We finished our school performance of Aladdin right before Thanksgiving, and it was AMAZING! Keevah & I both had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next year! I'm hoping to work hard and hopefully land an even bigger role next time. Gran was able to fly out and catch a few performances, which made it extra special.
Declan as Prince Abdullah; Keevah in the ensemble
Keevah & friend Elizabeth
Keevah, Fairen, Layne & Elizabeth
With Gran
We missed our annual Friendsgiving tradition this year - but for good reason! We had a wedding to attend in Prague, and decided to head to London for a few days prior. So, we flew out on Thanksgiving for our trip. This was one of my favorite trips for sure! I particularly loved Westminster Abbey - the science corner blew my mind! With Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin, and Stephen Hawking (to name just a few) buried together - it was awe inspiring! We all enjoyed a private tour of the Tower of London & Crown jewels, as well as a trip around the London Eye, Tower Bridge museum, changing of the guards, etc. Mama surprised us with a full day at the Harry Potter Experience, which was FANTASTIC! We all enjoyed it immensely - both from the fun of seeing the actual sets brought to life, but also how they achieved so many amazing special effects, makeup, costuming, etc. Butterbeer is pretty delicious too! We also enjoyed a day in Hyde Park at their Winter Wonderland - the park is transformed for the holidays, complete with ice skating, carnival games, rides, festive food and more. There was a HUGE walk through ice museum, complete with lifesized ice sculptures & furniture - this year was Alice in Wonderland theme. And finally, we got to watch two shows live in the West End: Wicked & the Mouse Trap. Mouse Trap is the oldest running show in the World (70 years now!) - an Agatha Christie who-done-it - and Dada went when he was 8 also! We really enjoyed both shows!
Paddington station
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London was so interesting!
London Eye
In the Great Hall from Harry Potter
Potions class
Hogwarts Express
Gringots Vault
Diagon Alley
Platform 9 3/4
The Knight Bus
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Full scale Hogwarts model
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland ice sculpting visit
Ice throne
Mousetrap!
After London, we headed to Prague for several days for the wedding of our friends Sarah & Will. It was everyone's first time in Prague, and we loved how different it was from the Western European cities we'd been to. The Prague Castle was fascinating - and we learned it's the biggest castle complex in the World! The churches are iconic & beautiful, the armory/fortress component was enlightening & the dungeon was insane! We spent a good bit of time just wondering around in the city & enjoying the really classic Christmas markets. The Astronomical Clock was the icing on the cake - what a marvel! I could not believe how much the people knew about the World 600 years ago! It has been running mechanically for 600 years straight!
Private boat ride Vltava River
Prague castle
Armory in Prague
Top of Prague Castle
Beer Spa! Yes, we bathed in beer!
The spa room came with a bed made of hay! It was actually pretty comfy!
Prague Charles bridge
Astronomical clock
The wedding was lovely of course (and the entire reason for the trip!) The welcome dinner in a beer cave, stag/hen party in the hotel pool (complete with synchronized swimming performances!), and the wedding at a classic Prague chateau may have set the bar for any future weddings! They even had roulette & poker tables (with fake money of course!) which kept us occupied all night! Keevah & I both "made" a ton of money - so now are pretty convinced that you always make money when gambling!
We're home now, enjoying the lead-up to Christmas. We thankfully decorated and got our tree up before our trip, so now we can just sit back and admire our work! We have one more week of school before our holiday break, with some fun festive activities at school & Keevah's 9th birthday to look forward to!
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