Tuesday, October 9: Natural History and Harrod's

Today started out a little differently. Besides the warm shower that is. The boys practically shoved me out the door. They were up and ready to go before me! We were smart enough to check the weather last night so we changed our plans from the Tower to the Natural History Museum. In retrospect a brilliant idea because South Kensington station has an underground walkway that allows you to emerge quite near the museum entrance.

I had forgotten the beauty of the exterior of the building but definitely remembered much of the interior. I don't think they have changed the taxidermy models since I was there in 1976. Some were a bit threadbare in spots. We checked our coats and then went through the dinosaur and human biology exhibits. Based on behavior, I'd guess Colin enjoyed the dinosaurs more and Liam the human biology section. In another reversal of circumstance, I was hungry for lunch before them. Colin insisted we see the blue whale I had told him so fascinated my sister and I thirty-one years ago before he would go eat. He and Liam agreed it was pretty damn big.

We spent enough money at the restaurant to get one of the kids into the temporary Antarctic exhibit for free so the boys insisted we do that. Except first we had to go experience the earthquake first. Both of them were incredibly disappointed. All that happened was the floor moved back and forth. I had to explain to them that it was the consequences of an earthquake that were frightening and catastrophic, not the earth shaking itself. Although that can be a bit unnerving when you aren't expecting it. They both did like the Earth sciences halls though and were riveted by the crystals and jewels, if a tad disappointed they could not find any black onyx.

The Antarctic exhibit was really cool if you'll pardon the weak pun. I'm glad the boys wanted to do it. They have it set up as if you are in a training course to become eligible for a job in Antarctica. You scan your ticket at different places to play games. I killed one of my co-workers by not dressing him fast enough, smelled penguine vomit, drove a snowmobile into the water, but correctly predicted when a storm was ending.



After Antarctica Colin wanted to go through the mammal hall more closely. We had been there for four hours and Liam was getting antsy. He perked up a bit when we concluded our trip to the museum by stopping at their gift shop. He picked out a crystal keychain and Colin picked out a loose crystal and a model white tiger. I bought my obligatory Official Souvenir Guide that I have purchased at virtually every place we have been.



Liam wanted to go straight to the Science Museum but I convinced him to do that another day. Instead I dragged their soggy butts to Harrod's. I had it in my head we would do afternoon tea at one of the most famous department stores in the world. Miraculously the boys not only behaved they had a fabulous time and both said it was their favorite part of the day. "Please mommy can we do this again when we come back to the science museum?" Needless to say we did not go to the fine dining establishment, but one of the numerous cafes. They still got their own teapots and biscuits so they didn't know the difference. I wanted to go upscale, but 1) not a snowball's chance in hell I'd take the boys and 2) I probably would choke on the price.

I had to take the boys to the toy departments. At first they didn't see the big deal because it was "just a bunch of stuffed animals." Uh, boys...this is one room this isn't the entire department. They were absolutely blown away by one of the other toy rooms where we picked up a gift for their cousin and I went ahead and bought something all four boys can play with when we get back home. Hint: I believe you can see it in the picture. They had a wonderful time playing with both the staff and other children in the department.

I was amused to be mistaken for an Australian by two employees until I figured I must look like I've been on a plane for thirty hours. I also learned later that England had just beaten Australia in rugby this past weekend in a huge finals match, so perhaps I was viewed as a chance to gloat. The boys were impressed with the "luxury gentleman's washroom" and blown away by the prices. Liam loudly proclaimed I was too poor to shop here and if Colin said it once he said it fifteen times, "Mom, the stuff in here is waaayyy over-priced." Yes dear, but please don't shout it!

We knocked off a little early today and headed home around 5:00 p.m. Thankfully there is a Tube stop just next to Harrod's. The boys' behavior lost them the privilege of site seeing in the morning, but they probably weren't too bad. Combination of tired mom and somewhat crowded train car. Oh well, it gives me a chance to rest my feet for half a day.