Boats, Serpentines, & Wicked Witches

Kevin here.  On one particular day in London, we attempted to visit the London Natural History Museum.  For the second time.  On both this occasion and the previous attempt, the line to get into this (reportedly) great, free museum stretched out for longer than we were willing to wait with three kids.  One side affect of choosing to go to England during Easter is that British kids have a 2-week long break around Easter weekend.  And during that break, many parents throughout Britain travel on holiday, and often take their kids to London; and, of course, it's free museums.  The place was packed.

So, twice thwarted, we gave up and decided to take a 15-minute walk northwards towards Hyde Park, one of London's great green spaces.  Rain threatened, but up to that point it had been a beautiful -- if a bit chilly -- day.

From a bridge in Hyde Park, overlooking the Serpentine lake.

Kelly and Anna among the Hyde Park flowers.

One of the great things about the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park is that you can take a boat out on it.  We opted for a 6-passenger foot paddle boat (as opposed to row boats).  The woman who sold us the tickets admonished us to "be quick about it before it rains."

This was great fun and we all loved it.  Each of the kids was adamant about helping to provide foot-power and steer so Kelly and I reluctantly (hah!) let each take turns being in the back of the boat.  I got us going, then Justin and Daniel took over.  Anna was unhappy with this arrangement, since she wanted to be one of the first kids.  But she got her chance (much to her dismay).

The boys paddle.  Anna pouts because she wanted to do it too.

Anna happier now since she got a turn to paddle.

"This is harder than I thought."  Anna tries her hands instead.

My lovely wife enjoyed relaxing and feeding various waterfowl.

"Here ducky ducky ducky..."

A duck and a Swan heed the call.

Great fun!  If you ever get a chance to go to Hyde Park, check out a paddle boat!

The happy family

Now, for most families, boating the Hyde would be more than enough fun and excitement for one day. But, not us.  No way.  We're not your average family (I heard that snicker).  What's a visit to London without also heading to the West End to see a musical!

So after resting a bit in the afternoon, we set off on the tube again to the Apollo Victoria theater theatre in the West End to see Wicked!

At the theater, uh, theatre.  Showtime!

In our seats for the show.

Wicked! was great fun.  Our seats were quite good and they even provided cushions for the kids to sit on to improve their view.  The kids all had a great time watching the show and were spellbound throughout (Heh.  See what I did there?).  Seriously, they really got into it: bright eyes, mouths wide open.  Certain parts were a bit hard to follow for them (especially since it presents a somewhat alternative history to The Wizard of Oz that they know so well), but we guided them through it and they loved it.  Another great day during our time in London.