Today was a bit of a marathon day. Yes, that means we got up before 11 and were out the door before 12. A minor victory.

We started out our day at the disaster known as Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. The figures are cool and we enjoyed it a lot, but the place is terribly run and a nightmare to get into. We ended up yelling at this guy who took us out of one line only to put us in another line, and then later realized that he saved us a ton of time. The girls loved seeing the different celebrities and got photos taken with many of them. Here are a few.

 

We skipped the Room of Horrors but did take a ride through "The Sights and Sounds of London: A History", which both M and N immediately wanted to do again.

After Madame Tussaud's, we got on the subway to meet some friends of Daddy's for lunch near Borough Market. We had a few navigation hiccups along the way, but eventually made it there and had some delicious tapas at what is supposed to be the best tapas restaurant in London. We then walked through Borough Market – nothing that amazing actually – and walked to the Tate. We crossed the Millennium Bridge, which was windy and a bit stressful because N kept pointing to the Thames below and saying "I want to go water".  

We then went to the Tate with the plan of wandering around from room to room. N was sort of at maximum irritability and wildness – he hadn't had a nap – and he was a bit hard to control. We almost got kicked out and there was an incident where a guard had us reported on a walkie-talkie. Not a good moment and I won't say any more about it.

A did this digital drawing thing and here is what she created:

We then walked back over the bridge and caught a bus to Picadilly Circus, where we popped into a bookstore and then to Fortnum and Mason.

Here are the girls looking at tea china:

Daddy and N got in a cab with his friends and headed back to Toby's, and M&A and I were supposed to have a leisurely pre-theater dinner in Chinatown. It turns out that Billy Elliott was actually not playing in the theater district, so we ended up grabbing a hurried cab to Victoria Station, where it WAS playing. We managed to grab some sandwiches at Pret a Manger instead. The musical was great, and Daddy joined us about halfway through Act I, having met the babysitter here who took care of N tonight.

We took a bus back home after the play, and it's now 12:08AM and time for bed! Long but fun day with a few stressful moments thrown in.