The Biggest Playground in the World & London!

No, the biggest playground in the world is not in London. It's in Alnwick and it's called Lilidorei. The play structure is massive and impressive but the favorite thing for the kids and us was painting and finding these rocks that were hidden throughout the playground. We brought a few of the rocks home as souvenirs. After a few days in Northumberland with family, we arrived in London! Hearing the kids recognize and callout the big sights was pretty cool. I often come across questions from adults questioning why travel with kids when they won't remember much? Here's my take.. while they may or may not remember (although my kids seem to remember), it's about the experience and how the experience will help them grow emotionally and mentally. Being in a foreign city and not being afraid to take public transportation, walk the unfamiliar streets, see different walks of life, eat various foods, and all that experience will help shape them into being more well adjusted humans.

Anyway, London in the summer is unsurprisingly crowded and you really grasp this visiting the Natural History Museum. We had reserved tickets for the 10:15am time slot (they open at 10am) and still the building is at capacity within 30 minutes. It gets so crowded that you actually just want to look for the exit, so first time visitors, keep that in mind! 

On our list was also the Transport Museum which the kids ran through the place trying to complete their scavenger hunt. They were quite successful at it but not without being asked to "slow down" from one of the security monitors. We had some really good meals while we were in London and hands down, our favorite was a restaurant called Dishoom. They have various locations and we frequented the Covent Garden one nearly every day. They open at 8am for one of the best breakfasts in town! 

For lodging, we stayed at the Park Plaza Hotel across the Thames River with a view of Big Ben and all the surrounding glory. Traveling with a family of 5, the challenging part is finding a property that would allow 5 of us in one room as the kiddos are too young to want to stay in their own and neither of us are interested in single parenting in the evening. I wish the property was a bit closer to the tube lines but it more than makes up for it in the view! Until next time, London!