Alisa had found a fantastic place to stay. The location is excellent. We also were so pleased to find an amazing playground only minutes away by foot.
The playground is called Coram's Fields. The kids LOVE it! Since its inception, thousands of kids have loved it. The story behind these fields is truly heartwarming, springing from the generosity and compassion of Thomas Coram.
Initially shocked and horrified by the sights of neglected children on his horseback ride to London from his home in 1720, he rallied many influential and wealthy people to create the Foundling Hospital to care for these struggling children. Among the people to help were Charles Dickens, William Hogarth, and George Frederic Handel.
It took 20 years but he achieved his goal through his passion and dedication and the Foundling Hospital was established, including several acres of land in the Bloomsbury neighborhood of London.
This site is dedicated to the Coram legacy and has great information about Captain Coram, the establishment of the hospital, and the evolution over the past 275 years to make it the place it is today.
http://www.coram.org.uk/about-us/our-heritage-foundling-hospital
Even as we walk into the park on a regular basis (at least 4-5 times a week), they continue to have lists of activities for kids and the always present sign:
"No adult is to be admitted unless accompanied by a child."
I feel fortunate to gain entry each time, as the joy Joey, Sammy, and Lanna show on their faces every visit is clear.
They love the basket swing:
They go crazy on the regular swings:
They love the musical pipes (but mostly just the hammer to hit the pipes with):
Sammy and Joey love the ziplines (especially with the turbo boost when I push them super fast). Joey's had some struggles there but nothing disastrous.
They've met several friends there. On one morning, it was just the four of us until two mothers arrived, each with two kids. There were 3 girls, ranging in age from 6 to 9 and one boy, probably around 10.
Before I knew it, Joey was running around with all three girls chasing him, telling them he was James Bond the superspy and driving around in his Aston Martin. Sammy would yell out, "I'm Felix Lighter!" and get some attention. They all seemed to have fun and play well together. Joey was trying to coordinate a future play date as we left, especially with Casey, the oldest of the three.
And as if the massive, sprawling playground was not enough, they also have a petting zoo, complete with goats and rabbits!
Every day the boys take turns on naming all the animals. They come up with some doozies. While "Beardie" and "Laydownie" are pretty straightforward, "Slow cock" is probably the worst name ever for any living creature.
Having this amazing playground so close has been great for all of us.
Taking a stroll down to Big Ben and the Thames is pretty easy as well. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get to the Thames and we're near the Waterloo Bridge which gives great views towards St. Paul's cathedral to the east
and Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye to the southwest.
We've had a chance to hang out with Big Ben a few times and the kids have enjoyed meeting him.
And they've also had a chance to do the eminently touristy picture of being next to, and inside of, a red telephone booth. This was across the way from the London Eye so we decided to kill two birds with one stone in this picture.
On the way down to the Thames, we walk near the Opera House and a great area called Covent Gardens.
Inside Covent Gardens is a dynamic kids museum: The London Transportation Museum!
http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk
This is essentially the Please Touch Museum equivalent in London, only with many, many more trains and buses (and no hospital or grocery store).
Joey and Sammy ask to go here at least a few times a week. Given the great price for kids (free), we have already gone a few times.
Among the activities are repairing a broken Tube train:
driving the Tube train (complete with jaunty hat):
and driving the local bus (also with jaunty hat - this appears to be a union requirement):
Between Coram's Fields, the Transportation Museum, and walking down to the Thames, these kids are pretty busy.
During our daily adventures, the boys are keen to spot any "fancy car" during the walk. They've gotten accustomed to telling the difference from Bentleys and Rolls Royce. They've seen a few Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and they've gone past a McLaren dealership which made Joey very thrilled!
They also have gotten good at spotting Aston Martin's as well.
Often they want some pictures of these fancy cars, so here's a few of the ones we've been able to photograph.
They found this white Lamborghini near the Transportation Museum and were so happy!
And right around the corner was a crazy looking BMW that Sammy wanted a picture of:
One night we stumbled across a Lotus:
Another night we saw the McLaren dealership while riding home on a double decker bus:
After dinner one night, I caught out of the corner of my eye the legendary Aston Martin DB5 (made famous by James Bond, more on this on future posts). This car was sedately parked outside the pub and I was able to capture it on film (the small, small screen).
Fortunately at the end of these days, they can come back to the apartment and sprawl out in the big living room or in their spacious bedroom and play with all the toys (yes, that includes a basic water bottle and laptop case) they've accumulated these past two months.
We'll be writing again soon with tales of adventure including the Changing of the Guard and time at Windsor Castle!
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