Kinsells in London: London Eye and Aquarium, August 1-3

It has been an uneventful week (that's a good thing!). Josh has been in Dallas since Tuesday so the flat has been quiet. I have scheduled some deliveries to keep my day exciting! I got some night stands (that are a bit taller than expected but I still like them) and a vacuum, or as it is called here, a hoover. I put the night stands together with a mini screwdriver so it took a long time, but hey not like I have big plans. I have not taken the hoover out of the box yet because then I have to start cleaning...boo!

Tuesday night I received a phone call from a wife of one of Josh's co-workers. Her name is Maura, and she had a baby here and gave me tons of info. This call came at the perfect time as I was getting really frustrated with the process. She is super sweet and we are going to meet up at Regent's Park on Friday afternoon!

I researched the hospital and doctor she recommended and love them both. I called Wednesday morning to get an appointment. Luckily they are accepting new patients! I made it for when Josh will get back because I am due for the anatomy ultrasound, called an anomaly scan here, so we hope to find out if Baby K is a boy or a girl on August 11!

On Wednesday I received another amazing phone call! It is a parent from the school I worked at in Houston. They have just moved to London and want to get together. Small world! I can't wait to meet them next week :)

Yay it's finally Friday! I use my favorite app City Mapper (the only way to get around in my opinion!) to get my plan of how to meet at Great Portland Street Station. I am doing great, get on the 2nd train and I am only 2 stops away...and then an announcement comes on that the station is shut down due to some maintenance issue...ahhh this is going to mess up my plan! Well, Maura texts me, she is on the same train so it works out. We meet up and take a taxi to the park. I'm so glad she was there, I would have never figured out where I was. She shows me where the doctor's office and hospital are located and we meet up with another co-workers wife, Meg. She has a precious dog named Penny. We walk around Regent's Park. It is so pretty! We also got a great view at the top of Primrose Hill. These ladies are so sweet and I am so glad they included me in their day.

Top of Primrose Hill

Garden in Regent's Park

I take the bus home, and feel so accomplished for branching way out of my neighborhood comfort zone. When I get home Matt and Danielle have invited me to join them for dinner at Nando's! Yay! Oh man...their ice machine is on the fritz again but still loving my Sprite! It was so sweet of them to invite me. We also have big plans for the weekend! Poor Josh is stuck on London time when it comes to sleep, he gets up so early in the morning for Dallas, but I love Skyping with him. Don't worry, he is enjoying his tex-mex and our friend Cameron went with him to Sissy's for some delicious chicken fried steak!

Saturday:
Danielle and I head out early to explore Portobello Market. It is a huge outdoor market in Notting Hill. They have tons of silver, china, antiques and just random stuff. We had fun looking around but neither of us bought anything. It got so crowded! Definitely get there early!

Sunday:
Danielle, Matt and I head out early again for a tourist day! We got tickets to the London Eye and the aquarium. Josh will want to go back to both of these! The London Eye is like a huge ferris wheel that gives an awesome view of London. There are about 25 people in a pod, and it takes 30 minutes to go around. Another attraction to arrive EARLY!

London Eye

Glass Pod

Danielle and I in our pod

Can you see our flat?!?

After the Eye we went to the aquarium. If Josh was there he would really miss his tank. I enjoyed this aquarium. It had some cool features, like a glass entry as soon as you walk in and glass tunnels to walk through. We saw lots of sea life including some sharks, penguins, seahorses, and an octopus. After the aquarium we had lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant called, Troia.