Aladdin

The girls have been so excited to go see a show, probably because I told them how much fun they were.  Aladdin is playing at the Prince Edward theater and it seemed just right for the two of them.  

We've been singing the songs trying to get in the mood and speculating about how the magic carpet was going to fly, what the genie's magic would look like, and who was going to replace Abu.  To sum it up, we were not disappointed at all!  Abu was replaced with three friends of Aladdin's who were pretty comedic, Fat Cat, Omar, and Kassim.  Agrabah was so colorful and we loved the dancing in the market place. The genie was a fast-talking bundle of personality who could really put on a show.  If you ask us what our favorite parts of the play were, we'd answer the Cave of Wonders and the magic carpet ride.  But really, the whole thing was fabulous.  The Cave of Wonders was covered in gold details, and "You Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me," was pretty spectacular.  The mouth of cave was almost identical to the animated film and looked great on stage.  Jafar and Iago had the evil laughter down pat.  The whole show was a kid's comedy and the fight scenes were incredibly cheesy, but that's what made it so great.  Each time I glanced over at Cambrie and McKenzie they were giggling and smiling at the humor.  Cambrie I think enjoyed it the most because she was old enough to follow the small plot line changes and understand the genie.  Dantley and I were even laughing at loud at some of the scenes.  

What a fun, fun show!

The Tower of London

Just across the river is the Tower.  McKenzie wanted to see the Crown Jewels more than anything.  Cambrie wanted to see where the prisoners were beheaded.  Kelton wanted to walk along the tower walls.  And Daxton really wanted to chase some birds.  I wasn't sure how we were going to squeeze it all in, but I thought we'd give it a whirl.  

On our way in.  

Once through the gates we saw the Beef Eater already starting his tour.  We stood on the outskirts for about two minutes before we decided the kids were bored out of their mind because they couldn't hear what he was saying.  Self-guided tour it is then!  

We just made it through the gate when the Beef Eater passed us and we squeezed in for one stop by traitor's gate.  We listened to the tales of the prisoners, clergymen, and queens who passed through those gates, then went off on our own again.  

As we walked through through we tried our best to keep everyone dry.  Daxton learned how to hold his own umbrella and it worked pretty well.  Poor Leesa was soaked though!

Waiting in the line to see the crown jewels wasn't bad, but it was a little bit wet.  While we waited we were happy to receive a visit from two of the seven tower's ravens.  Legend has it that as long as there are two ravens living in the Tower, then it won't fall.  I guess that means these two guys are good luck!  

We snapped a picture of Kelton with one of the guards.

And Leesa grabbed a couple other Beef Eaters to get a picture with them.

No pictures of the crown jewels so this smile of McKenzie is all I have of her gasping at the gems, diamonds, and pure sparkliness of it all!  Cambrie and I did our own fair share of gasping, ooohing and ahhhing.  They looked fantastic!  

While we stood in line, Leesa and Daxton stayed out in the courtyard chasing birds.  The pigeons flew away, the ravens just stared at him thinking he was crazy.  

After we came out of the Jewel House the rain was falling pretty hard so we took shelter in the White Tower.  Inside there are displays of suits of armor, guns, swords, and cannons.  

The boys thought this miniature suit of armor was meant just for them.  

Back outside the rain calmed down enough that we walked along the inner wall.  I thought the views were pretty neat.  The kids wanted to splash in the puddles.  

By now we reached that critical point in Daxton's routine where he becomes incredibly silly right before he crashes.  He was chasing birds.  

He was posing for the camera.  

He was actually saying, "Cheese!" like a professional cheeser.  

Time was of the essence to get him home and down for a nap but we still had to make it back to the tube station.  He insisted on walking.  Sometimes he would hold our hands, but sometimes for no reason at all he would spin in circles singing to himself.   What a goof ball.  

Here was the last picture I took of the Tower before leaving the grounds.  Cambrie helped me edit it to make it look super spooky (she was slightly disappointed she didn't get to see the darker side of the tower.  Maybe next time honey when it won't give you nightmares!)

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge, here we come!  The boys haven't ventured into London for awhile so we thought we'd take all the kids into London to see two of the most iconic sights in London, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.  

The girls have started to become quite the Sudoku gurus.  They know where to grab the papers at the train stations and love working on them while we ride into London.  The boys just think that train rides = snack time, so they're always begging for food from my backpack.  

I don't ride the same underground line often enough to know what the exit is going to look like after we pop up, and it's always a bit of a surprise.  I liked where the Piccadilly Line took us. It looked like a financial district or city center of sorts.  Lots of locals, and some really neat architecture.  Later I learned that it was right there near City Hall.  The kids loved this water-run off that went straight down the side walk.  The picture is a little overexposed but if you look you can see Tower Bridge straight through those buildings.  I really like the juxtaposition of London's castles and the modern glass, metal, and unique building shapes.   

At the end of the run-off we found Tower Bridge!  

When in doubt if you'll get a smile, just have them make goofy faces then you'll be sure you get a fun picture to look at.  

We chose a wet day to visit London.  Fortunately for us, it's really been our only wet day.  Everyone had to share an umbrella which was a little rough at times but luckily it wasn't a downpour.  

Up in the bridge we were looking forward to the glass floor.  Daxton wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.  He looked at that floor thinking, "Hey, I know better than to walk off this nice solid floor out into that abyss that will drop me 42 metres to the Thames below.  You can't fool me!"  Even holding our hands he was really nervous.  

It wasn't until we walked around to the glass floor with the reflection mirror up top that he decided it wasn't that bad.  He saw his reflection and started laughing and saying, "Hi," to us all.  We finally got some smiles.  

The other three kids thought the whole thing was awesome and came up with all sorts of games to play as they were suspended up there in the air.   

The best pic of the visit, right here.

On the way back down they had some dress-up costumes for the kids to try on.  If they had been boat captains back in the day, they would have been good looking boat captains.

We've got a captain, and two gentle-women in a top-hat and bowler hat.

 Looks just a touch big, don't you think?  

Down below we checked out the engine room which was pretty neat.  We saw the old boilers, hydraulic pumps, and everything else needed to lift the bascules.  

Even though they didn't raise while we were there, they did lift for us a couple hours later when we were over at the Tower of London, and we had a great view! 

Childhood

Adventures traveled to by train are not our only adventures.  Home is also just as exciting with these kids and their imaginations around.  Last week we had a crazy heat wave.  It was up in the 90's for three or four days, and it was toasty!  Lynda and Steven mentioned that they had a sprinkler they used for their lawn and offered to let us borrow it.  The kids had fun jumping through it, and spraying each other with the hose.  

They also let us borrow some old beach towels so the kids could dry off and hang out eating popsicles.  

Cambrie made various umbrella shade forts to give her a cool play to read.  It was just as toasty inside as outside, and if a breeze kicked up it was heavenly.  

And while this umbrella fort came a bit later, it is quite exquisite!

 

Bruce and Leesa decided to bite the bullet and order some air conditioning units, but while we waited for them to arrive we found that the coolest place inside was actually on the tile floor right in front of the fan.  It was a little nontraditional, but it worked great. 

 McKenzie used the strawberries we picked from Garsons Farm to make us a strawberry cake.  We feasted on the floor!  

Daxton beat the heat by running around with nothing on.  Tia likes to climb up into this front window so she can bark at all of the other animals passing by.  I was surprised to walk by the room and see Daxton right up there with her.  I've got another monkey on my hands.  

He is also loving playing with Kelton's train set.  He can put the track together and can spend an hour under those stairs just playing.  

Above him the girls have set up a toll booth.  I think we've been riding too many trains.  In order to get past you have to pay them in fruit, flowers, or cookies.  One or two depending on if you want a round-trip ticket or just one way.  When they have it running on laundry day they make quite a profit.

Dantley is here now, and it adds a whole new element of fun for the kids.  I think Daxton thinks he is Jeremy because he just follows D around like a little shadow.  

One afternoon the kids dressed up as knight's and ran around being slayed by Daxton.  Dax would poke them with the sword and they'd lay down dead.  All four kids were laughing so hard.  

During the game the three older ones ran up into the girls' room to hide from Daxton and Dantley wanted to see what the lock on the outside of the door did.  He locked it then suddenly realized that he couldn't unlock it.  The adults were laughing as Dantley tried every key in the lock to open it without success.  I told the girls what was going on and they started laughing too.  

  Kelton wasn't nearly as amused by the whole thing and when D finally opened the door, he came running into my arms.  

The girls strode out and rolled their eyes as they walked by.  

While the girls and I were in Paris, Kelton was invited to a birthday party.  They played games, blew bubbles, and made paper boats.  

Souvenir proof we were in Paris.  Now I don't have to borrow Bruce's while we're here!

The window by the kitchen sink overlooks the backyard and I see some silly things as I wash dishes.  Tia was really excited about something over the fence, so Cambrie picked her up so she could see over...even though Cambrie is not tall enough to make much difference.  

I also saw Cambrie running by with my umbrella.  I learned that she was trying to fly.  Ah childhood, when you think all you need is an umbrella and a big jump to fly in the backyard.  

 And when you have no cares in the world and can fall asleep on the coffee table.