Unauthorized...

The Head at Dylan's school wouldn't authorize his absence to go to London and see his American grandparents. Dilemma?  Not really.  We spent Sunday and Monday in London with Mom, Dad, and Uncle Jace.

It was so nice to see my parents and little brother.  We drove down as soon as the kids woke up on Sunday morning and arrived about 4 hours later, at 11am.  We went into the city on the tube (the kids loved it!), got some lunch in China Town, went to the British Museum, saw the (closed) Hyde Park church building, chilled in Hyde park, headed back to the hotel, took the kids swimming, ate pizza in our room, and then attempted to go to bed.

Basically, we paid the Sheraton for the privilege of NOT sleeping in their rooms.  Monster kids were up about every 30 minutes all night long.

We got up bright and early the next morning and had breakfast with the family.  Then we said our goodbyes and Martin took them to the airport.  They had a 10am flight to catch.

It was hard to say goodbye again after such a short visit, but I was so tired that I didn't get emotional.  Autopilot doesn't have a "tears" mode.

The kids had a really good time with their American family.  They were especially taken with their uncle Jace, and demanded that he hold their hands almost the whole time.  He was really good with them.  They were happy to see their grandparents, as well.  The highlight for mom seemed to be when Edith fell asleep in her arms and she carried/held her for the next 30 minutes.

The whole visit was so brief that it still feels almost like it never happened.  But it was so lovely to see them, and it made me homesick all over again.

When Martin got back from the airport we drove to Cockfosters, which is the northernmost stop on the Picadilly line of the London Underground, and only about 3 miles from the M25 junction with the A1(M), our main road home.  It took about 40 minutes.  Then we got back on the tube and took the kids in to the city again to do a bit more sightseeing.  This time we took them to Hamley's, a gigantic toy store with really cool stuff.  They each got one small toy there.  Then, about 2 hours later, we took them to the science museum.  The first floor we went to was a bust, but then we went up to the top floor and had a great time.  There were giant periscopes, a bubble wall, experiments with viscous fluids, dry ice, sound waves, infrared cameras, Archimedes screws, arches, centrifugal force, etc.  It was all hands on and very brilliant.  We looked at our watches and it was already 4:30pm, so we made a mad dash to the underground and made it out of London just in time to beat the rush hour commute.  Straight out the gate at Cockfosters and onto the motorway, we went home without any drama or delay.  Well, other than a small tail-back near Welwyn.  We made it home at 9:15pm, and the kids happily settled into their own beds.  They had slept most of the drive home, but still slept until 6am the next morning.

And now we are back into our routine.  Well, I am behind on the house work.  But everything else is back to normal now.

We should totally do this every year, mom and dad!