Today we were off to Hampton Court Palace.  We took the train and were there in about 30 minutes.  This was a favorite palace of King Henry VIII and I was excited to see it.  It was unlike any royal residence we’d seen so far.  They’ve kept it feeling very medieval and I loved it!  The boys were really not into the palace at all.  They just wanted to get to the maze!

The best part of the interior of the Palace was the kitchens.  They had 2 “chefs” who were prepping meat and cooking it over an open fire.  It was fun to see.

Now for the main event.  The Maze!  Thanks google for the aerial view.   

We wandered through some rose gardens on our way to the Magic Gardens.  This playground was so much fun!  The kids made up a game where Josh was the King, Halle was the Sorceress, and Blake was the Prince.  They played and explored the day away!

We also had our first nightmare train ride. On the way home the train was delayed maybe 15 min. But that was ok because we were outside at the station in the shade. But then we get on the sweltering train and get stuck in the middle of the tracks due to another train having mechanical issues. We are all sweating like crazy at this point. Finally we get moving again. When we pull into the next station the conductor says, “This train is now only going to Waterloo. Straight to Waterloo, no other stops. It was supposed to make like 5 stops, including Clapham Junction. I had no idea when the next train was coming so we decided we’d just ride to Waterloo and then back to Clapham. THEN, when we got to Waterloo, our train back to Clapham was delayed again! So, we had to sit on that miserable train for an extra hour. Blake had a great attitude about it. He said, “I don’t care how long we are delayed. That just need extra screen time for me!