We got another late start this AM due to N sleeping poorly for most of the night. He didn't like the mattress as much this time around, and when we finally got the crib assembled for him at 11PM, he wanted to sleep in our room, so there wasn't much sleep to be had. As a result, he slept late.

We got up and rushed to get ready. We hopped on a double decker bus and went to Kensington Park, where we had lunch reservations at the Orangery restaurant. It was veddy British – lamb sausage, parsnip soup, double Gloucester cheese, that sort of thing. Beautiful setting. Here is a pic:

Then we went to Kensington Park and toured some of the parts of the castle. We saw the Victorian rooms, the King's quarters, the Queen's quarters, and some royal dresses from the 40s through the 80s. N got to play in a special multi-sensory room, which he enjoyed too.

After the castle, we headed to the park and checked out the swans and ducks.

It was getting close to sunset, so we walked through Kensington Park to Hyde Park, pausing along the way to look at the memorial fountain for Princess Diana (it was closed so we couldn't get too close). We also walked close enough to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park to hear the shrieks of the people on the rides, which looked pretty scary from where we were. We exited the park close to Harrod's and took a stroll through the first floor of the store. Checked out some gorgeous, extremely expensive jewelry as well as the food sections. We got some chocolate treats after much time admiring the sweets, tea, bakery and cheeses.

N fell asleep as we were walking though the very busy streets to Harrod's, and slept through most of our time in the store, which is shocking considering how unbelievably crowded it was in there.

Then it was off to dinner near Covent Garden. We went to an Asian fusion place where you order via an interactive menu that is displayed on your tabletop. Yummy but overpriced and ultimately left us still hungry!

We took the tube back to Toby's apartment, got N into a late bath, and spent the rest of the night reading and blogging on the couch.

London is child-friendly, in that there are a lot of things for children to enjoy, but it is not toddler-friendly. The tube is crowded and has lots of stairs that make it hard to maneuver a stroller around, and the sidewalks are totally packed. Restaurants are small and crowded. N is doing a great job and has been very amenable (a few crying bursts here and there). But it's not the easiest city with a two year-old. The girls have enjoyed what we've seen so far and A's British accent is coming along.

Tomorrow: the Alice in Wonderland ballet!