We arrived in London later than expected. Although it was early morning, all planes that come into Heathrow can't come in before 6 am. So as you can guess, a lot of planes landed around the same time. We stood in customs for nearly an hour, while Stuart was already waiting on the other side. Fortunately he had coffee for me once we got through customs.
We got our rental car and headed to Grandma and Granddad's house to see Aunty Louise, Uncle James, Billy, Zoe, Uncle Barnes, Aunty Anna, Bella, Sophia, and Eliza. It was a mini reunion. The kids played in the garden, had a bite of lunch and then we were off to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Once we were in Hastings, we unpacked and the kids went straight out the the garden. They had a great time. The fresh air and grass is a wonderful change for them. After the kids had bathed and were in bed, we sat in the garden while Grandpa played his guitar, and then retired for a much needed sleep.
I woke up around 7:30 am and started getting ready to go to London. We had decided to go up for the night to stay with Lou and James. We got on the train at 10 am and arrived at the hotel just before noon. Lou checked us all in and we went for lunch while James worked for a bit.
We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant and then took the kids to Hamley's toy store and bought some toys for all of them. This is the largest toy store I have ever seen. There were five floors.
We decided to take a cab back to the hotel. On our journey we saw Louise on the street as we were stopped at a light. That was a shock and wouldn't happen again if we planned it. She met us back at the hotel and we walked to Covent Garden around 6 pm. We watched a street performer and then decided to have dinner. Barnes met us once he was finished working. We ate at Wagamama, a noodle restaurant.
After eating we walked around some more and went down on the Embankment. After some beautiful views of the city, we headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
We got up Tuesday morning and headed to breakfast. Stuart, the kids and I checked out of the hotel, but left our bags at the front desk. We walked down the mall toward Buckingham Palace, so we could see the Changing of the Guard.
We were up just before 7 am for breakfast and a catch up on Skype with Uncle Matt. James, Lou and the kids came over just after 10 am. They had stayed at a local hotel, but Billy was going to be at Grandma's for the rest of the time they were in the UK. It would be impossible to keep Billy and Jack away from each other.
We went to lunch with Granny and then went to visit Grandad Tom's grave site. We took flowers and the kids were angels. It was a very special time for al of us.
Once we were back at Highwoods, Stuart and I got ready to go to dinner with our friends Jane and Paul. We hadn't seen them for at least two years. We had a wonderful time with them and I sold two books. Ha! I have no shame!
Thursday brought family fun and a beautiful lunch in the garden. Stuart and James went to pick up Granny, and we spent most of the day outside. Stuart took Granny home, the kids showered and went to bed, James and Lou headed back to their hotel, and we all called it a night.
Friday was a day of lounging around in the morning and a trip to see Anna and the girls in the afternoon. Lou left to spend a day in Brugge with her mother and the kids and James stayed with us. James left for the airport about the time we left for our time with Anna and the girls.
Bedgebury Pinetum was our destination to hunt for the Gruffalo. After the time in the park, we went to Barnes and Anna's. The kids loved the trampoline and picking berries in Anna's garden. They were worn out by the time we left.
We left for Grandma's just after 9 pm. We were all very clever to give phones and iPads to the kids to keep them awake. The kids' feet were stained from the grass and dirt. Scrubbing did very little good. The kids had some cereal and then went to bed.
We got up Saturday morning and went to the Mermaid, a restaurant on the Hastings seaside, for breakfast. We saw Sam, Daisy and Xenia, as well as Maria. We always try to catch up with them when we are in town. We used to teach with Maria and Sam. After breakfast we went to Marks and Spencer to check out the sales and then did a bit of a grocery shopping for Grandma for sausages.
Once we were home, the kids played inside. It rained for a bit, but then cleared up for the afternoon so that the kids could go with Grandpa into the woods. They were out there for over an hour.
The kids bathed before dinner. We had a lovely BBQ and sat around chatting for quite a while. Once the kids were in bed, Grandpa got his guitar out and finished the evening with song and wine.
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