London

 After Rye we got back on the train to head to London for the rest of the week.  We went to St Pancras Station and got the obligatory Harry Potter pic.

 

 

Then we stopped for lunch and got some REAL fish and chips.  They know what they're doing in London, it was fantastic.  They also serve fish and chips with mushy peas, I could do without that.

 

 

We met up with Darcy and Madi and headed out to explore the city.  Here's a pic of us at Green Park, it was gorgeous. 

 

 

This is a blurry pic of Westminster Abbey, it was gorgeous and a very intersting tour. 

 

 

Here's me and Miss Madi.  Just love her smiles :) 

 

 

Outside of Westminster Abbey there is a pretty good view of the London Eye and Big Ben. 

 

 

Here's a pic of our cutie patootie on Thanksgiving sporting his jack-o-lantern shirt. 

 

 

Obligatory pic with a phone booth and as a bonus also got a double decker bus. 

 

 

We stopped by M&M World at Picadilly Circus and Cole was much more interested in running around than posing for pictures. 

 

 

Jason met up with us on Friday and we headed to Winter Wonderland.  This is a huge carnival in Hyde Park.  There is tons of shopping, bars, food and rides!  We got a great commemorative Christmas ornament, some great souvenirs and gifts! 

 

 

Cole wanted to ride on the train. 

 

 

One humorous tidbit from our travels around London cannot go unshared.  We used public transportation the entire time and almost entirely without a mishap.  One of the times we were trying to hop on the tube (basically the London subway) we had some stroller/door issues.  We (attempted) to hop on quickly right before the doors closed and unfortunately, the door closed on the stroller when Ryan was trying to push it in.  When the door popped back open it hit the lever near the front tire and the front tire fell off into the tube car.  I picked up the tire and thinking that Ryan and Cole were going to be stuck on the platform threw the tire out of the car.  At the same time Ryan picked up the stroller and ran into the car.  Hmmm.  I then ran out onto the platform to retrieve the tire, I turn around in time to see the dumbfounded looks on Ryan and Darcy's faces as the doors close and I'm left on the platform.  Point of the story, mind the gap and the doors.

 

Rye, Sussex

We headed over to the UK for Thanksgiving week and had a BLAST!  I do have a couple suggestions for anyone wanting to travel international with small children:  First, your child is too big to be a lap child.  I don't care how big or tiny your baby is he/she is too big.  Second, even if your flight leaves right around bed time no one will sleep like planned, everyone will stay up ALL night.  Third, do it!  Even though we had a couple rough patches with Cole I am so glad he came with us!  Here is what Cole looks like after staying up all night.

 

 

Here's what Ryan looks like, haha, good thing I was the one with the camera.

 

 

 We flew into Heathrow and everyone was so kind at the airport.  They let us jump the line at customs because we had a little one.  We then hopped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station.  From there we hopped on the tube to St Pancras station and then hopped on a train destined for Rye.  Public transportation is amazing!  (my suggestion for anyone going to London, would be not to take the Heathrow express unless you are in a rush, definitely more expensive). 

 

This is the view from the doorway of the apartment we stayed in.  This arch was build in 1369!!!  Rye was on the coast back in the day and was run by the smuggling gangs!  It has a very interesting history!

 

   

 

This is a picture of the restaurant right next to the arch.  It was closed the entire time we were there, but I thought it looked like it could be a part of a Christmas village!

 

 

And this is a picture of our apartment.  It was teeny, tiny.  I don't think we got any pictures of the inside.  It had a wonderful wood-burning fire place the we took advantage of every night! 

 

 

Walking through the arch this is the view you see just down the road.  I'm telling you, Christmas village!  We really felt like we walked into a story book! 

 

 

Here's Cole and I enjoying some sausage and mustard 'crisps'! 

 

 

This is the Rye Castle.  And Ryan and Cole are standing on real cobblestone roads!  It was gorgeous!

 

 

This is a view from the castle looking towards the women's prison.

 

 

This is a cemetary in the middle of town, I just thought it looked neat. 

 

 

Here's Cole wearing a crown and posing as a knight, right before he knocked over the whole display. 

 

 

This is a beautiful fireplace from one of the restaurants.  It was so large you could walk into it! 

 

 

More pics to come!