A trip to Diana's Playground

Alisa commutes to Imperial College to continue her collaboration (and escape the pandemonium of the flat, although she herself will deny wanting to leave our children).

Imperial College is in a very nice part of western London, in the Kensington area, near Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, and Hyde Park.  The Thames and Big Ben are a 15-20 minute walk to the east.

Our flat is a little north of Big Ben and you can see our relation to Imperial College here:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/30+Torrington+Square,+London/Imperial+College,+Kensington,+London+SW7+2AZ/@51.5058024,-0.1824889,13z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b2fcc7f7c75:0x537c0fa134a2cbdc!2m2!1d-0.130369!2d51.5229799!1m5!1m1!1s0x48760567da220a01:0x31911b371c692e86!2m2!1d-0.1748772!2d51.4987997

We hadn't really explored the Hyde Park area very much, especially the western side where Kensington Palace is located.  It also has the beautiful Diana Memorial Playground.

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/things-to-see-and-do/sports-and-leisure/diana-memorial-playground

When I thought the Belgium Savage World playground could not be surpassed, we came across the Paris Land of Happy Chaos which seemed unbeatable.  Then we encountered Coram's Fields with rabbits, goats, and zip lines.  Now, here at Diana's playground, we've found another beautiful and unique place for the kids to play.

They immediately ran to the pirate ship and clambered all over it, although neither Joey nor Sammy wanted to climb up to the crow's nest.  Joey walked through the rope area and was satisfied with that.

Lanna, having the chance to toddle around, fall in, and subsequently dig in, the sand was thrilled.

This playground spanned a great distance and we found secluded areas that had musical areas with drums and pipes, a wooden village with trains, and sprawling structure that looked to be made from life sized lincoln logs.

Wildlife was abundant throughout the park and somewhat aggressive.  The pigeons, ravens, and squirrels there had obviously been well treated given their girth and lack of fear.  Two ravens even went so far as to spear some bread slices out of our stroller.

The kids loved it all.  Lanna, an early study from her brothers, stalked her first pigeon!

She quickly graduated to chasing mammals as she and her brothers became enchanted by a squirrel.

Between the pirate ship, the squirrels, and the diversity of things to climb and chase, the kids can't wait to return to Diana's playground.