London, day 12

This morning, we sent Mom off for her plane home.  We were sorry to see her go.  It was so nice of her to come spend a few days here with us, and as she left in the taxi, Goose was crying - so cute!  She will be missed!  We slowly mobilized (Tugs has a bit of the galloping gambu and is dragging...), and made our way to St. Paul's cathedral.  We got a little snack on the way and had a mini picnic in the yard around the church. Inside, we loved the beautiful mosaics, and there was a choir singing under the dome, so that was fun to hear.  In the crypt, we saw Lord Nelson and Christopher Wren's tombs, among others.  We learned that Diana and Charles were married here, and Churchill's funeral was here.  The highlight, though, was taking the stairs up to the whispering gallery (up in the dome), then continuing up to the very, very top of the cathedral up on the roof.  We had an amazing view of the city despite being back to cloudy skies.  It was fun to see the places we recognize and to see how much better we know that city now than when we first arrived.  This was the perfect end to our London sightseeing!

At this point, Tugs was hurtin', and the two younger girls had picked out their allotment of souvenirs, so Mark took them home.  Zelle and Abby, however, wanted to shop a little since they each had a souvenir left to pick out.  We decided we hadn't had enough time at Harrod's so we headed there and wandered around. We discovered the tea room, and were able to get in for some afternoon tea, which was a fun surprise!  We ordered crumpets, scones and tea cakes.  Tea cakes are just toast, really, but crumpets are really good - like thick sourdough pancakes, and the scones were good, too.  It was fun to be able to enjoy this treat with my big girls and have some time with them.  From there, we explored the toy and children's area.  There are some seriously expensive clothes there!  The girls loved this nail polish that they can do all kind of nail decorating with...I'm sure all the younger cousins will be seeing this and experiencing it later this summer :)  We also saw the pet area with British Bulldogs for sale for 4,000 pounds!   And there's also the dog spa. The girls picked out a fun Harrod's bag for their souvenir, and we grabbed sandwiches there for dinner.

As we walked back to the flat from our tube stop, we were sad to realize this was our last time to do this.  We're going to miss London, and this great neighborhood we've been in.  What a fantastic time we've had here!  I know I say this a lot, but it really has been magical.