More stuff about London

London Attractions Recommended:
Squirrel Feeding in St. James and Hyde Park
"Eat" Restaurant
National Gallery
The Tower
doll house at Windsor Palace
the tube
Phantom, Les Mis, Much Ado, and Wicked
scones with cream and jam

Edinburgh attractions recommended:
University of Edinburgh
St. Cecilia Hall museum of instruments
Reid Hall museum of instruments
Deep Sea World (not my favorite, but my daughters loved it--sharks overhead)
men in kilts
Scottish shortbread

London Attractions Not Recommended:
Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
St. Paul's Cathedral (according to my daughters, a big disappointment)
Westminster Abbey (too crowded)
any audio guides (which will tell you useful things like 'look up, here is a beautiful ceiling decorated in blue and white')
standing in the yard at the Globe
double decker bus rides
fish and chips

Edinburgh attractions Not Recommended:
Edinburgh castle (which we didn't see)
endless cathedrals (which we walked by, but didn't go inside—no, not once!)
haggis (for which we could only say that it wasn't so bad we spit it out)

Souvenirs brought home by me:
Van Gogh book
JMW Turner book
prints by Van Gogh and Turner
purple and green kilt (MacRae hunting)
David Tennant/Catherine Tate T-shirt

Souvenirs brought home by 17:
Mind the Gap T-shirt
London tube map T-shirt
London tube map mug
I love London sweatshirt
royal Stewart kilt (yeah, I know for women they are just tartan skirts)
David Tennant/Catherine Tate T-shirt
real Scottish yarn

Souvenirs brought home by 15:
Wicked T-shirt
kilt
her "shiny" Crown Jewels glass bauble things
cool London 6 inch heels in velvet with ribbon ties up the front
cool London sandals with shiny jewels

I set out on the trip with the idea that we would be allowed to spend 60 pounds a day on food. If we saved any money from that total, I would divide it up three ways and let the girls have extra spending money. They both brought money from home that they had earned and saved, but I do like to give them a budget and allow them to "earn" something. I love to see the sorts of choices kids make when they have to make them. Call me evil, but I do this all the time with my kids and always have, even when they were tiny. Sometimes I'm the one who learns the lesson, as when my two year old batted her eyelashes and found the store clerk would let her have whatever she wanted even when she didn't have the money for it. Some days we spent all our food money on nice restaurants. Most days we ate sandwiches and yogurt (which is fabulous in London--I hate American yogurt. I really, really do!)