Day #3

Happy meter - subterranean in the AM, sky-high PM

Declan said, “I haven’t touched the door once since I’ve been here.” for we have a doorman at 47 Park. As he opened the door for me when I left for a run he said, “A bit chilly this morning mum”.  Lovely.  I ran in Hyde Park where I was paced the entire way by a group of 12 young men on horses from the mounted regiment that is based at the edge of the park.  I was happy to have surged ahead of them a couple of times on my little stubby legs.  They eventually beat me though. I bet you could have beaten them Bec! A bit later I saw a group of them in full regalia practicing their parade formation moves.  I can only imagine that they are getting ready for the wedding!

School started for Declan and Cal this AM.  After some painful math sheets, reading and an essay outline for Dec and some letter formation for Cal, we all felt proud of ourselves that we have started.  Went to Covent Garden after lunch and ran through the Transport Museum.  What a terrific place.  Did you know that there were 4.2 million people living in London in 1900?  That’s a lot of people.  How they made the underground work from steam trains to electricity to using the tube as shelters during the blitz is fascinating. Love that place.

After dinner we went to WAR HORSE.  We got terrific last minute seats on the website and we were in the 5^th row (Thanks Ace!).  What an unbelievably good show.  Huge cast, incredible artistry with the horse puppets and the simplicity of the set.  All of us were in awe.   It was a 3-hour show and Cal lasted through all of it.  He’s a tough little bugger.  I admit the 2^nd half of the show was a bit rough and loud for him.  I was questioning my parental judgment and feeling the scorn of the older former nannies in the audience.  But as we rode home in a taxi (so much fun) Cal said it didn’t scare him because he knew it wasn’t real.  Cal loved when the actors rode the horses.  Dec loved the tank and the horse puppets.  Blake loved the staging.  In the grand tradition of the theatre, he plans on stealing a few bits for his shows next  season.  I’m not telling which ones.