The London Life

We are in London and I have taken so many pictures!!

I don't even know how to sort them or where to start so I'm just going t o picture vomit them out.

If I know my family, I know they love them some pictures. So, I will try not to include ones that I've instagramed (brittanyjohnson10) and I will give you a visual tour of our lives the past two and a half weeks.

We have a London flat, which means we are cooped up ALL the time. Therefore, I must leave. Rain or shine, the kids and I are out and about exploring the city. For some reason my kids are so much better behaved when we are out, especially Jet. He will ride in the ergo and take in the sights perfectly peaceful. It is the only thing keeping me sane this summer. London with littles is much harder than I anticipated.

So here goes:

Ellie says, "zha know where my Daddy works? Right there" and points to a picture of the Gherkin. This building will always have a special place in my heart, no matter where we end up.

 We make this walk every morning as we take Dadd-o to work. St Paul's means "almost home" to us Johnsons. It is a sight that never gets old to me and one that is starting to mean more and more as it is playing a bigger role in our memory making this summer.

Sometimes Ellie gets grumpy and won't get out of her stroller and pose for me. Maybe I take too many pictures. I was so born to be that mom who takes too many pictures.

Fleet Street. Once the industrial capital of London, now the home of the Johnson clan.

 Sometimes I drag my kids to museums. I love that in London some of the best museums on earth are FREE. I cannot say no to free knowledge folks, so here I am in the Tate Modern with my little monkeys in tow. They are actually surprisingly good, most of the time. I try to tell Ellie about the art or artifacts and sometimes she listens and other times I just hand her fruit snacks and say, "go get it girl" while I selfishly indulge my artsy tooth.

Jet and Jackson Pollock. I bet Jetty would have loved to help Mr. Pollock create this piece. Spilling things all over other things is his specialty.

Well at least she has seen a Monet.

She liked this little beauty. Anything that resembles a monster is fascinating to her.



It was cold. But we had to stop at the graffiti skate park. I took a picture at this exact wall five years ago. I did some great posing but I never looked this cute.

 Some days in London are sunny. Emphasize the some. I love London when the sun is out. In fact, there might be no other place as magical as St James park in the summer sun. People are laying out, conversing, laughing, eating, exercising, living life and it is magical. The trees are bight green and the park is screaming life as the swans paddle through the pond and the ducklings waddle around in the grass. Ah,perfection I tell you.

Anyway, we walk to St. James park often. Sometime I try to run with the stroller, but a jog in that area during the summer tourist months never ends a jog. More of a frustrating walk. We like to picnic in the park and play at the playground.

Oh, Hello there Benjamin. So glad to see you on such a fine day.

St. James Park

The princess and her subjects at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Ellie with our best friend Robyn Meise at the playground

 

 

We also live near the Victoria Embankment and Ellie especially loves to watch the river. She thinks it is so pretty even though it is disgusting and super dirty. She will always want me to lift her up and I am terrified that she will fall in, so I only let her get this close.

 



Ellie by the Themes (still too close)

 

One of my favorite museums here in London is the Imperial War museum. I am kind of in awe of the two world wars and especially grateful to the amazing men who sacrificed so much for my freedom (which is getting less and less by the day...thanks Obama). We made the mile or so walk one day, only to find that it is closed until the end of July. So we decided to get ice cream and play on the grass. The museum is surrounded by beautiful gardens and we relished in our adventure. We can't wait to go back and actually go inside. Until then we will eat chocolate.

 



Ellie and the Imperial war museum

Our treat

Then I took my kids to my favorite bargain store in London. It is safe to assume this is the first of many stops to this little gem.

 

Other days we like to learn. Some days we learn about the history of London, some days we learn about art, some days we learn about animals, and some days we learn about science. I am somewhat of a biologist myself, having earned my bachelors in the field at BYU a few years ago and I was in heaven at the natural history museum. I was so excited to relearn all the things I studied so hard back in Provo. I even got to go on and try to explain them to Ellie. Woohoo A+ for Mommy. We learned about how plants get energy, how clouds get rain, and mommy's favorite, all about the human body. Then we went to see Butterflies. Ellie even got to hold them. I think this was her favorite part. She really wanted to hold a pink one but she settled for purple and blue.

 



The London Natural History Museum

Oh yeah, did I mention we learned all about dinosaurs?

Butterflies like me.

Butterflies like Ellie too

It tickles her hand!!

 

Since we were in South Kensington, I just had to let her play at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. I had never been in before because one is not allowed in without kids. Let us just say this place is amazing. It was a perfectly sunny day and the park wasn't too crowded. There were like five different themed lands to play in and a huge pirate ship. We played in the sand in the hull of the ship for at least an hour. As a mom, I can honestly say there is nothing like a good park these days. Give me a good park and a warm summer day and you won't hear me complain.

 



"I will be Izzy and you be Jake. And Jetty can be Cubby"

playing un the hull of the ship.

she finds friends wherever she goes

Kensington gardens and my favorite pond in all of England. Many a thoughts about my Leon happened while I ran here. This place is so special to me and I'm so glad to share it with my kids.

We are loving every second of our time here. But we love and miss you all. Hope you enjoyed a few of our adventures. I'll keep posting if you keep reading.

 

xoxox

Britt