London: Kew Gardens and Bedfont Lakes picnic

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Sheldon and I made it to London a couple of days ago and have been taking it easy since then. When we got here, we were so tired since we got little sleep on the plane, despite it being a night flight. Normally it's not so bad...anyway, the first day was shot, just sleeping and recovering from "jet lag, jet lag". That evening, Mai and Mathias mam came to visit us at Shel's parent's house (where we're staying). We told them our big news by showing them the first ultrasound pics we got....they were speechless for a while, and then ultimately elated 😊

The next day (Saturday May 23th), we went to the Kew Gardens, which are the Royal botanical gardens, not far from where we're staying. Being a holiday weekend (Bank Holiday in England), and an uncharacteristically warm sunny day, there were loads of people there. The queue at the entrance was so long, it took a while to get the tickets (£13/pp), but then we finally got in. The grounds are quite big. As we walked into the gardens, we found a peacock walking around, showing off it's feathers. What a treat, as we've never really seen one with the full plumage, except in pictures. He seemed to really be enjoying all the attention! We strolled around and visited some of the main greenhouses, like the Waterlily House and Palm House. Towards the back of the complex, there is a Treetop Walkway that is not to be missed. The elevator was broken that day, so we had to climb 118 steps to the top to get to the walkway. There are some nice views of the gardens and the surrounding area. The walkway was reminiscent of the trails at Iguazu Falls park in Argentina. Next we went to the pond close to the treetop walkway and crossed the Sackler Crossing bridge. The pond was full of ducks, geese and swans. There were many other places that we didn't get a chance to visit, but we had a good time. It was nice to see so many people out and about, just relaxing, having picnics with their families and soaking in the sun.

On Sunday (May 24th) we decided to just go on a picnic to nearby Bedfont Lakes. We took Deanne with us as well. It was a really hot day and the park had very hardly any picnic areas, let alone some with shade. For locals, they didn't mind laying out in the sun to get their tanning in, but not so for us. We first parked ourselves on the grass, but having forgotten a picnic blanket, it was not very comfortable, not to mention we were melting in the sun. So, after a while we made our first migration to some benches near the North lake. It was much cooler and breezy there, so we stayed a while. Next migration was to a picnic table near a different lake (more like a pond). We ate our lunch and then moved on to a shady spot to get out of the sun. Deanne and I went to play in the kids area... she convinced me to go down the slide, not once, but three times! I haven't don't that in ages 😊 Fun times...

Anyway, fed up of the heat, we went back home and relaxed with Deanne. That evening Franky mam, Margaret mami and Deanne came over for dinner. We broke the good news to them by showing them the ultrasound pics, and it took them some time to figure it out. And then they were pretty silent for a while...not sure what was running through their minds. Anyway, so now the whole fam knows and no more secrets!

Today (Monday, May 25th), it was pretty cloudy in the morning so we thought we'd just stay home, but now the sun broke out, so we may go out and do something. El arrives tomorrow.

More blogging later...

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Comments

[Delicia]

Looks like you lot are having a lot of fun! Wish I was there... I would probably have been tanning with the locals haha x