Pelatowski Family In London: July in a Nutshell...

July has been yet another month full of fun. As previously posted, the first two weekends we had the Darell School Summer Fair and we went to Stonehenge and Bath. Other fun stuff for the month...Ryan had a school picnic in Kew Gardens and Sport Day at school, the last day of school finally came, we had an early birthday party for Mandy with her friends, tennis camp, Keith's Dad came for a visit and we went to Hampton Court Palace.

School Picnic in Kew Gardens July 14th

Ryan's class did an end of the year picnic in Kew Gardens. They got to explore the lilly pad pond, the treetop walkway and enjoy a picnic in the gardens. While in the Gardens we were lucky enough to see a Peacock family in the grass near the Lilly pad pond.

Female Peacock

Baby Peacock

Male Peacock

Sport Day July 18th

Getting ready for games with his team, Bijan, Evan and Freddie!

Waiting for and receiving his "Gold Medal"!

Mandy & Mrs. Tucker on the last day of school, July 22

Mandy's Birthday Party July 23

Seeing as Mandy's birthday is the end of August, we decided to have a birthday party here with her friends before heading home for our summer visit. The kids had a great time, and it was great for them all to have one more chance to get together before summer holidays began.

Playing a game of Pass the Parcel

Yay!!! Littlest Pet Shop!!

Blowing out the candles

Everyone is ready for some cupcakes!

Rustam & Minky

Anushka & Mandy

Jada, Molly, Mandy & Freya

Tennis Camp July 25th-29th

Mandy began showing an interest in tennis after having played it in gym class. We signed her up for the week long camp where she was able to participate with her friends Georgia, Jack, Tom and Anushka. She loved it!!!

Ready to play!

Practicing forehand and backhand

Cheering his sister on!

Day in London With Eddie P. July 29th

Keith and I took Ed into the city for the afternoon. We started with a Fish 'n Chips lunch at St. James Tavern (My Fav!!), and then made sure to show him the sights. We walked by Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Parliament and the London Eye.

Buckingham Palace

My Favorite spot in St. James' Park

Big Ben

Hampton Court Palace July 30

Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond, it has not been inhabited by the British royal family since the 18th century. It was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, a favourite of King Henry VIII, in 1529. Eventually, the palace was passed to the King. The following century, William III began a massive rebuilding and expansion project, work halted in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. Today, the palace is open to the public, and is a major tourist attraction. Here is a link with information on all the different Monarchs associated with the palace. http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/stories/palacepeople.aspx