Windsor Castle

After a little lunch on the bus ride and an hour or so later, we made it to our next destination of the day: Windsor Castle!

It was so neat to pull up and see a ginormous ferris wheel and a view of the castle. We were so excited to go and check it out. And my favorite...take pictures! :)

We had about 3 hours to explore before all of us had to meet back up at the bus to return back to Lakenheath. My friend Emma once again saved the day and helped me with my children. The kids really loved having her around with us! And again, I missed my hubby and wished he was enjoying this day with me!

After we climbed off the bus, we went up an elevator and walked down the side of a train track to this...

The Queen! Andrew LOVES trains so this was the best thing to see of all time on this trip in his opinion! :)

And here it is...a view of the castle. So huge! And our FIRST castle to ever see in person! It was pretty much awesome! But it also felt a bit unreal to actually be standing face to face with an actual castle.

And here is where our adventure through the castle began. There's quite literally a town surrounding the castle walls...

Tons of shops and restaurants!

{A statue of Queen Elizabeth.}

Turning onto the street to the left takes you up to the front entrance to the castle.

We paid the entrance fee, walked through what felt like an airport security gate (metal detectors, etc) and then we kind of wandered around for a bit and took in the view. It then occured to us once we saw the British flag flying above the castle, that that meant someone from the Royal party was home. We of course didn't know who was there but it was still pretty neat to know!

I loved seeing all of the detail all over the castle!

The entrance to the front of the castle where Royalty live.

Closer view

And oh my were the gardens surrounding the castle beautiful!!!

The Royal Guard

And this is at the point that Aubrey, Jocelyn and I took a tour through Queen Mary's Doll House and a brief walk through the State Department where we saw the Waterloo, King & Queen's bed chambers, armory and shields on the wall, etc. We couldn't unfortunately take any inside photos of the castle. Those darn rules - obviously necessary, but still! :) I guess you'll have to just use your imagination.

While the boys snoozed, us girls had our picture taken next to the Guard.

We had a quick bite to eat before heading back to the bus. Smoothies, lemonades and yummy treats!

It was a FUN (and exhausting!) day! I'm so glad I got to experience this day with my children. :)

And then we made it back to the hotel JUST in time to see this beautiful sunset.