We love London

The boys received a summertime parcel in the mail from Nanny on Tuesday afternoon, and yesterday morning we opened it with her through the magic of Skype {"Nanny" is Alan's mum who lives in England}. How perfect that it actually was the first day of summer. 

Look at the treasures we found inside {and check out the smiles on the boys' faces!}:

 Each of them got a fabulous double decker tin full of Cadbury's chocolate!

 And a super cool London Summer Olympics t-shirt.

 And a Peppa Pig mug!

Dylan's holding tight to his tin full of goodies

"Cheers, mate. Innit?"

Thank you so much, Nanny, for the wonderful goodies. What an exciting way to start the day, and the summer! Now we're looking forward to watching the Olympics on TV even more than we were before. We'll be wearing our t-shirts for sure! I can't promise there'll be any chocolates left by then though...

London Loves: Amazing Architecture

Here on the west coast of Canada, we've got some really big, really old trees. But old buildings? Not so much. The oldest building in BC is believed to have been built in the 1840s. That'd be considered pretty new in London!

One of the things I love about England is the history in the buildings. The architecture is amazing. I like to imagine the stories that the walls of those houses hold, the tales of all the people who lived there through the years. Even the gardens have a history, with their high walls and their beautiful gates.

A secret garden gate, Knebworth

Knebworth House

No idea what building this is, but it's fancy, non? The first time I was in London, I was constantly pointing out buildings and asking Wendy what they were. "I don't know," she'd say. "Nothing special. An office maybe?" 

Trafalgar Square, diagonal from the National Gallery... love the rounded edges of this building

I adore Admiralty Arch

Lamps lit on an August afternoon, Regent Street {this makes me think of the scene in A Little Princess when Sara's father takes her shopping in London}

Just off Oxford Street, less than a block in... gorgeous brick houses with beautiful doors and windows

Seriously! How pretty is this? And you couldn't even hear the traffic! How wonderful would it be to have a lovely little hideaway like this, right in the middle of the city?

I have a million and one photos of buildings in England. They are just so different to what we see in this part of the world. And so,  I expect over the years I'll take a million more.

Have you been to London? Were you as impressed with the beautiful buildings as I was?

London Loves: Buckingham Palace

Watching the Royal Wedding just reminded me of how much I love the stretch of London between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. I love the Mall, with St James' Park running alongside it. It's a busy street, but it's quite beautiful, from Admiralty Arch, straight down to the Palace at the other end. Everything about it is just so... royal!

A much younger me, Buckingham Palace, August 2001

Boys and the Palace, August 2010 {just behind the gold bit of that fence, right in the centre, is the balcony where William and Kate kissed last Friday!}

The Queen's Guard {one of many}

Heading for the statue of Queen Victoria {namesake of our city}

We like to climb up on the statues in London. From here the boys stood up to wave up at the Queen. They were convinced she was in one of the Palace windows, waving back... "There she is!" Sawyer shouted. Love. It.

Buckingham Palace is nice, but it's got nothin' on Hampton Court Palace. That place is beyond fantastic! Have you been to either? What did you think?

Scenes from the weekend, Part One

Having spent so much time in London, I feel a certain affection for the Royal Family. And because I am a hopeless romantic, I simply had to watch, and celebrate the Royal Wedding! As you may recall, I had big plans for April 29th... I actually managed to get up at 1 o'clock on Friday morning. I stayed in my pajamas, but I did put on a bit of makeup and my sparkly tiara and I was out the door before half past! I picked up Shannon at 1:45, and we were at the Empress for 2 o'clock with several hundred other people. Crazy!!! But so much fun.

Look who we ran into in the lobby of the hotel!

Fancy hotel = fancy breakfast

The beautiful Tea Lobby

One requires large quantities of tea at the ungodly hour of 2 a.m.

There were big screens throughout the Tea Lobby, so we could watch the entire wedding unobstructed. Shannon and I were so excited when Kate arrived at Prince William's side!

Sleepy, but happy

We thought about buying something nice at the hotel jeweller's...

Ran into my friend Melana in the Empress Dining Room

I hung out there for a bit, with the Queen {I mean check out that crown! it's got to be the queen, right?}

Back to the Tea Lobby... my favourite place in the hotel... it's so elegant, even when everyone's in pajamas!

There was so much delicious food. I enjoyed a lot of it, but decided to forgo the baked beans, fried bread and kippers!

I nibbled pastries and preserves instead. Mmm!

We were thrilled when they came out onto the balcony to kiss and wave at the crowd! I took a million photos. I loved the entire thing. The music, the trees in the Abbey, Kate's dress, their vows and prayers, the readings, the music, the carriage! Le sigh...

Canada Post was selling the first issues of the William and Kate postage stamps. Of course I had to buy several packs! They also had the official Royal Wedding Day postmark, so I bought a postcard for Em right away and had them stamp it. Here I am, mailing it off to her from the fancy hotel mailbox.

The sun comes up on the Empress, as Shannon and I head home. We had a wonderful, girly time and I'm so glad we went! It was a great way to celebrate our birthdays together in style...

I did other stuff this weekend too. Stay tuned for those photos on Monday. And now, I'm off to bed. Two days later, I'm still tired after my crazy late night/early morning of Royal Wedding watching! Did you see it? What did you think?

London Loves: The Thames {and its many bridges}

On my first trip to London in 1999, Wendy and I took a boat tour from Richmond to Hampton Court Palace. It was fabulous. {Note to self: Why have you not been back to Hampton Court Palace? You love that place!} This past summer, we took the kids on a river journey from Embankment Pier to the Tower of London and back to Westminster. We went with our good friends, Russ & Barbara and their kids.  You can get a cheap ticket if you've already got a London travel card. I think we paid 5 pounds each! Bargain.

Barbara and I, enjoying some girl time together before the boat arrives

Waiting for our boat on Embankment Pier

Alan and Dylan enjoying the view from the boat

Houses of Parliament

Cleopatra's Needle, an ancient Egyptian obelisk, erected in London in the 19th century

St Paul's Cathedral, way off in the distance

Millenium Bridge {did survive the Death Eaters, despite what you may have seen at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!}

Pugh boys on Tower Bridge

Isn't it beautiful?

London City Hall on the left. That's where Boris {the mayor} works. He cracks me up, that guy.

Me and D cuddled up to stay warm {it was a windy day on the Thames!}

Hay's Galleria. I love it. It's along the water, between London Bridge train station and Tower Bridge.

Definitely not falling down...

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the south bank. I've seen Macbeth performed here, and Anthony and Cleopatra. Swoon.

I highly recommend seeing London by boat. The city grew up along the river, and there's so much history to see. And if you get a tour boat operator like we had, there are all sorts of interesting stories to hear as you go!

Next time on London Loves: Buckingham Palace. Ooh, pretty!

London Loves: Hamleys Toy Shop

It's been a while since I've done a London Loves post, hasn't it? I wasn't sure I had a lot more to show you, but going through our photos this weekend I discovered that oh yes I do! So for the next several weeks, I'll be posting more of the things I love about England, and London in particular. Ready for it?

First up, Hamleys Toy Shop, the finest and oldest in the world! This place is 250 years old! Isn't that amazing? Now, until our most recent trip to London, I must confess that I had never been to Hamleys. Now that we've got kids, I imagine it will be a must-visit destination whenever we're in the capital. And rightly so, because let me tell you... this place is awesome!

Here we are at the main entrance on Regent Street. Dylan was eager to get a photo of the pirates who were sword-fighting with balloon swords and bubbles! {and how about that incredible K'nex window display?}

If you want to ride the elevator, you'll have to pass by Lucy and the lamp post in Narnia first!

Giant Chuggington trains! I think that might be Wilson?

Alan got a bit giddy in the Star Wars section! We were with his Mum, who gave us each money to choose something. He went with the AT-AT walker, of course.

I was more excited to discover the Harry Potter department! I didn't have enough money for the Nimbus 2000. But I was happy to get up close to it!

And look! It's the sword of Godric Gryffindor. I was beside myself with glee! And wondering if I should take another mortgage out on the house so I could buy it...

Wands!!! {click on the photo to get a closer look and see who these ones belong to}

The Doctor Who figures were pretty cool, too.

A crown fit for royalty {I make a good queen, non?}, and a little boy masquerading as a dragon.

We had great fun with the masks. I really loved that about Hamleys. They encourage you to touch and try everything and to play!

And of course, the sell candy too. { I can't get over how young Dylan looks in this photo, and it was only 8 months ago!} Nanny bought us some, as all good Nannies do!

Right before we headed out to find a Thorntons, Sawyer discovered the rocking horses. We were there for another half hour!

Have you been to Hamleys in London? I want to take the boys at Christmastime one year. I bet Santa's Grotto is amazing!

Next week on London Loves... A boat ride on the River Thames, and a peek at its many, many bridges. Beautiful.

PS: One day left to enter the giveaway! Quick!