Christmas Eve in London

On Christmas Eve we took the kids to London for a day to remember. We rode the Underground to Oxford Circus and went to Hamley's Toy Store (http://www.hamleys.com/) Hamley's is, by far, the largest toy store we have ever been in. It is 8 floors of pure magic. There is a floor just for Lego's and building toys, a floor for stuffed animals, a boy floor, a girl floor...and the list goes on. We were there for two hours and saw demonstrations, Father Christmas, and more toys than we thought possible. There are people who walk around playing with toys and encourage the kids to play too. Fake snow was even coming off the roof, as to appear it was snowing outside! It was a cross between Big and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. The kids got to pick out a gift (Sarah chose a new Build-A-Bear (there was a store within the store) and Eric chose Bakugans and a flying saucer.)

Afterwards, we walked to Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland (http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/) Winter Wonderland a German Christmas Market with lots of food, crafts and rides. There was an outdoor ice skating rink and Father Christmas. We tried German sandwiches called Brotchen and Sarah had a German waffle (like a funnel cake.) There were lots of carnival rides, but very expensive. We let the kids chose one and they both took me through the Fun House. We never thought we would spend Christmas Eve at a carnival! It was very crowded (you know how Tony loves crowds) but a fun and memorable day. We took the Underground back to our car and was home by 6 or so...just in time to get ready for Santa....oh, I mean Father Christmas. And to all a good night!