We headed to the big Smoke for most of half-term, travelling in style with this BMW 2 series Gran Tourer from JCT600 whom I’m working with.
It is a total babe of a car!
My kids: aren’t they just gorgeous
Argh the car! Such a smooth, smooth drive people (more about that in a dedicated post road Trippin’ with The BMW 2 series Gran Tourer ) so zooming from Norfolk after a fun stay at Potters resort for the big Smoke, meant the kids were luckily entertained all week.
Having lived in London for 11 years, only moving back to my home town of Leeds in Yorkshire when Oliver was 1 (and being back in the big Smoke at least once a week for work) means Peter and I know the city well. very well.
However, we rarely check out the capital with the kids and felt it was high time to head back and make like tourists for 6 days, doing everything we always promise them we’ll do when we next visit.
We were spent most of our time in Kensington, ending the week with a day trip to Windsor at the magnificent Legoland (POST HERE)…
And no, we didn’t stay at hotel Oliver but Oliver was so excited to see his namesake hotel, we had to take a snap!
London will always be my BAE, it’s even pretty when it’s grey!
Now as I’m honest Mum, I’m going to be honest and say that reflecting on the week away with the kids there were some very testing days-particularly at the beginning of the week where I was driven to asking if the science museum ‘do’ wine. FYI they do.
The kids fought relentlessly at the start of our London break, so much so, Peter wanted to abandon the break and head home.
Now, I’m not sure whether there was a full moon or something but by Wednesday, the ‘terrible twosome’ woke up, transformed children. maybe it was all those threats of boarding school that did it!
Suddenly, they were best pals again.
And breathe. Or shop (the latter makes me just as happy).
Hello Topshop!
And here I am in my new Topshop ‘down with the kids’ (literally) jeans, gilet and substantial hoop earrings, the happy antidote to kid-related stress.
Fighter jet photobomber-
Boho mama style at its best right?
When in London, we always head to Westbourne Grove and areas close by , an area I used to live in when I first met Peter so it holds special memories…
The boys loved playing in the Princess Diana Memorial garden and can be seem below (fittingly) creating sand angels by the play boat there.
I also got some mama time out- and the man who came to the rescue was hair extraordinaire Jason Collier (Victoria Beckham’s hair stylist no less) who proceeded to give me a head transplant (well it felt that way)-colouring and blow drying my hair at Smooth You in Dalston Square: the most exquisite salon imaginable!
So elegant yet unpretentious and relaxing too.
Dreamy.
Inevitable blogger selfie with hair dye on shot!
Now let’s take a minute to look at my mane and give it the respect it deserves.
Swish.
So lush!
And the blow dry lasted forever too.
This is what Jason used on my hair (colour was L’Oreal 5 amazing cover for my roots as I have a stubborn little greying spot)
Original Mineral hydrate & conquer Shampoo
Original Mineral seven Day miracle Masque
KHairpep Transforme Masque
And how cute is Jason’s pooch Smoothie?!
Such a wonderfully restorative experience!
…And what followed continued to be fun, fun, fun!
We got to hang out with terrific friends, check out Hamleys, stuff our faces (BOY did we eat-is there any actual food left in London since our visit?) and LAUGH until it hurt- you know those contagious belly-laughs you just live for-we couldn’t stop and it was so needed too.
Now I mentioned we ate a lot so it’s only fair to share what and where.
Big thanks too to my favourite sushi restaurant, Feng Sushi in London Borough for the lip-smackingly good lunch.
Veggie maki, salmon gyoza, sashimi, soft shell crab in brown rice, salmon and avo hand rolls and ice cream and cheesecake and chocolate mochi for afters.
Epic.
…Highlights were hanging out with my terrific blogging pal Nomita of Ebabee and her sweet daughter, scoffing the best burgers in town at Shake Shack (literally) and watching our kids bond. Beautiful.
Beef hotdogs, crinkly chips and the tastiest cheeseburgers I’ve ever eaten!
Yum!
Also seeing one of my oldest, closest pals Amancay, The lady of the world and THE lady who convinced me to start blogging back in 2010, was, as always, a joy.
Xander is smitten with Amancay and held her hand tightly as we ate our way through the food market at the Southbank. told you we didn’t stop eating!
It was so good to get time with pals during our stay.
You know, when you’re around people who simply get you completely, who you can be 100 percent yourself with, well, that’s how I feel with Amancay and Nomita and hanging out with them both felt truly enriching. Those times together were a real tonic for me. An ice fizzing gin and tonic!
What else did we get up to?!
A highlight for the kids has tobe Hamleys-which was surprisingly a hoot-(I thought it was going to be stress city but it wasn’t too crowded and the kids loved it (obvs).
The boys were so dazzled by the place, they walked around eyes bright, mouths open both deciding on these helicopter things the staff were trialling (those demos sure work)!
The children also loved the science and natural history Museum-even if both boys were initially a little scared of the electric T Rex! Aw!
The last time I visited was at the GQ awards years ago. It was definitely a different experience to today but equally as wild
…The fearsome T-Rex!
There is so much to do at the museum, we whiled away hours there…
Raar!
After all that we legged it to Legoland and while there’s a whole dedicated post on our time there, I wanted to share some of the fun in the sun here too.
Wow, what a fab, fab, fab week over half term!
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