princess diana memorial playground

Woof. Where have I been. Mostly just pregnant. I've been huge and pregnant. I had some health "concerns" that my doctor decided to investigate. The good news - nothing is wrong. The bad news - so much work and testing. A few weeks of tests. Add to that, I've been trying to get in some good volunteer hours at the girls' schools as I'll be bowing out for at least a few months once the baby comes, plus my naps and you have some seriously spent days. But in any case - we're in the final countdown (I'm 37 weeks!) and good night nurse I'm ready to meet this baby. I'm ready to be not pregnant. And I'm ready to stop itching. (Oh. The. Itching.)

Also, I'm ready for the insomnia to end. Trust me when I say the sleep I get with a tiny baby is far superior to the sleep I get in the last weeks of pregnancy, especially this one. I'm basically losing my marbles most days. I do (or do not) things all the time without any remembrance. I'm so wasted. 

It occurred to me today though that I should just blog when I'm not sleeping. After all, I have some London posts already written. I just need to find photos. And so here we go. I'm starting with this simply because I have photos to share.

July 30, 2015

Today we ventured out to Kensington Gardens, specifically the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. The playground was created in her honor - because of her love for children and her respect for their need for safe childhood play.

This playground is intense guys. It comes complete with a giant pirate ship that you can climb in and around, including up the rigging. My girls were a little intimidated by the mass of small humans (and European small humans are not the same as American small humans in terms of manners...) on the pirate ship, but not to worry. This amazing park space goes on for days, so they had plenty of options to choose from. It includes a giant sand pit, water feature, swings, small playgrounds for tiny tots, wig wams (or tee pees, full size), slides, bridges, "secret" trails through trees, and typical climbing and jumping playground type structures. There's also a snack bar with real food and ice cream, plus bathroom facilities to go around. It's such a well thought out space, and I really loved it. Two things that we Americans should take note of:

1. To enter the gated playground, children must be accompanied by an adult and you must be buzzed in by a worker on the other side of the gate. Children also are not permitted to leave the facility without an adult. If for any reason an adult leaves without a child, they have to show that the child is still with another adult and obtain a band for re-entry. You can't enter otherwise without a child. Interesting concept right?

2. When the park reaches capacity (they let it get plenty full), they form the queue and you wait to get in. Keeps the chaos to a minimum. (We were very lucky - apparently - to just walk right.)

We stayed for hours, and don't you worry - this time I took the camera. The real live, break my neck camera. And I was so glad I did, because this may be one of the girls' highlights of our time in London. I must admit I didn't mind sitting in the shade for hours myself. :)

I love that I have photos of both of them with this face.
It was fairly tricky navigating new social cues -
I was so surprised at how different European children were.
And they weren't too impressed...