July 3 - Most Highly Photographed Day

We really put in a full day on Day 3. 

We started at Hyde Park Corner and walked west through Hyde Park.

London, like most large cities, can feel a little closed-in. Hyde Park is a breath of fresh air. 

The Rose Garden was in full form.

We exited the park at the Lady Diana Memorial Fountain in search of the Museum of Natural History.

And by total accident found the LDS Church instead! (The museum is right across the street.)

It turns out that Jaclyn is still 3 years old. (Will this be her next FB profile picture?)

We would have liked to have spent more time at the Museum of Natural History. There were amazing examples of taxidermy. A Dodo bird was super interesting, but the elephant and giraffe were just amazing. Anyhow, we had somewhere else to go:

We took a bus north of London to see the newly opened Harry Potter Sets at Warner Bros. Studios. (Here's where the shutterfly in Chloe really took off. She took 250 pictures.)

It was all there. The actual closet under the stairs.

The Great Hall. For reals.

The Weasley House.

Giant wizard's chess pieces.

The boy's Griffindor dorm room.

Olivander's

Hagrid's motorcycle.

Diagon Alley.

And so much more. Each horcrux, all the costumes. The Fat Lady. All of it.

We also got to view how they created everything, starting with artist concept drawings. They really should have been selling prints of the concept drawings, I would have bought several.

The 'white card' model of Hogwarts at the concept stage.

Something fun the girls stood in line for was to do a green-screen experience on a Quidditch broom. You got to watch yourself on a screen and act out dodging around classic Harry Potter settings on a broom through London, over the lake, and around the Quidditch Pitch.

I thought we'd be able to buy a DVD at the end, but sadly they only produced a posed-photo print for purchase.

Still cute.

Good times had by all. 5 Stars, for sure.