Grandpa visits England

The picture below is proof of the welcome Grandpa got when the boys saw him.  I decided to get them out of school early for this special occasion. They were brought through the hallway into their school reception area. Both of them saw him through the hallway door window and yelled, "Grandpa!", ran through the door and practically knocked him over.  It was a sweet scene.  

From the second we started our walk home the boys were talking up a storm, of course both at the same time, trying to vie for his attention. Once we were home the playing began! 

It was a good day which ended with a bedtime story of course. 

The next day I took my Dad to London to see the sights! 

 We did as much as a day would allow! Here is the list: 

Buckingham Palace, The Mall, Trafalgar Square, the Churchill War Rooms, Westminster Abbey, lunch at St. Steven's pub, Big Ben, Parliament, Horse Guards, the Tower of London, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, the Theater District, Carnaby Street, and Regent Street. I think that covers it.  It was such a good day. It has been some time since my Dad and I have spent a whole day together. It is a memory to keep! 

There is an amazing display of poppies at the Tower of London in honor of all the people who died during WWI. One for each person that died. By November 10th, Remembrance Sunday, there will be a total of 888, 246 poppies placed around the Tower.  It is stunning to look at and sadly overwhelming at the same time.

We had to take Grandpa to Higgy Park. The boys absolutley loved showing him around. 

On Saturday afternoon, we took him to the Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden for lunch. 

Oliver showed Grandpa his new creation- french fries dipped in ice cream. Mark used to do this as a kid and has proudly passed it on to his sons. They both love it! 

On Sunday we had a mission: Tunnel first, London Zoo second! First thing we set out for the tunnel- not without protection from The Flash and Hulk.  

 

We have started geocaching. If you like to hunt for treasure, this is the activity for you. People hide small items for other people to find. You take what is inside and leave something behind, log that you have visited the cache and off you go. The fun is in the hunt. Google it if you are interested and find out what it is about!  We found a mico geocache in our well loved tunnel. The boys were excited to show my dad the cache we had found a week before.

 

 

 

 

For superhero's, they sure know how to make everyone else do the work!

 

Hello cute Penguin!  We have arrived at the London Zoo.

 

 

Pigmy Hippo

All of the excitement of Grandpa being here has made these little boys very tired!

 

Grandpa even got to push the buggy!

 

Shortly after we visited the gorillas, we headed home.  It had been a long day- Oliver's face doesn't lie. 

 

My Dad didn't have to leave until late on Monday so we took advantage of the day.  I took him to Windsor Castle.  It was a calm Monday at the castle and I actually got to learn more that day than I have the past two times I've been. It is amazing how little knowledge you can absorb with two kids in hand!

 

Windsor Castle Selfie!

 

Once we were home, I went to get the kids from school. Grandpa spent some time playing with the boys before his taxi came. 

It takes an act of God for these kids to smile nicely at the same time.

And the silly faces... 

 

Well, Dad, we all loved having you here.  The boys couldn't get enough of you and it was really nice for me to spend some quality time with you.  Mark also enjoyed having a beer tasting partner for the weekend! Thank you for taking the trip over here.  Come back soon!!! Love you.