Kew Gardens - Orchids

Somewhere in between bouts of sickness I forced myself to head in to town (it's a rough life, but someone has to do it, right?  ;) ).  Kew Gardens has an annual orchid exhibition and time was running out for me to see it.  I saw, maybe, five percent of the gardens so will head back when the outside weather is not so bitter and I feel better - but the orchids were stunning.

The previous tenants left two almost dead orchids in my kitchen that I've been nursing back to health.  Not nearly as visually stunning as the entire collection, but considering they were pretty well dead, not half bad, either....

Interlude

This is obviously the start of where the kidneys and sickness started to unravel us.  Reviewing my camera shows very few pictures for a while....

A pretty rainbow on the way to get Katy from school:

A very sick kiddo who fell asleep on the couch after school one afternoon (her fever lasted about 12 hours - she gave it to me and it lasted 6 days!)

Dogs enjoying the first real sun of spring...

And long walks with no particular purpose....

Last Day of Break

I let Katy guide the day for her last day of break.  Of course, she wanted to ride the London Eye!

Next she said she wanted to see "The London Bridge" so I obliged.  (Only later did I realize she probably meant the bridge at the Tower of London - London Bridge is actually extremely sterile and boring). We ended up in front of a lovely church and market.

At the market a cupcake was procured to celebrate a Uncle Kevin's birthday from afar:

As we were right by the Golden Hinde we wandered over to take a look.  Unfortunately, they were sold out for the day.

It was *cold* so hot chocolate and coffee were in order with a perfect view of the ship.

A great last day of break!

Royal Albert Hall

On Wednesday I took Katy and Nia to see a kids performance at the a Royal Albert Hall.

It was a fun little performance and our day was going well.  I took the girls to see the fashion exhibit at the V&A and we were obviously nearing the end of our energy.  One last trip to the bathroom was our undoing!  Somehow Nia managed to lock herself inside a stall in the bathroom and couldn't get out.  She panicked.  Full screaming panic.  Stalls here are different as the doors often go floor to ceiling.  Luckily, there was about 4 inches of space on the bottom so I could hold her hand under the door to reassure her I wasn't leaving her while a stranger kindly went for help.  Finally Nia was freed and we decided to head for home.  I have a feeling Nia may never want to go on an adventure with Katy and I again!!

Break Time!

And just like that, Katy was suddenly on her first half term break!  (School is almost year round here but there are frequent week and two week breaks throughout the year - half term breaks are typically a week long...)

We spent the first day lounging in pajamas.  

Day 2 we met up with friends and headed in to town for a museum.  Not many pictures, but Katy and Nia were two peas in a pod at lunch.

And due to some issues Katy ended up on her first London cab ride!

Camden Market

Wow!  That about sums up Camden Market.  What a fun area.  Millions of little shops and places to eat all in a jumbled maze.  It was so crowded but fun to see...

Childhood Festival

We decided to see what the Childhood Festival was all about.  There was an advertised book swap, so a few we're read a last time on the train ride to town.

First stop: lunch and pigeon chasing.

On the bridge pilon there was an old skateboard graveyard - quite a toss....

Inside - kid powered DJ tunes....

Coloring on the walls was encouraged....

And face painting!!

Afterwards we headed to the big mall here.  Fairly uneventful except that we found the Tesla dealership and oohed and ahhed over the cars.  Katy and I even sat in one :)