This year we decided to stay in London for Christmas and we were grateful to have my parents, my sister and her family and John’s mom and Michael join us.
Leading up to Christmas we got to enjoy a bit of the Christmas season here in London. It started with Josephine’s birthday at the end of November when we took her to the toy floor at Harrods to pick out a birthday gift. The store was already decorated for Christmas which gave it all a festive feel.
Then I took a day off of a work in early December and took Josephine to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. She rode a few rides, we had sausage sandwiches and walked around a bit. It’s basically a giant fairground with a European Christmas market feel to it.
And we of course couldn’t let Christmas go by without a visit to Santa. We went back to Fulham Palace and on the day we went, it was even snowing! Both girls had no desire to sit on his lap of course and could barely get near him enough for a picture. They would sit next to Santa only if Mom and Dad were in it too!
Then before we knew it, my parents arrived followed shortly after by Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Andy who spent a weekend in London. I took that Friday off of work and Aunt Bobbie, my mom and I got dressed up and went and had proper English tea at The Savoy. This is something I had been wanting to try for a while and with my mom and my aunt being here, it was a perfect opportunity. The room was decorated for Christmas, we had a glass of champagne, a number of tea sandwiches with of course tea followed by some really lovely desserts. I absolutely loved this experience. It was just perfect.
We checked out the South Bank and the Christmas market near the South Bank center which is all along the river. The market was small but it was an area of London we hadn’t explored so much yet so that was fun.
And then shortly before Christmas Julie and John and family arrived. One of the evenings before Christmas our group split and Julie, my mom, me and the girls all went to Christmas at Kew while the boys and Linda went to a Fulham football match.
Christmas at Kew is Kew Gardens decorated with lots of Christmas lights. There’s a designated path you follow throughout the gardens that’s about a mile long. With little ones, that mile started to feel a bit long towards the end but we made it through and I’m glad we did it.
Then of course there was all the Christmas festivities and excitement with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Santa visited and it seemed all the girls were good this year.
We really enjoyed spending Christmas at our home in London this year and it was all the more special having so much family with us. Another Christmas to remember!
