It was while we were on the train, that I decided to check the time that the guards changed only to discover it occurred at 11.30am on most days...yep MOST days which didn't happen to include today!!! Bugger. Well we thought as least we found out now and not after taking the underground and traipsing across Green Park. So it was off to the Natural History Museum.
The Natural History Museum started in 1753 when the British Government acquired Sir Hans Sloane's extensive collection. Designed by Albert Waterhouse and opened in 1883, the rounded arches of the front entrance were inspired by the basalt columns of Fingal's Cave in western Scotland and together with the high spired towers make a majestic sight.
We stepped inside to be awed by the central hall with it's high cathedral-like structures, intricate mural paintings on the ceilings (known as frescoes) and with Dippy, a 26m long skeleton of the plant-eating diplodocus taking centre stage. In the distance a grand staircase, with a marble statue of Charles Darwin, leads the the upper floors including a section of a trunk from a 1,300 year old giant sequoia tree.
The girls decided they wanted to be dinosaurs detectives, so armed with their detective card and pencils, we went straight into the Dinosaur gallery. We entered the darkened, warm and busy gallery to first meet Triceratops with its large horns and sharp beak before ascending the stairs to the walkway which allowed us to come eye to eye with various dinosaur skeletons as well as overlooking the displays below. At the end of the walkway we marvelled at the 1.5m long skull cast with 15cm long teeth of the Tyrannosaurus. We could hear the roars of the 12m long animatronic T Rex before we could see it lurking in the swampy pit. Andy lingered with Ella who was trying to get a photo of T Rex, while I walked quickly through this exhibit with Katy in my arms who tearfully exclaimed 'I don't like this one!'
Back on the ground floor, we wandered through the rest of the dinosaur gallery, drawing a maissaura hatching, we read about the the physical characteristics of the different dinosaurs, what they ate as well as how they died. A half buried Edmontosaurus skeleton was our introduction into a large display that showed the process of finding, excavating, processing and classifying fossils. Our dinosaur experience concluded by making a scrapbook with dino facts, games and quizzes which we could access later online.
Time for a lunch break so we headed outside to rest and restore our energy levels. The girls subsequently rested by running around the amphitheatre steps!! We continued in the Blue Zone exploring the Mammals gallery. Down the long corridor encountering the old looking mammal specimens which served to highlighted characteristics of mammal. The highlight in this area was a large gallery with numerous life size mammal models including a blue whale complimented by its skeleton suspended from the ceiling. Andy tried to engage Ella in the displays with varying success. Meanwhile Katy was trying to push and swipe any lowish display of which very few were actually interactive! I think she expects everything to work just like the iPad!! An interesting insight into our children's environment.
A coffee and muffin break was essential before we delveged in the Green Zone, more specifically the Minerals gallery. Here we zig zag through the gallery peering into the neatly organised oak cabinets that are full of raw, cut and polished gemstones. The cabinets were almost the same height as Katy, so she entertained herself by reading the cabinet number at the end of each row! Ella pulled out her camera and began clicking away. Soon Katy followed suit with our camera. The result - two girls happily walking through the gallery and around 140 mostly blurry photos (small selection seen below) between them!!!
At the end of the Mineral gallery is The Vault. Here we saw the 2011 martian meteorite, the Medusa (an unusual emerald), the Aurora Pyramid of Hope (a display of 295 naturally coloured diamonds), the Latrobe nugget, Devonshire Emerald to name just a few... Back to the central hall, up more stairs to marvel at the very large and old giant sequoia cross section before calling it a day.
We emerged from the museum ready for some outdoor play. Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind for our 2km walk to Kensington Gardens and across to Diana Memorial Playground. We had to shelter from the heavy rain under the trees several times and were thinking that perhaps not much playing would actually occur! In the midst of the gloomy grey wet conditions, some bright lights twinkled and as we inched closer the girls were instantly cheered up by the sight of a merry-go-round! We waited for the latest downpour to pass before climbing aboard. Katy chose the carriage with Andy, while Ella found her own named horse right behind them. 
As quickly as the rain arrived, it also left allowing us to explore the Diana Memorial Playground. Opened in 2000, in memory of Princess Diana who lived an apartment in nearby Kensington Palace. The playground inspired by Peter Pan due to the many links between Kensington Garden and J.M Barrie's classic story. The pirate ship (Captain Hook's Jolly Roger) is the central focus and is moored aground on white sand with a mermaid fountain and rocky outcrop adjacent (shores of Neverland). There is a teepee camp (Tiger Lily and her redskins home) plus a treehouse section with bridges, ladders and slides (Neverland). Hidden amongst lush green shrubbery is a sound garden (sounds of Tinekerbell) where we created our own lovely(?) tunes. Needless to say the girls had loads of fun exploring and could have played for hours except it was time for us to catch the train back to Oxford.....
Once the girls were asleep, Andy and I recovered on the couch in front of the 10pm news. The lead story much to our amazement was Trooping the Colours - an official ceremony celebrating the Queen's birthday! At the Horse Guard Parade in St Jame's Park the Queen inspecting her Household Division of troops followed by the colour (or battalion flag) is trooped (carried) down the ranks of soldiers. The Queen then leads her troops down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. No wonder the Changing of the Guard wasn't on.....
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