Wedding Prep

In a bizarre twist of fate, we inadvertently booked our annual trip to Windsor Castle for today, three days before the Royal Wedding....

I didn't book it myself, but in our collective defence, we always come at this time of year (school trips are best done around now before the weather gets too hot, etc.) and we had no idea there would be a wedding in the same week.

I'd been dreading it in a way because all the hype in the media made it seem like we would be best to stay away! But the children were excited, and I admit that a part of me was too.

As we drove in to Windsor, we could see the fields where the press had been camped, lots of white vans with satellite dishes etc.

Once we arrived, the queue to get in was huge, but luckily we were able to skip it all and breezed through. I always find the staff there to be very attentive and helpful, and they really try to aid you rather than hinder you, particularly when you have thirty small children in tow.

The day was quite long, and I've clocked up over 10K steps and am consequently a little weary this evening. We visited the State Apartments; twice actually, and Queen Mary's Dollhouse, and had a little talk with a lady which they enjoyed. For them the highlight is always lunch :-) 

It's all got a bit mad with regards to tourists wanting to take pictures of us; I can see it from both sides but I do think it's all got a bit hysterical. We were given laminated sheets with a camera and a no photography sign for us to flash at people if they so much as pointed a camera near us! 

It wasn't nearly as busy inside as we expected, but it was a hive of activity, and there were lots of vans, and camera crews walking around. We managed to make it in time to visit the Chapel before it closed, which I think was worth doing. 

We were home by half-past three, exhausted and shivery as the weather turned today which made for a very cold and windy visit! They were very animated to begin with, but by the end of the day, there were many white faces, and glassy eyes, and "when are we going back to the coach?".

They'll sleep well tonight ;-)