joan-Ann for coming and meeting us for lunch. Was great to see you.

After lunch we took a detour on our way back to the playground and walked by the Kensington Palace and the beautiful flower gardens.

Kensington Palace flower garden

Hannah and Baby Ginger

We went back to the playground and the kids had a blast playing for another 30 minutes.

See-Saw Fun

The crazy swing...Kian's favorite thing on the playground

Hannah's favorite section...a bit of water a bit of sand...perfection!

Baby Yogi - Downward Dog on the Sand

Before heading out of the park the kids enjoyed some soft serve ice-cream with "flakes". 

Yummy ice cream

After ice cream we decided to walk the entire length of the Kensington Gardens to the Marble Arch. Along the way we discovered a few things we didn't even know existed. Such as the Italian Gardens and the Peter Pan Statue.

Hannah at the Italian Gardens

Peter Pan

We headed home after this with two tired kids riding on mommy's and daddy's shoulders. Dinner consisted of ravioli, chicken, salad and fruit. The grownups also got some fried onion on the chicken.

Hannah started eating before I took the picture. She was too hungry to wait.

After dinner we had a friday family movie night and watched Tangled.

Everyone lounging together and watching a movie

If you are looking for more pictures feel free to check out our England Gallery.

Day 3 - A Bit of Sight Seeing in London

We ventured out after the kids played for a while at the apartment and walked about a mile to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. A great way to get a 4.5 and a 2.5 year old to walk a mile without complaining once is to just give them 2 kid friendly cameras. These kids wanted to take a picture of everything. 

Taking a picture of a patterned wall on our walk

Walking through St Katharine's Docks we came across some awesome art work along the walkway and had fun being tourists and took a few pictures with them. 

Hannah making one of her silly faces

The weather was absolutely wonderful for the walk. Sunny and breezy. We walked across the bridge both ways and enjoyed some beautiful scenery on the Thames River. 

Looking at the river

We skipped going inside the Tower of London but did walk around the outside and read some of historical facts to Kian who seemed to have a thousand questions after each section. Some of which we did not know the answers to :( 

Kian especially found the stories of beheadings to be particularly disturbing.

Kian definitely does not want to be beheaded

We headed back home and on the way bought some fruit and a few other grocery items. It is not hard to eat meals at home on a trip. You just need to do a bit of planning. 

Dinner plates for the little ones :) we had a similar meal. 

After dinner we headed out again and had a blast seeing the famous Big Ben (which the kids know since Peter Pan flies to it with Wendy, John, and Michael and in Cars 2 they call it Big Bently). 

Big Ben

Then we walked over to Westminster Abbey. We had great timing as the sun was just starting to set and Big Ben looked very golden. 

Westminster Abbey

That wrapped it up for us for the day.