Day 8: Ropes Course, V+A, and Harrod’s

We finally relent and buy the kids fidget spinners. At least Julia’s has the Union Jack so it’s kind of a souvenir, right? Right? We have to confiscate them when walking around because otherwise they would never look up. They try to do tricks with the fidget spinners so all we hear is the sound of the the spinners hitting the ground on buses and subways over and over again.

Julia and her Union jack fidget spinner (and matching bracelet)

Doing tricks with their fidget spinners. This time they're balancing them on their knees.

We follow the lead of Hannah who just visited London, and take the kids to the Go Ape ropes course in Battersea Park. Even though it’s the Junior course, it’s surprisingly high and tricky to negotiate. When I make the mistake of trying to race across one of the crossings, I end up slamming my leg against the wood support and struggle to regain balance. Mark tells me that Julia laughed while James said, “I hope Mommy’s OK.” Reportedly, sociopath Julia also laughed when she saw two people collide on a zipline later.

Showing off our muscles after completing our ropes course. See those people high in the air crossing bridges and stuff? Yeah, we did that.

 Most British ice cream truck ever.

The harness guy hears Julia’s British accent and laughs and laughs. (The Brits seem to really enjoy hearing American children attempt their accent.) He tells the harness lady (but imagine in a slightly cockney accent), “Listen to this one. She sounds more posh than you, you street urchin!”

Kathy and Julia trade sunglasses.

A sign you will only find in Britain.

We visit the Victoria and Albert Museum and I wish I had a month to see the whole thing. It’s like the Louvre of randomness. For instance, when we follow a medieval-themed treasure hunt through the museum, one highlight is Leonardo Da Vinci’s 2 ½ inch high notebook penned in mirror writing. Another cool thing is seeing playing cards and stencils, and a video of how they were made in the 1400s.

James models a medieval burgher's hat similar to the ones on the tapestry behind him at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

It's not a trip to a museum without James and Julia giggling while taking pictures of butts.

We keep the tradition alive of losing a kid while on vacation by losing James in Harrod’s. He’s upset but when he calms down he wants to show me the path he took through Harrod’s food hall, retracing his whole adventure.

Having a snack of chapati (honeyed flatbread) and karak (tea that's similar to chai) at the aptly named Qatari tea room, Chapati and Karak. We took off our shoes to sit in the pillowed booth.

Julia is excited about the caviar counter at Harrod's. She only thinks she likes caviar because there was a little bit on her smoked salmon savory at a tea. Give up, Julia. There's no way we're buying it.

Julia’s favorite thing of the day: Harrod’s, especially a savory cake made of layers of salmon
and crepe (which she didn’t eat, and I’m not even sure she would like).

James’s favorite: Being found at Harrod’s.

Day 7: The Best. Tea. Ever.
Day 9: Taking the Train to Paris