Eye in the sky

Sunday started with church at the historic Hyde Park chapel. Someone had given us directions and assured us that you can't miss it, once you're in the right area. They were correct.

The church foyer is like a mini visitors center, with a statue of Christ and interactive displays about the gospel and about the history of the church in England. I enjoyed being able to understand every word that was said in sacrament meeting. Small luxuries!

Anyone have advice on how I can keep Johnny's shirt tucked in? You'd think an almost 9-year-old could handle this.

After church we came home, changed clothes, waited through Samuel's daily meltdown, and then headed out to ride the London Eye.

Our tickets included a "4D experience," which we decided to do before our ride. John and I were wondering what the fourth "D" might be, a question that was answered the first time we got a spray of water in the face. It was pretty fun. Johnny particularly enjoyed it and was full of "how did they" questions again.

Then it was on to the ride. We discovered that Evie has a slight fear of heights, enough to make her nervous but not enough to keep her off the ride. She's exactly like her mother! Samuel and Johnny, however, have no fear at all (like their dad). Samuel spent the entire half-hour ride with his forehead pressed against the glass.

Here we are on the way up.

I love this shot that John took a little over halfway up.

The best part of the ride, of course, is the incredible view of London.

toward St. Paul's Cathedral

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

toward Buckingham Palace (in the patch of green)

These are our neighbors at the top of the wheel.

Some views on the way down:

toward St. Paul's again

Houses of Parliament again

Buckingham Palace again

County Hall

 Here we are close to the bottom. You can see that Evie's overcome her fears.

After our ride we walked along the Thames to Westminster Bridge and crossed over to the Houses of Parliament, where we hopped on the tube and headed home.

Another great day in London!