Kensington Palace

Back into London we go!  This time we went to Kensington Palace.  We had to take a detour to get to the palace and by the time we made it there we were hungry!  So instead of immediately jumping into the queue we found some protection from the rain to eat our picnic lunch.  Lunch was simple, but the scenery was fabulous.  It was so relaxing just to be sitting there in the park!  

At least until my kids made it a battle zone and started sword fighting...

and rolling down the hill...

and running down the lane...

  Their enthusiasm made a lot of other tourists stop, smile, and grab their kids to roll down the hills too.  We finally made it inside the palace, and I thought it was the perfect size.  It was smaller than Hampton Court which meant that my kids made it through without losing interest.  

They also liked what they saw here at this palace, such as the costumes.  Kelton said he wouldn't mind dressing as a courtier.  

And McKenzie's look says it all, "Please can I wear a pretty dress like that?!"  

Of course that came after the initial shock of seeing the dress styles and thinking, "What kind of dress is that?"  

Nana wanted to pose with the kids at the game table, but once she had them sitting they wanted to play a real game and we had a hard time getting them to leave.   

We left the main tour of the palace then headed downstairs to see the Diana fashion exhibit.  I was surprised that even Cambrie liked looking at all the dresses.  McKenzie wanted to know everything about each dress, where Diana wore it, when she wore it, etc.  Cambrie came home inspired and started sketching designs for some of her dolls in the same way Diana's designers sketched their ideas.  

The white gardens outside of the palace was really pretty.  Surrounding the main pond and flower garden was a tree-covered walk way with cutouts along it's edge to see the garden.  All my kids enjoyed taking time to stop and smell the roses.

The kids were worn out from their museum-ing, so we took them to the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Playground.  That was a huge hit!  If I lived nearby I would bring my kids there all the time to play.  There was a toddler-sized zone with a slide, climbing toys, and sandbox for Daxton, and there were a bunch of different areas for the big kids.  

The pirate ship was their favorite.  They could climb way up in the crow's nest, go below in the brig, and swing from all of the ropes on deck.  

There was a treehouse section where Kelton liked to run; a musical grove tucked away where kids could play music on chimes, pitch rocks, and other instruments; a teepee area; a climbing fountain; and trails where they could run and get lost without ever actually getting lost.  

I had to bribe the kids to leave the playground with pastries from a pastry shop we passed on our walk there.  I'm embarrassed to say that I was stopping more for myself than for the kids.  I saw those sweets and had been drooling thinking about them all afternoon. 

 Leesa and I definitely wore out the kids.  They all tried their best to sleep on the way home but it was a little difficult with two subway transfers, a train transfer, and a walk home from the train station.