Westfield Mall

I've been under the weather (just a nasty cold) so we wanted to stay out of the rain - it was pouring mid day - so we decided to check out the huge mall in London.  It was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

I had some formal dress shopping to accomplish for an upcoming event, so Ryan and Katy found other ways to amuse themselves (sorry, these are mostly blurry - people kept getting in my way)

A nice way to end the year....

More Dogs on Trains

Annie has this a Tube stuff down.  Take a nap; it will all be over soon enough!

Katy fed the swans...

Another successful journey (although, I'm not sure Pickles looks entirely happy about it)

And to end the day?  Why not be covered in chocolate ice cream....

London Zoo!

On Saturday morning we headed out in search of the London Zoo.  We expected it to be crowded and were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't.

First, a stroll through Regent's Park on the way.  

Tigers!

You have to love a country that describes an animal as "spitty."

A quick goat petting...

The penguin feeding time was well done and fun to watch.

We didn't realize until we were inside it that the walk through exhibit was for spider monkeys.  As we once again marveled at how close we were able to get, one jumped on my coat in an attempt to snatch my purse!  The volunteers said they're very crafty and have been known to snatch phones before.....

A fun day - and a nice enough zoo we walked away with an annual membership!

Tooling Around London

We were headed toward the aquarium for the afternoon but got off the Tube at the Baker Street stop to grab some lunch - we realized we were right by Madam Toussade's.  And since our annual Merlin Pass includes free admission, we decided to take a quick trip through.  The crowds were immense, so it wasn't as quick as we'd hoped, but still...

Then we headed on to our original destination, the London Aquarium.  Again, VERY crowded (but what else would we expect during the break from school) but a very nice aquarium.

Afterwards, some energy needed to be burned off in the park under the London Eye.

Yet anothe extraordinary London Day!

Oh, You Want More than Santa?

The rest of Christmas Day was a big hit, too.  Due to mail issues, the only gifts that arrived on time were the ones we bought.  And since it was just the 3 of us, it didn't take long to get through the stack.  We spent a fantastic day just playing.

And eating.  Yum.

The dogs wanted in on the action, too.

And then the Christmas Crackers and crowns all around to end the day.

Santa Came!

A very excited little girl woke up at 5:30am and was promptly sent back to bed until 6 (Mommy needed time to rub her eyes and make a cup of coffee).  At not a second past, she re emerged....

Santa really did visit!

My favorite Santa gift: