I didnt sleep well last night. I was restless and woke at 4:30. I did finally get some more sleep. My hair always tells when Ive tossed and turned.it looks like mix master did it..WILD!! Once everyone was awake we headed downstairs for breakfast.
Shealyn was trying to figure what you do in London to avoid the heat. She found a site that said to visit Kew Garden when its hot. Kew has always been on my list to visit but its pretty far out. We were up for the challenge do off we went to Paddington Station to board the District Line to Kew Garden. The best part was the train was fairly empty so we got to sit down!! Plus we only had to change trains once.
Kew gardens was a total surprise! There was a small village called Kew Garden which had the cutest shops and restaurants. We decided immediately that we wanted to eat lunch here! We looked around the shops and then headed to the gardens.
Kew Garden is big! They have a tram on the inside that will take you with a guide. The guide points out
the different sections of the gardens, what all the tags mean, and gives you background on the plants and trees! We rode around so wed know if there were any other places within the park that we wanted to visit.
Shealyn wanted to go back to an exhibit called When flowers dream. It was an artists rendition of plants that create food. There were a couple displays that looked like candies put together like mobiles and one that was a candy village. It was fun. Most of all it was air conditioned!! Lol
We found an interesting restaurant called Antipodeall. Shealyn loved that it served breakfast allshe spied pancakes she wanted to try. Marsha and I got sandwiches in a Turkish bread called Pride It was similar to a pita but fluffier. Marshas was steak. Mine was chicken. It was very good!
It was then back to the Balmoral house to repack our suitcases and prepare to take a train to Warwick Castle tomorrow morning. At least that was the plan but we were all tired. Shealyn took a nap. Marsha and I tried to figure out what we wanted to do for our final evening
in London. We talked about riding the open bus for a a lights of London tour or we could go see another show. We settled on Beauty and the Beast
We got ready and took a taxi to the theater. While standing outside, we saw a family trying to take pictures. They were dad, mom, and two children. Shealyn asked if theyd like her to take a pic of all of them. They agreed and then offered to do the same. We said no we really didnt need another picture but the smallest girl (about 6) said I know how to take a picture. Who could resist so I gave her my phone and she took our pictures. Where are you from?asked the little girl. West We replied. Her eyes got as big as saucers. America? Ive always wanted a friend in America!
The theater wasnt open just yet so we stood in line with them and the mother proceeded to tell us that Dottie (the 6 year old) had an inoperable brain tumor and had just finished up her 66th chemo treatment. This all started when she was 4 years old. They have 2 other children,
As we went in the theater the father bought us all water or soft drinks. Shealyn bought a set of three bracelets and gave on to each of the girls as friendship bracelets. Dottie gave us lapel pins of a rainbow she colored, pinned on a card with info on how to follow her journey.
Once we got to our seats, we all had a cry. The theater people knew this family and Dotties story (its been on tv and in the newspapers here) so they moved them to the front row and took them back stage to meet Belle and The Beast. At intermission the girls waved at us and came back and talked to Shealyn. The funny thing about all of this is that we decided at the very last minute to go to this show. This meeting was such a blessing! So now Im going to ask all of you to pray for Dottie and her family!
After the show we took the tube home and started packing.
