walked north along the Thames to Waterloo Bridge.
Our timing turned out to be perfect and we found the Lyceum Theatre and went to the matinee of the "Lion King". It was a fabulous show- Grace actually ended up sitting on the lap of a stranger in the row in front of us for the second half of the show because she could see better! After the show we headed out across the Waterloo Bridge to check out the Thames Festical that was going on. There was a race of row boats going up the river and loads of booths selling shirts, handmade bags, food - we bought gourmet cupcakes (red velvet!). It was too crowded though to really spend much time there. We found a place called Gabriel's Wharf and went in some of the shops. I found a cute little painting of a black and white cat that will be my memory of this vacation. Then we headed back to the station to head to Oxford Street in search of fish and chips (one of our tour books recommended a place called "the Golden Hind" on Marylebone Lane). It was a bit of a hike but we found it and shared halibut fish and chips, prawn cocktail, and tomato and onion salad and diet coke. We also got a slice of white bread with butter for 30p. It was delicious and worth the walk! 
By the time we had finished and paid it was 8pm and I discovered the sad reality that the big department stores on Oxford St all closed at 8pm on Saturday. I was kind of hoping just to check one out (I wanted to find Grace some cool European shoes). So we walked home instead of getting on the tube since we were only a few stops away. That night we got all our bags packed for our early start in the morning.Our big travel day was Sunday the 14th- our wake up call was at 6:15am and we set out on foot to Paddington Station with all our bags (about 3-4 blocks away).. We got on the Heathrow Express that departed at 7:10 and made it to Heathrow by 7:30 which was perfect. They have free luggage trolleys there which is a lifesaver. Checked in and checked our bags, went through security (you don't have to take your shoes off in Heathrow) and then we were in this duty free shopping wonderland! We spent our last 11 pounds on candy but also bought some pastries, diet coke and sushi for the plane! (I think I was stress eating/shopping).
The plane ride was uneventful and we landed in JFK, made it through customs and immigration without any problems and found a cab to Penn Station. We bought a pretzel and hot dog at a stand and then waited in the long Amtrak line to see if we could get on an earlier train to Philadelphia because we had about 4 hours to wait! Luckily we were able to get on the 3:17 (instead of 5:17) and we got into Philly at 4:45. 
Cousin Bob picked us up- he drove up from the shore just to have dinner with us- and we met Michelle and Jennie downtown at Jones and ate and drank some great food! I had two cocktails called "Happy" and Grace made friends with a little girl at a nearby table and they were playing and dancing together! The poor thing was so tired of just hanging out with me for the last week. We got back to Prospect Park exhausted and spent yesterday (Monday) just laying low and visiting cousins. Grace got to play with her fellow preemie cousin Gabriel in the park.
My aunt and uncle brought my cousins daughter Jordan over for lunch and a playdate (she is also 4)- we walked to "Nifty Fifties" which is a diner that is retro 50's style- we ordered fries, shakes and burgers. After all the food was delivered (but before anyone had taken a bite) Jordan suddenly vomited all over Grace! (and some splashed on me).. well this was quite unexpected and dramatic and caused us to have to do some major washing up- Grace had to strip down to her Dora undies and the restaurant gave her a t-shirt for the walk home. We boxed up the food and got the heck out of there! Then they took Jordan home- so, sadly, they didn't get to play together for very long at all. We were supposed to go to their house for dinner that night but because Jordan was sick my cousin Jill just brought her son Matthew (who is almost 2) over to meet us instead. We visited for a bit then she had to head home. 
Grace spent last night watching Noggin on Don's big screen and we went to bed by 10. This afternoon we head out to the airport. We are all packed up so we can have a lazy day watching TV until it's time to go...
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