Our family went to Washington D.C., then England, Scotland, a wee bit of Wales, and France during May and June.
It was the Trip of a Lifetime, possibly literally. But it was a long trip. It was so long I can’t bear to write much about it.
Six weeks, half of that time just me & the kids (I don’t recommend this, by the way).
We traveled super light, carry-ons only. That part was great–editing down to what was really essential and focusing on relationships & activities instead of stuff.
We visited our sweet friends who are missionaries in France and I have a whole new appreciation for how HARD, how incredibly, insanely exhausting it is to be a cross-cultural missionary. And almost nobody complains about it. I realized how easy we have it over here in our own culture and I completely take that for granted and need to do more to support these front line workers with prayers, time, thoughts, and money.
But as I lay in bed the other night I kept thinking of moments you’d probably never see on a Rick Steves show. And let me just say we had a wonderful time, God totally protected us, and miraculously we were all relatively healthy.
It was a fabulous trip. But here are some of those moments you don’t see on travel shows.
- Realizing you have 5 more weeks to go and are halfway ready to go home after week 1.
- Realizing some of your children hate travel and want to go home, also on week 1.
- In London, sleeping in a Yotel for a few hours. Knowing your husband is in America and you know no one in the country and thinking that this trip was perhaps the worst idea ever. Praying. Hard.
- Trying to talk your children into eating something other than McDonald’s, Subway, Cadbury chocolate, and Nutella sandwiches. Failing miserably.
- Not understanding one bit of how your washing machine works in your London flat. Letting your 4 year old push buttons until something, possibly laundry, happens.
- Catching cabs in the rain.
- Catching cabs in the hail.
- Getting off at the wrong stop on the bus and walking for 30 extra minutes with whiny children, along Hyde Park.
- Trying to have your children not inadvertently whack people as they walk along with their huge sticks they picked up at Hyde Park. Again failing.
- Forgetting to pay attention to train stops until you are actually in Oxford, then telling your kids to hurry up! And running to get all luggage and children off at the right stop. Only forgetting one small bag with mostly tea and snacks.
- Trying to figure out how to drive on the left while your children make fun of Mommy. Telling them to be nice and encouraging or BE QUIET. Saying “left, left, left” to oneself whenever behind the wheel. Sideswiping shrubbery. Getting honked at.
- Worrying about kids falling off: Tower of London walls, St. Michael’s Saxon Tower, Edinburgh Castle walls, Caerphilly Castle walls in Wales. Because, you know, these children have no concept of danger.
- One kid actually falling off: Hadrian’s Wall (where it was about 5 feet off the ground, nothing awful, only it was raining and said child was already EXTREMELY cranky).
- Trying to find Hadrian’s Wall, in the rain, amidst fields of cows. Mommy was extremely cranky. Yelled at kids. Kids crying. In the rain. Hiking around trying to find a blasted wall. I hate Hadrian. And his stupid wall.
- Kid vomiting all over brand new Mercedes (that’s what Hertz gave us) in the Cotswolds.
- Kid vomiting in McDonald’s in Wales.
- Kid vomiting in castle in Scotland. ALL NIGHT LONG.
- Kid(s) vomiting . . . a couple more times. We did the vomit tour of the U.K. I hate roundabouts. Why no overpasses? Why no stoplights? Why, why?
- On that point, why no iced tea? A nation full of tea drinkers and no one thinks it’s a good idea to put ice in it? I finally found someone who would make me iced tea—Starbucks. Guess what? No ice.
- So. Much. Rain.
- For the equivalent of a week’s worth of sightseeing, we hung out in hotel rooms watching DVDs, Makka Pakka, and Britain’s Got Talent. It was lovely.
- I have to end with this picture my husband snapped. This is me, explaining some world-changing piece of art in the Louvre. Notice the expressions on my kids’ faces. They are bursting with enthusiasm. They love me to pieces. And… they want their post-museum ice cream.
Okay, that’s all I can think of right now. It really was a great trip. We saw some of the wonders of Western civilization, mostly enjoyed ourselves (most of us), and my kids learned they can survive 6 weeks of Mommy’s crazy ideas. A good thing to know.
We are thankful to have gone, thankful to visit our missionary friends in France, and thankful to be back home. Someday I might write more about it.
After I rest up a bit.