Loving London...

Well, not entirely, but we have had plenty of fun and we are looking forward to another few happy days before we head home. I can't believe how fast the time is going now.

So, we left Scotland on Tuesday. Monday night Sharon & I went to see Mama Mia - it was fabulous. Sharon's sister, Fiona looked after the kids, who were safely asleep before we left. The plan was to go see the movie, then out to dinner and on to a pub if there was time. Unfortunately, Fiona called us just as we were coming out of the movie to say that Jake had been up various times and that he'd been sick and had been complaining of an ear ache. She tried giving him paracetamol, but he wouldn't take anything. Jake had gone back to sleep, so Sharon & I decided to still go for dinner, which was absolutely delicious. By the time we got back, Jake was awake again and was still moaning about a sore tummy and ear. Early on Tuesday morning, we headed off for the doctor and the nurse confirmed that Jake does have an ear infection. He's on antibiotics, so hopefully it'll all be cleared up by the time we fly out on Saturday. We decided that we'd leave Scotland a few hours earlier, mainly so that Jake could get settled and into bed at a reasonable time. Instead of saying our goodbyes at 16h00, we did them at 11:30. Very tearful, I'm shocking at goodbyes. Jake is really missing Emma and keeps asking when we're going back there. Had a good laugh on the train too - Jake was SO excited to see the sky when we got nearer to London (the weather was nice for our 1st evening). He jumped out of his chair and said 'Mommy, I can see blue sky' Just goes to show how bad it was in Scotland, even though people kept telling me I'd been lucky with the weather...

When we arrived in London, Jason and Jake made the most delicious braai (BBQ) for our dinner. We had some wine and chatted the night away.

Yesterday, Jake & I caught the hop-on-hop-off bus tour in London. Jake was quite a handful. I thought he'd enjoy the bus, especially after the tour we did in Glasgow, but he was really bored. He loved the boat trip down the Thames and obviously, Hamley's was a real winner (although an expensive stop). We had lunch and ice cream in Hyde Park and stopped to check out Buckingham Palace. We did a lot of walking, which I guess is why Jake was so miserable. Oh! We also saw the Queen!! We were just on our bus tour, going towards St Paul's Cathedral and saw a bit of a commotion, so hopped off to see what was happening. The next thing, the traffic was stopped and the Queen drove past. We saw her getting out her car and going into St Paul's. Just something for the royalists out there...

Today, Jake & I met an old South African friend, Abbey in Wimbledon for lunch. Was really good to catch up with her. We went on to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs (Jake behaved like such a brat though, we left without seeing everything). We also stopped in at the Science Museum, which was tons of fun for Jake, but his feet were beginning to get sore and I ended up carrying him around for the rest of the afternoon. My arms are dead! Jason's going away for the weekend, so tonight is our last night with him and we're going out for dinner in Watford.

Tomorrow's our last full day here. Jake & I have decided that we'd like to go to London Zoo, although it's forecast to rain (when doesn't it here?). We've also booked tickets with Sandi for The Lion King tomorrow night. It cost a small fortune for Jake & I to go, but I've wanted to see it for ages, so I'm really glad we're going. It's also very long - nearly 3 hours and only starts at 7:30, so fingers crossed Jake will behave.

Saturday morning, we're meeting family friends (the Bullmores) in London (Bond Street) for brunch at 10am. Looking forward to catching up with them before we head on home. I've also got to do some shopping - haven't looked inside a store since I got here and all the sales are on!

This is probably my last post before we head home. Thanks for reading and see you when I get back to the sunny side!

Love you all lots,

Sue xxx

PS I've left the cable to download photos in Scotland, so sorry, no photos till I get home!