Welsand's in London

A zoo, farm, and open air theatre

Sophie and I have had a busy and social week! The weather in London has been absolutely perfect! Sunny and warm--what June should be all about! So we need to take full advantage before the rain comes back.

Tuesday was filled with meeting some of our friends at the local park, then onto a picnic lunch with another set of friends who sadly will be moving back to the US in under two weeks. In the evening I went to dinner with a group of women with fantastic conversation at a local pizza place. It is always nice to have other adults to talk to and Jeremy loves his daddy/daughter time so everyone wins!

On Wednesday we visited the London Zoo which is actually quite close to us, just two stops on the tube and a 15 minute walk. We went with Sophie's best friend Eva and her mum, they are regulars and knew the way which was nice. It is really a great zoo! They have a new Africa exhibit which includes zebra, giraffes, wart hogs, and more! Sophie and I went to a show called the Very Thirsty Giraffe last week (very cool venue at the Angel Theatre for kids!) with two of her friends and their mums and she is really into giraffes right now so it was perfect. The also had some really obscure animals like the Aye Aye found only in Madagascar Africa, which we know about from a unique animal alphabet book Sophie has (I learn so much from her books!) and several others from that book. There are tons of birds of course, including huge pelicans and flamingos and owls, some of our favorites. You can walk through the butterfly house which has live butterflys flying around, very cool! There is also a bird area that has free flying birds as well, though we didn't make it to that exhibit. The otters were enjoying a nice lunch of dead mice but were really entertaining the kids with running and swimming around to it made it worthwhile. Finally, the children's area allows the kids to pet a few goats and sheep and get closer to some bunnies and other critters. I got headbutted by a goat in the knee--nice! But Sophie had a great time with her best gal pal Eva and her mum RoiAnn as did I. We will be back...


In the evening I was invited to A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare at the Regent's Open Air Theatre
. The weather could not have been better! It was a fantastic venue! Watching theatre outside, how nice! The play was really enjoyable, my first Shakespeare! It was a great evening. We caught a little dinner before the show at the Theatre (due to lack of time) which was good and enjoyed drinks and laughs afterwards! Oh, to be out without children. Thanks again RoiAnn!~

On Thursday, we spent most of the day at the Willows Farm Village. Sophie's friends Sam and Harry invited us with. Some places in London, like this farm, are just not accessible via public transport so having your own car is essential. We don't have a car, but Sam and Harry's mum Tracy does. The kids loved this place! The guinea pig village was the first stop and a favorite since the walls of the "village" are so low the kids can get up close and see them well. In another section they allow the kids to hold bunnies and other small critters--another hit with Sophie! The Tractor Trek was next and allowed the kids to pedal around on little John Deere's (Teresa--Joshua would have been in heaven!). I bought some animal food and we fed some sheep, goats and a huge Shire horse named Ben--the absolute biggest horse I have ever seen! This creature was enormous! The farm also has rides on Tristan the Runaway Tractor. This is a narrated ride which goes past some sheep, cows, scarecrows and through water and mud. Sophie loved going through the "pond". After a picnic lunch and a little play on the equipment it was time to go. All three kids were sleeping with 10 minutes of leaving the farm--success! We wore them out! Thanks to Tracy and the boys for the invite!

posted by Chris @ 3:24 PM