Is 7am too early to have a burrito? 🌯

Asking for a friend. 🤔

Jet lag

We managed to stay up until about 8pm last night, which I thought was pretty good. The boys complained like hell about going to bed, claiming they weren't tired and wanted to keep playing on their iPads. But I couldn't keep my eyes open and Jon was already napping on and off, so we made them turn in.

5 minutes later, total silence from their room. 😉

Jon and I both woke up around 2:30am, so I let the dogs out, opened our windows (it was pretty stuffy inside the house by then), etc. We both fell back to sleep on and off for a couple of hours, but the boys woke up around 4-4:30am, wide eyed and bushy tailed 😩 so we left the house about 5:30am to check out a (new to us) donut shop. Quite tasty!!

And now we're back home.... It's 7am. 😂😂😴😴😬

Home Sweet Home

There were a couple of super tired (and quiet - yesssss!) boys sitting next to me on the drive home. Had a great time but glad to be back in the good ol' U-S-of-A. 😊

Ceremony of the Keys

I had asked Gary (in advance) to try and get us spots to witness the 700+ year old Ceremony of the Keys, if possible. Because he knows everyone (seriously!) he scored 4 spots for us to sneak in!! (Most people have to join a waiting list that is currently booked out a year)

So before that (the ceremony starts about 9:45pm), he took us to a fabulous locals pub where a famous pirate used to frequent, called The Prospect of Whitby. We had a lovely meal before then heading over to the Tower of London, where we got to meet and chat with one of the Beefeaters, and then join the rest of the group for the Keys Ceremony.

No pics were allowed during the ceremony of course, but I did grab a couple nice ones (I think!) of the castle and tower bridge, just as the sun was setting. :) It felt like such a grand ending to a spectacular trip!!

Imperial War Museum

After we toured the Abbey, we headed over to the Imperial War Museum, which was quite fascinating! The boys were beat so we didn't stay long but did a quick run through of the place. Had it not been our last day of the trip and/or a million degrees outside (which took the energy out of all of us after a lot of walking), I think we would have stayed and explored the museum much longer....

Instead we said goodbye to Gary for now (we'd meet him again in the evening), and headed out to find some yummy gelato before going back to the flat to rest for a little bit.

Westminster Abbey

After the Guards Museum, we walked over to check out Westminster Abbey. Lucky for us, Gary knows practically everyone in London it seems, and got us in via a back door entrance, where we skipped the many people waiting in the long lines to get in.

No pics allowed inside, but I did get to snap one of Gary telling the boys one of his many fascinating stories before we walked inside the church. :)

The Guards Museum

After the Changing of the Guards ceremony, we stepped into a little museum next door, the Guards Museum, to learn all about the five regiments of guards and their different types of uniforms, how to tell them apart, what famous wars they fought over the years, etc.

At the end, before leaving, my three guys tried on a real bearskin. Don't they look proper now?? ;-)