Day 3 - Scotland!

We woke up this morning and made a grocery store run.  The store was right across the street, which was nice.  We quickly discovered that we all loved their ginger cookies (or biscuits as the English call them).  I still think about those cookies.   We got back to our room and went down to the hotel restaurant where we met Michael for breakfast.  We spoke with a nice English couple.  They asked us where we were going and when we told them Scotland the wife started to jokingly talking in a Scottish accent.  The look on Michael's face was priceless!  He did not find her amusing.  Kim and Brian had left to go to the train station.  They were taking the train from Birmingham to Edinburgh and then renting a car to the place where we were staying.

Michael was kind enough to lead us to the freeway we needed to take to Scotland.  We drove a few hours then stopped at a little gas station/restaurant combo in the English countryside.  It was the cutest place with duck pods and quaint little shops.  Ian got a lamb burger.  It was ok. 

                                                   At the rest stop

We got in the van and drove on towards Scotland.  We were staying at a place called Fingask Castle.  Well, it turns out there is also a little town called Fingask so..you guessed it...we got lost.  The roads are so small - it was a stressful time in the car.  Ian was a great sport - we finally asked for directions and eventually found the Castle. 

                                               
We were staying in cottages at the back of the castle.  I am so happy that Michael recommended this place.  It was so quaint and beautiful.  Right in the countryside of one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. 

The cottage was awesome and the property had tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, a clothes line (no dryers - which was common in Scotland and England).  There was a river nearby and poneds and statues everywhere.

                                               Us in front of our cottage

                                                    In front of the castle itself

After getting settled in, Brian, Evan and I drove to Dundee to get groceries.  We drove around a while trying to find the Tesco (the grocery store).  Getting lost wasn't so bad...we got to drive through a lot of the city.  Dundee is right next to the ocean - it's a beautiful city.  It was so cool being in the place where Ian's mom grew up.

Everyone in Scotland is so nice and helpful.  Even though Evan went with us he slept most of the time.  When we got back I explored the estate a little.

It was an awesome first day in Scotland.  Being there was so emotional for Ian.  He felt so connected to his family and ancestors.  It was amazing. 

Day 2 - Jet Lag

Our flight got into London Heathrow around 8:00 am on Sunday, June 24th.  We had to go through customs and our agent was pretty entertaining.  He made lots of jokes and put us all at ease.  Michael and Eli met us at the airport.  Because it was an early Sunday morning, the airport was pretty dead.  We had to call down to our rent a car place to come pick us up.  We got there and then waited in line and it felt like FOREVER.  It was packed there.  We opted to not get the insurance because our credit card had rental car insurance.  We had to get a van big enough to fit our luggage and all 7 of us (Shayna was coming as well).We got a Mercedes 9 passenger van  - it was awesome.  We ended up paying extra for GPS - something we could have done without since our phones gave us directions just fine.

Driving was hard.  Everything being on the other side was definitely a challenge for me.  I had planned on doing most of the driving but Ian ended up driving 98% of the trip.  I am so thankful for all of his training.  He did awesome!  Driving in rural Scotland and Wales is no joke - one lane roads - not to mention roads that are half the size as America.  Scary stuff.  But I digress...

In England a lot of the out of the city gas stations have tons of food places as well.  We stopped outside of London at one of these and waited for Kim, Brian and Joe to show up - they had a later flight.  Plus Michael and Xander went back to Heathrow to pick up Shayna (her flight was also later).  Ian, Ben and Evan were EXHAUSTED.  Evan also was nauseous.  I got KFC for every one to eat but we ended up having a lot left over since everyone (except for Max and I) felt horrible.  It was so good to see Kim, Brian and Joe and it felt awesome to be in Europe all together.

                                               Jet lagged at the gas station

The drive from London to Birmingham was beautiful.  So much green.  When we were there the UK was having one of the hottest, driest summers on record.  Which was kind of disappointing to be honest.  We wanted rain and cold!  Sadly it didn't rain once the whole time we were there.

When we arrived in Birmingham we checked into our hotel - The Premier Inn.  Michael and Eli went home and told us to text them later so we could go to their house for dinner.   Well everyone fell asleep so only Max and I ended up going over to Michael and Aly's.  Sam and Fraser were there as well and it was lovely to see everyone again.  Max and the boys played soccer (football) in the backyard and I visited with Michael and Aly.  We ate dinner and enjoyed being together.

 We got back to the hotel and everyone was up and hungry so I went to Subway (it was across the street from the hotel) to get sandwiches.  Wow was it different.  The only cheese available was shredded cheese.  It was weird.  We had left over chicken from KFC which Ian insisted on keeping but of course no one wanted that.  Our hotel was awesome.  The beds were amazing.  Shayna, Evan and I stayed in one room and the rest of the crew was in another room.  Poor Ian had a migraine.  We all slept great that first night in Birmingham. 

Europe Vacay 2018 - Day 1 - A day of travel

Last year we had the amazing opportunity to travel to Europe as a family.  It took me months of planning and researching - with a little help from Kim, Brian and Xander.  Kim and Brian decided in March that they wanted to go as well.  I'm so happy they did!  It has been my dream to travel to Europe FOREVER and thanks to Ian's parents that dream became a reality.  When I think about this trip I feel so blessed and thankful that I got to spend this time with the people I love most in the world.  We had no idea about the trials and troubles we would encounter later in 2018 and I firmly believe that this trip happened when and how it did as a tender mercy from God. 

Recently I have purchased an Apple Watch.  I got it out of necessity to so I could help manage and deal with Max's illness without constantly checking my phone.  I choose a photo for the home screen of my watch but some how my watch had other plans.  It constantly changes pictures.  And all of the pictures on it are from this trip.  Whenever I look at it a picture from our trip will pop up.  It brings me so much happiness to remember such a wonderful time in our lives.  Another tender mercy.

We got up around 3:30 am on Saturday, June 23, 2018 to get ready to embark on our 3 week travels throughout Europe.  I was so proud that we only checked 2 bags total (Xander checked one and I checked one with my workout clothes in it).  We each had a carry on and a back pack and could have easily done without that other checked back since I didn't work out once.  Michael was able to drop us off (he stayed at our house and watched our dog Oliver while we were gone).  We met Shayna (Xander's girlfriend) at the airport. 

 Our first flight was from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix to LAX in Los Angeles, CA.  The flight was short and uneventful. When we got to LAX we had to hurry and gather our luggage to rush to another terminal to catch our next flight.  Shayna's flight was going direct from LAX and didn't leave until later in the day so we said good bye to her.  Let me preface this by saying that I had been stressed out about this next flight.  It was from LAX to Minneapolis and if it left on time then we would only have 45 minutes to catch our connecting flight to London.  I had called our airline ahead of time and they assured me that it was plenty of time and it would be fine.  You know where this is going..

 Our flight to Minneapolis that was scheduled to leave at 11:10 did not leave until 12:20 because of "technical" difficulties.  I was a nervous wreck by the time we took off.  I knew the pilot could make up time - but how much?  When the pilot announced that we would arrive in Minneapolis only 10 minutes before our London flight I started to seriously panic.  I said a lot of prayers and tried to stay calm.  I paged our flight attendant and she assured me that if we missed our flight then they would put us on the next available flight.  The problem was that flight didn't leave until the next day.  I started crying - this trip was planned to the T and missing that flight would cause quite a few problems.

When we landed the flight attendant asked that everyone stay seated unless you had a connecting flight to catch.  Well of course everyone jumped up.  Xander got up really fast, grabbed his stuff and RAN.  We all managed to get off the plane and started running - hoping that Xander could tell the flight attendants for the London flight that we were coming. 

 I'm running as fast as I can and I hear Ben yell - "MOM!  Evan is gone!"  I told Ben to run ahead and I looked around for Evan.  Turns out he had ran to the bathroom (eye roll).  Well by the time we got to the gate we learned that our flight to London had been delayed 45 minutes. WOOHOO!  Definitely an answer to my prayers!  We ate in Minneapolis and then waited to board the next flight.

The next flight was the long one.  The plane was nice but those seats are so small.  Poor Ben and Ian.  Ian gave up his aisle seat to Evan so Ian was squished in the middle.  Ben accidentally left his neck pillow in the Minneapolis airport so I gave him mine.  Luckily the crew supplied us with ear phones, blankets and hot towels.  We also got to watch movies.  Even though this flight was long, it was the best flight in terms of amenities. 

We arrived in London, England at Heathrow Airport at 8:00 am their time.  We were worn out.  Stay tuned for DAY 2