London - a good day.

Rob took the day off and we all went to London.  We bought Merlin passes last week - it feels very extravagant!  £400 for the 5 of us. 

I'd been planning on taking the kids to Alton Towers in June.  It's very close to Rob's parents and I know the kids will *love* it.  That would cost £150 for the day - it seemed daft not to spend the extra and be able to go to loads of other places too.

So today we collected our passes from the London Aquarium.  The train journey was great - story cubes, and games on the Nexus made time pass quickly.

It's very straightforward to get to the South Bank.  One tube journey, no changing, very little stress!  They love the tube.  Fred likes to stand up and balance as the tube rumbles along.

A short walk in the sunshine and we were there.  

There was lots to see at the aquarium.  Highlights included the jellyfish, sharks, penguins, spider crabs, sea horses, rays - pretty much everything!

We went for lunch in Giraffe afterwards.  I love Giraffe, and haven't been for ages.  It was delicious.  Fred amused himself by creating a superhero called Poop Man on the drawing table mat kids get.

It doesn't look much, but for writing-averse Fred it's a pretty big deal.  We had a few rounds of naughts and crosses too.

We had time to go on the London Eye before heading home.  I love the London Eye.  Rob is not great with heights and didn't enjoy going up, but he felt better once our pod was on the way down.  The kids enjoyed it for about 20 minutes, and then were a bit bored.  Probably not something we'll repeat unless we do an dark ride to see London lit up.

We got back just about in time to look after Will and Jeanie, friends from along the road.  They'll be here until bedtime, so there's lots more playing to be done this evening!