Museums, First Taste of London Rain and a Really Cool Park

Friday we decided to check out the British Museum if it was rainy and a park if it was nice.  The day dawned beautifully but characteristic of London, by the time we were ready to leave, it was dripping on us.  We donned our rain jackets and off we went.  The British Museum required good ride on the tube and a nice walk from an unfamiliar station.  It took a few tried to get it right but we were there by 11.  We quickly realized everyone had the same idea we did.

My littlest tube rider.

Jonathan really wanted to see the Rosetta Stone which is what everyone else was there to see.  We walked around to a side and I pushed him in front because there was no way he was going to get in front of all those adult strangers.  I think Jonathan really enjoyed the museum.  He was interested in what metals were used.  He found the different artifacts interesting and listened to me talk about the history bits I can remember.  We walked through a bit of the Ancient Greece portion and then headed up to the mummies.  Again, so was everyone else.

Very British row of houses on our way to the British Museum.

I was actually a bit disappointed in the exhibit.  It was just like any other exhibit just with mummies, though still really neat.  I was expecting something grand, probably because as a kid I thought mummies were really cool, actually, I still do.  I expected some awesome decor like in "Night at the Museum".  I really shouldn't "believe" everything I see on television! ; )  (Managing expectations is a huge challenge on a trip like this.)  It was also hard for me to really see anything because of all the people and trying to keep track of my kids.  The other kids also, weren't really impressed but I think it had more to do with the crowds than the actual museum.

We left the museum and it was raining pretty good so we ate our squished PB&J sandwiches and apples just outside the museum.  After lunch, the kids asked for something a little more interactive so we decided to check out the Science Museum.  This required another trip on the Tube and a rather long walk.  We went in a more round about direction and ended up walking a lot.  Spencer really wanted to go to the park and the rain kept starting and stopping so we went back and forth as to whether we were going to make it there or not.

As we walked up the street we passed the Hyde Park LDS Church building.  The kids were asking for a break so we stopped at the Visitor Center to see what they had inside.  A sweet sister missionary took us in to watch a video about God's plan for the family.  We've seen it before and it is always touching.  It was a good respite from the chaos of everywhere else we'd been.

I think this was a model of the Lunar  landing module. 

As we left the rain really picked up but we were right across from the Science Museum so we decided to step inside there and see what it had to offer.  This is a cool museum.  There were a lot of really interesting exhibits and hands on teaching.  Again though, it was super crowded.  We went downstairs to where there was suppose to be a lot for the little ones to do but there was a considerable wait to get into the play room.  We were only there for about 45 minutes but we will go back.

When we left the rain had let up so we headed to the park.  This time we made it and we are glad we did.  It ended up being a bit of a hike for the day but it was enjoyable.  The playground was the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.  It is heavily themed on Peter Pan and there is lots of sand, water, trees and shrubs to hide in and it's gated and monitored, so rather safe.  The kids were in heaven.  Ben loved the water and even though it was a cool day he splashed and splashed for about an hour until he got too cold.  Spencer sat in the sand for most of the time and just shoveled sand around.  Charlotte, Hannah and Jonathan happily ran around, explored, and imagined. Hyrum met us there after work so we could all ride the Tube home together.

Shoes off and ready to play!!

Hannah and Jonathan climbed up in the rigging around the mast. 

20 minute tube ride is a great place to get in some reading or catch a few zzzzz's.

Ben finally getting nap for the day.

Each day gets better and better as we learn out way around and become more comfortable here.

(Sorry the pictures aren't great.  These are all from my phone since it's way easier than taking the camera with everything else I have to carry around for the day)