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

Teeth

Jet is now seven and a half months. Where did the time go? He is growing up twice as fast as Ellie and its driving me nuts. One example is that the kid will eat anything. He can eat grapes, pineapple, bread, apples, oranges, and he never chokes. He gums them down and swallows like he has been eating forever. He loves food and tries to steal anything and everything he can. He especially loves to steal from his big sister. She is sometimes happy to share and is thoroughly offended other times. 

I think all this success in eating is being aided along by his steady production of pearly whites. We first noticed Jet's new set of teeth two days after his six month birthday. Both of his front bottom teeth appeared within days of each other. This was shocking because Ellie's mouth was naked until nine months. This early teething business has been awful in the breastfeeding arena. Jet will get bored and just clamp down. I can't help but scream when he does this. I've even caught myself a time or two flicking his little nose for being so naughty. 

So, there we were tonight, watching the Lorax with our family and letting Jetty chew on my finger, when I felt a little something. "There is no way", I thought. I could have sworn I felt something sharp in the upper right gum of Jet's mouth. Naturally I pinned him to the ground and went exploring. Lo and behold, he has a new tooth. Now, get ready for this because it is weird. His first top tooth is not one of the centrally located but the one right next to it on the right. It is right there, clear as day. I sure hope the rest grow in too. It is going to be death for my chest but I don't want him to be the weirdo who has one random looking tooth. 

Bah!! Why oh why do you have to grow teeth so soon? You are already crawling everywhere and standing up to furniture. Now you think you are allowed to grow your top teeth. Who told you that was ok? Well, its not. So, put that little buggar back into your gums and stay my baby forever.

Palmyra

Better late than never.

My new blog motto. We have done some really important and amazing things in the past few months. Things that I want to remember forever, so I know I need to journal them. I love keeping a family journal on this little blog so pardon the lack of chronology here.

After Leon finished finals, we decided to make the trip to Palmyra, NY that has always been on our bucket list. We drove the three hours to Albany and stayed the night in a hotel. Ellie loves hotels. She runs directly to the bed and starts jumping and screaming, "Its party time!!" Love that girl. And I'm pretty sure the Marriott in Albany had the best blueberry muffins I have ever had. I love me a good blueberry muffin. We even got in a trip to the pool. Can't beat running around playing sea monster with this toe head two year old.

The next day we drove the next three hours to Palmyra. It was an unbelievable drive. So pretty. We went and toured Joseph Smith's house and farm then we went into the sacred grove. The log cabin that the Smiths lived in when Joseph was a boy was tiny. And we complain about our boston digs, ha.

The family outside of the Smith's log cabin house

 The Smiths old log cabin

I don't know why I put this on here but its the inside of the cabin. Not really important but I'm too lazy to edit.

In the Smith's apple orchard

Mommy and Ellie bonding time cooling our toes in the creek.

Love my little piece of perfect.

 The sacred grove

When we entered the grove a peaceful spirit overcame me. I knew without a doubt that something very special happened there. I knew that God the Father and Christ Himself showed there presence in that grove and I was humbled to be able to walk in such a holy place. I felt so close to the Savior and Heavenly Father and felt so grateful for all I have been given in this life. I am beyond blessed and know that the time we spent in that special place with our family was priceless.

The next day Leon got up early and did a session at the temple. I was able to go as well when he got home. Then we took the kids to the temple to check it out. Elle wanted to go inside so badly but was content admiring the flowers outside. It took everything in her little body to not pick them. I had to keep telling her that they were Jesus' flowers and that we can't pick them. She also had been learning a special song that she performed in front of the temple. Hearing her sing I Love to See the Temple is one of the most special things in the world. I love it so much.

 My Love.

Then we went to the visitor's center at Hill Cumorhuh and watched a video about families that really touched my heart. Mostly because mine was to be sealed in the temple in just a few days from then. How grateful I am for them. A missionary gave Ellie a picture of Jesus that she wouldn't put down. She said she wanted to put it in her room when she got to London. You can see her holding it in the picture below. We trecked up the hill and got so see the monument. Elle kept asking if she could go find the gold plates. She really wanted them because gold is her favorite (she has learned to say everything is her favorite because she can get what she wants that way...manipulative girl ;) ).

It was such a fun trip. I love spending time with these folks.

Brighton

Guess what! We are officially in England. It has been a week and we have already done and seen so much. The city with little ones is quite the experience. I try to get out everyday and see something new and I always come back exhausted. In the past week my two year old and 7 month old have been to the museum of London, the Tate Modern, Borough Market (more than once), Trafalgar square, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Spaitlefield Market, the British Museum, and the London South Bank. Talk about an exciting week, right? Ellie even asks me one day, "Mom, what are we going to learn at the museum today?" You know you are being a good parent when they start asking that right? haha. I think that makes Holli a great parent because my nephew asks her stuff like that all the time. 

Anyway, most recently we took a family trip to the seaside town of Brighton. Leon and I got up early Saturday morning and packed up the kids and headed to the train station. It was freezing and cloudy and we were all a little nervous that mother nature did not have the perfect beach day in store for us, but we ventured on. It was our first train ride as a family through the English countryside and it was beautiful. There is something so charming about an English cottage surrounded by sparkling green grass. The sun was finally coming out and it made for some wonderful scenery. So after an enchanting 45 min train ride we were there.

First stop in Brighton was the Marina and beach of course. We sat by the sea and ate our home made lunch.  The beach was full of pebbles instead of sand and it was a little less comfy than the beaches back home, but it still made for a great time. In fact, I loved it for Jet because he wasn't able to take handfuls of sand and fill his mouth with them. He just sucked on rocks the whole time. Which I'm cool with. Ellie loved throwing the rocks into the sea. So did Daddy come to think of it.

After lunch we took a stroll along the beach. We walked to the boardwalk and were amazed at what a fun place Brighton was. It is so funny how one's conception of fun changes once they become a parent. I couldn't wait to watch Ellie ride those silly little kiddie rides. She especially loved the carousel and the kiddie roller coaster. I loved the light house slide. 

We ate fish and chips, made some new friends and finished the day off with some chocolate and a walk down the Themes. It was such a perfect day and I wish Leon didn't have to go to work and that money grew on trees so that everyday could be so good haha.

We love and miss you all!

Love, Us

 First train ride. I give them and A+.

 So nice to have Daddy's help

 Lunch on the beach. Sandwich for me and rocks for Jet pack.

 Bahaha I love Jet's face here. He is too funny.