Today we stayed in our flat packing and preparing for our trip to France. Tim knew the subway system was going to be even more complex in Paris than in London, so he studied the maps and subway system. After lunch we made our way through the streets of White Chapel, bags-in-tow, to the tube. Our next stop was the Eurostar. Checking in was the same procedure as going on a plane - security and customs. The train ride was comfortable and quick. 2 hours and 40...

London was cool and cloudy on Sunday. It was Brennin's 15th birthday. We visited the National Gallery, looking for paintings by Monet, Turner, Van Gough and Rembrandt. To make sure the kids didn't get overloaded we looked for certain artists, and left once we found them. We liked this gallery much more than Tate Modern. Many of the paintings were lifelike. Mariah found a painting where the water appeared perfectly real. The building itself was beautiful, and...

June.7 Yesterday we had a short train ride to Tower Hill. Our first stop was Tower Bridge. The construction of this bridge is incredible. Tim noticed that in places the metal is layered like plywood for strength. We took an elevator to the bridge walkway. Nice views and information posted about some of the world's most renowned bridges, as well as a children's book about London were on display. Originally the drawbridge was powered by steam. The engine roo...

Saturday began with a tube ride that stopped short because of a "disturbance on the track" - not sure what that was all about but we opted to walk along the north side of the Thames. Walking is always easy here because of the endless pedestrian paths. We had a short guided tour through Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The lady who toured us through appeared to be in her late 60s. She was extremely animated about the way things were back in the day of Shakespeare ...

June 5 Today started in the middle of the night. Poor Brennin picked up the bug that Darius had. Luckily by noon Brennin was able to drag himself onto the tube and over to the theatre to see Wicked. We were impressed by how efficient the theatre handled so many people. The Apollo Victoria theatre is decorated with an under the sea theme. The stage set was brilliant! Brennin, Darius, Belia, and Mariah all said it was their favorite musical that they have ev...