Thankful Thursday

So much has happened over the last month since my most recent gratitude post. There have been some very challenging moments along the way, but as always, much to be thankful for. 

1. We were on vacation from August 5-16. Everyone was healthy during the trip. Aside from us eliminating a few things from the itinerary, almost everything went as planned. In general, the weather didn't interfere with our activities. The kids' favorite parts of the trip were the tidal bore rapids/mud sliding, kayaking with seals, and the boat trip in Gros Morne National Park. Other highlights included a couple of the hikes on Newfoundland and seeing many puffins. Paul really enjoyed some of the historical aspects of the vacation. 

2. On August 7, Oliver turned 14 years old. We are very thankful that he's part of our family! He grew over four inches in the past year. He's almost 5'9" tall.

3. On August 11, Paul and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. A couple in our Sunday School class celebrated their 58th anniversary a few days ago. I don't think Paul and I will live long enough to celebrate that many anniversaries together, but maybe we can make it to our 40th or 45th anniversary. Time will tell. Grateful for the twenty-five we've been given so far.

4. A family had us over for dinner on August 17 so that their daughter could spend time with Nadia one more time before she left for college. Aside from my sisters, this family is the only one who ever invites us over for dinner, so we don't take it for granted. 

5. We were able to spend more time with the Towfighis from August 18-20. The boys spent three nights at their home. Nadia spent one night, and Paul and I spent two nights with them. 

6. On August 19, we were able to get Nadia moved into her dorm room, meet her roommate and her roommate's parents, and have dinner with my dad and Karen. Nadia seems to be making a lot of friends, and she got 9/10 on her first chemistry quiz. Woohoo! She's picked up a VERY part-time job of being one of six students who care for the mice in the biology laboratory. 

7. On August 21, we were able to stop at York Barbell to pick up some weights for Ian, and I was able to have lunch with my friend, Tab, to celebrate her birthday. 

8. I played the piano in the foyer at church on August 23, and Ian played hymns on the piano after both the first and second services on August 30. I would say hearing him play that morning was the highlight of my month. It was a priceless moment for me.

9. We attended a picnic for the Bible quizzing families on August 23 at a park. The kids had their meeting (John 1) yesterday. There were a LOT of new kids, and Faith came back! We shall see how many kids stick with it over the next nine months, but our church may have 4-5 teams competing. Ian has memorized chapters 1-3 of John so far. I'm trying to get him to memorize 3 verses a day so he can memorize the whole book. Oliver is doing a better job so far at memorizing the required memory verses from the book of John. 

10. Ian's classes at Cedarville began on August 24. So far the physical activity class has been very easy. Ian is really into exercising and eating more protein these days so it's easy for him to complete his exercise reports. The C+++ programming class has been a bit problematic in terms of how many hours a day that one (3-credit) class is taking. I think part of the problem is that it's easy for Ian to be distracted on a laptop. 

11. Ian picked a song, "Ride of the Valkyries" by Wagner, for his next piano recital. His teacher teased that the song is TOO hard, but he's really motivated to learn it. 

12. Our new homeschool year began on August 25. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my boys this year. I had the boys draw their self-portraits and write goals for the year, as is our tradition.

13. It was a bit sad to have a family fun night with only four of us, but that's how it will need to be the majority of the time over the next two years. It was my turn to pick on August 29, and I chose the game Azul, which we hadn't played in quite a while. I think Paul will probably pick to watch The Mandalorian and Grogu movie on Disney+ this weekend. 

14.The boys have had two art classes (August 27 and today). Evidently, the school changed the plans and won't be doing Newsies in the spring. They haven't revealed what they will be doing instead yet. I'm thankful the boys can have art and therefore participate in the spring musical. Starting next Thursday, they'll also be in a chess club after art. 

15. It's been almost five years since we have had health insurance. It turns out we qualify to receive free health insurance. It will be effective October 1. The only downside is that now I probably should schedule my first dreaded colonoscopy, ha ha. We've been paying $800-900 a month for a Christian medical sharing program plus dental insurance, so I'm really looking forward to NOT paying those bills starting next month. 

16. Yesterday I took Oliver, Ian, and Xandir on a field trip to a state park. They were having a homeschool program for grades 6-12 on maps and compasses, and the boys are studying geography this year. Perfect! We were going to hike to the waterfalls after the program, but due to a thunderstorm, we didn't hike. 

17. My side of the family has decided to celebrate Christmas at an Airbnb in Virginia. My dad generously offered to pay for the reservation. My sisters and I will pay for the food for everyone. The drive won't be as far as going to Chicago, and it's much preferred over having 27 people stay at my house at one time. The Seiberts think that they will probably be able to watch Milo while we're at the Airbnb. 

18. Although they weren't as good as The Chosen, Paul and I enjoyed watching six episodes of The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls. 

19. I recently scheduled Ian’s voice lessons for the school year. She gives lessons at MCS and her home. We live closer to her home so I’m grateful the lessons will be taking place there on Mondays at 5:00 PM starting on September 14.

Maritime Provinces

I usually have my laptop with me on vacation, but I haven't been able to close my lid since it was broken in August 2025. So instead of writing a post for each day of our recent trip to Canada, I'm going to just summarize the whole trip in one post.

On this trip we went to many National Parks. Our pass had expired in May, so we purchased a new annual pass at the Vanderbilt Mansion. Our purchase paid for itself on the first day we had the pass because the tours at Vanderbilt and FDR's home cost money for those over the age of fifteen. No tickets were needed to tour Eleanor Roosevelt's home. The kids each earned seven Junior Ranger badges during the trip as we also visited Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Maine on the way to New Brunswick as well as Salem Maritime, Saugus Iron Works, and JFK's birthplace in Massachusetts on the way home. I had included an eighth US National Park site in the itinerary (Frederick Law Olmstead), but we skipped it so we could get home a little earlier on Sunday night. We didn't need to buy an annual pass for the Canadian national parks because they are free for everyone from June 19- September 7. The only exception was we did pay for a guided tour at the Fortress of Louisbourg. While we were in Canada the kids also earned some Xplorers dog tags. This is the Canadian version of the Junior Ranger program. In 2018 the kids completed the Xplorers program at Fort George in Ontario. On this trip they earned one at Fundy National Park (New Brunswick), Alexander Graham Bell (Nova Scotia), Signal Hill (Newfoundland), and Green Gables Heritage (Prince Edward Island). We had to pay $4 each for the kids to do the one on PEI. There have been a few times over the years that we've had to pay for the kids to do one in the US. At several sites the Xplorers program has been eliminated in Canada so the kids were not able to earn a dog tag at the Citadel in Halifax, the Fortress of Louisbourg, or Gros Morne National Park. We didn't end up hiking at Terra Nova National Park or Cape Breton as planned, and we were at Cape Spear before the visitor center opened. Of all the National Park sites we visited, Gros Morne was my favorite. We went on several hikes there and also took a two-hour boat tour of the Western Brook Pond, which is a gorgeous site (reminded us of Alaska). On one of the hikes we were walking on the mantle. Just counting US National Park sites, our family has now been to 182 of them (out of 433 total). Nadia has earned 238 Junior Ranger badges, Ian has earned 237, and Oliver has earned 226. 

We also enjoyed some beautiful places that were not part of a National Park. We hiked to the Hopewell Rocks. Unfortunately, it was at high tide. I wish it had worked out to visit there at low tide like we did when I went with my family 25+ years ago. We walked on the rocks near the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, saw the sea arch and Spillars Cove in Bonavista, walked between Cavendish Beach and the Cliffs on PEI, and hiked the gorgeous Skerwink Tral in Port Rexton. That hike was one of my most favorite experiences of the vacation. In terms of animals, the highlights were seeing many puffins, seagulls, and cormorants near the shore of Newfoundland and also kayaking near a harbor seal colony off the coast of Nova Scotia. Paul has the most diverse interests of anyone in our family, so I think he enjoyed almost all of the activities. Some of his favorite historical sites were the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Halifax Citadel, Fortress of Louisbourg, Signal Hill, and Saugus Iron Works. 

We were gone for twelve nights. Two of those were spent on an overnight ferry going between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Seven nights we stayed at a hotel, and five of those mornings we enjoyed a free breakfast. Two of us could have had a free breakfast at The Guv'nor in St. John's, but since it was only for two people and the restaurant didn't open until 8:00 am, none of us had breakfast there. Three nights we stayed at an Airbnb. The mattress that Paul and I found to be the most comfortable was the one in Rocky Harbour, NL. At two of the hotels, I was able to book a room that had three queen beds, which was nice as typically Nadia sleeps on a couch. One Airbnb I booked had three bedrooms, so Nadia got her own bedroom that night, and Oliver slept on a couch so downstairs so that he and Ian didn't need to share a bed. On Cape Breton I had to book two separate rooms, so Nadia got her own bed that night as well. Ian slept well on the ferry going in both directions, but most of us got more sleep on the ferry back to Nova Scotia. I definitely got more sleep on the ferry than I do on a red-eye flight. I was able to do two loads of laundry at the Airbnb in Bonavista on the evening of our 25th wedding anniversary. 

Not counting the two ferry rides, we had three other outings that involved being on the water. The first was a four-hour kayaking trip off of Nova Scotia. The second was the boat tour of the Western Brook Pond that was almost cancelled due to fog. I'm very glad it actually took place. The third was what Oliver chose since we were on vacation on his 14th birthday. We took a two-hour tidal bore rapids tour that included mud sliding. I wish I had photos of the kids covered in mud. I was especially surprised that Ian changed his mind and participated in that part of the outing because since he was a toddler he has never liked getting dirty/messy. The tides change more dramatically in the Bay of Fundy than anywhere on the planet. Thankfully the titanium in the sand keeps the water nice and warm. 

Since we were traveling in our own vehicle, we were able to bring along more food from home. In general, we tried to save money when it came to food expenses. Some highlights included the soft ice cream that we had near the entrance to Fundy National Park, eating a donair in Halifax (I was the only one who tried one), getting sandwiches from a grocery store multiple times, getting breakfast sandwiches and/or donuts at Tim Hortons and Robin's Donuts multiple times. eating pizza twice (Paul's favorite) and eating a meal at Market Family Cafe in St. John's. The food there was amazing and reasonably priced. Four of us thought we had our best meal on the trip at that restaurant. The boys really enjoyed eating at A&W one time as they loved the root beer served in a chilled glass mug. The most frustrating evening for eating was on August 10 because a crow damaged a transformer and caused a power outage that lasted 44 hours. The restaurants were all closed, and everyone was buying the food at the gas station and pharmacy so there wasn't much available. 

In general, my least two favorite aspects of a vacation are #1 not getting much sleep due to all different mattresses and #2 how exhausting and unpleasant it is to spend many hours in an airplane, ferry, or van. Not counting the nights on the ferry, I think the night we had the hardest time sleeping was the Airbnb we stayed in on August 7 because it was way too hot inside. I slept on the couch because I couldn't sleep upstairs due to the heat. As far as time spent traveling, we drove a little over 4K miles in 13 days. Eek! Then when we came home, we were home for less than 48 hours before we drove to Yvonne's house in Maryland and then on to Virginia to take Nadia to college. That round trip was a little shy of 1K miles, so we drove a little over 5K miles in 17 days. Our odometer turned over to 100,000 miles near the end of our trip home from Maryland this morning. We've had the vehicle for 5 years. I'm hoping to do VERY little driving in the coming months. I had finished the license plate game at the end of July, but Oliver wanted us to start again. So far in the month of August, we saw license plates for all ten provinces of Canada. Nine of the provinces we saw multiple license plantes, but we only spotted Saskatchewan one time. By the end of our vacation, we had seen plates from 40 of the 50 states (plus we saw DC). By the time we came home from taking Nadia to college, we had seen 46 of them. The ones we are still looking for are Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, and New Mexico. Paul and I shared the driving. As was the case in Europe, we encountered a lot more roundabouts than we do here in the US. We were in three different time zones. Atlantic is one hour ahead of Eastern, and Newfoundland is 1/2 an hour ahead of Atlantic. During the drives Nadia read many books (some on her Kindle as well as some physical books that she brought). Ian, Oliver, Paul, and I listened to all of Priest and part of Warrior by Jared Dodd. Ian played a LOT of chess on his phone. Both boys also played with the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to a free trial of SiriusXM, we also listened to some music although it was challenging to get a signal on Newfoundland. 

I have now been to 8 of Canada's 10 provinces as I went to 7 of them with my parents. Paul and the kids have now been to 5 of the provinces as they've spent time in Ontario on more than one occasion. If all goes as planned, we will travel to British Columbia and Alberta next summer with Nadia after she finishes her internship. Our next vacation will probably be to Utah (with a little time in NV, CA, and ID) without Nadia in the spring. We're planning to fly for both of those trips, so I hope those trips involve a lot less than 4K miles of driving, but I'm glad I finally made it to Newfoundland for the first time. It's my favorite province of the five that the kids have visited. 

Travel Agent

Ian with most of the employees at Joyful Petcare

Years ago, the earliest I would begin planning a vacation would be about one year in advance. Once I had the goal for our family to visit all fifty states, I started sketching out possible future vacations much farther in advance. In 2021, we had our longest vacation (25 days), and I tweaked the plans for that vacation many times over a few years. A month ago, I only had planned out two more trips for the future - one to four of the eastern provinces of Canada for August 2026 and a short trip to Quebec that I was thinking we'd take in August 2027. Over the past month, I've sketched out some more trips to possibly take in the coming years. If these trips actually happen, we will have visited all ten Canadian provinces and visited at least one National Park site in all fifty states. At the moment, the kids have only been to Ontario, and we've been to an NPS site in forty-five states (plus DC) so far. If we visit the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, City of Rocks in Idaho, Little River Canyon in Alabama, Lake Mead in Nevada, and Indiana Dunes National Park, we will achieve the goal of visiting an NPS site in all fifty states. These plans also include almost all of the national park sites that caught my attention while I was listening to the Dear Bob and Sue books. I *think* the only two national parks that aren't included in these plans that I had hoped we could visit together sometime are Big Bend in Texas and Glacier in Montana. I went to Glacier with my family decades ago, but I don't think I've ever been to Big Bend.

I think that for most members of our family, a ten-day vacation is the ideal length. With that in mind, I have come up with several vacations, five of which are about ten days long. These are listed in no particular order, as I'm not even sure which of these we might go on next year. Ian and Paul's first choice includes Michigan. Nadia's first choice is Western Canada, and Oliver's first choice includes Utah. If there's a chance Nadia will join us for a vacation next summer, I'll probably have to wait longer than usual to plan the trip, as I need a better idea of what she'll be doing next summer. For quite a few years we've been going on a trip in May, and many times we've gone on another one in August or September. If we end up picking Michigan and Western Canada for our trips next year, I don't think we would go in May because the insects are really bad in the Upper Peninsula in May and June, and some of the lakes are still frozen in British Columbia and Alberta. Time will tell. Ian's request for several years has been to go to Japan in 2028. I'm still not sure about that.

Years ago, I used to take the kids on about 80 field trips a year. That number has drastically decreased for a variety of reasons such as having more weekly commitments (co-op, art at MCS, piano lessons), there are more programs available for elementary students than high schoolers, the naturalist at R.B. Winter state park retired, and we've now visited many different sites in Pennsylvania. That doesn't mean we've been to every possible field trip site in the state. The Harley Davidson tour has been closed in York ever since COVID. I keep hoping that one will reopen as my students enjoyed going there decades ago. I didn't take the kids prior to 2020 because I was waiting for Oliver to be old enough to participate in the tour. Two state parks have been on the back on my mind - Kinzua and Sinnemahoning. I could have made it a goal to visit every state park in Pennsylvania, but I've not done that. I think I've only taken the kids to seven state parks (Black Moshannan, Bald Eagle, R.B. Winter, Ricketts Glen, Nescopeck, Milton, and Leonard Harrison). Not counting places we will visit on vacation, I only have four field trips planned so far for the 2026-27 school year - Army Expo in Carlisle on September 12, Elk Country Visitor Center on September 24, Kinzua Bridge State Park on September 25, and seeing a performance of Treasure Island in Lewisburg on October 11. I am particularly excited about hopefully seeing the herd of wild elk during mating season. I booked one night at an Airbnb so that we could go to a viewing area at dusk one night and at dawn the next morning. That is something I've wanted to do for quite a few years, and I'm happy I finally made a reservation (which greatly increases the odds it will actually take place). 

Ian, Ben, John, Randy, Julia, Leila, and Nadia in an individual round

1. Western Canada - Granville Island, Stanley Park, Vancouver Aquarium. Capilano Suspension Bridge, Butchart Gardens, Pacific Rim National Park, Wild Pacific Trail, Cathedral Grove, Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Banff Gondola, Yoho National Park, Columbia Icefields Skywalk, Mistaya Canyon, Emerald Lake, Moraine Lake, Abraham Lake, Maligne Lake, Peyto Lake, and Lake Louise- flying and renting a vehicle

2. Michigan - Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Picture Rocks, Apostle Islands, Perry's Victory (OH), Milwaukee, Chicago, and Indiana Dunes (if we wanted to visit Isle Royale National Park, this would be the trip to do it, but I'm leaning against including it at the moment) - driving in our vehicle

3. South Dakota/Saskatchewan/Manitoba - Hy-Wire Zipline, Tunnels of Moose Jaw, Stone Hall Castle, Mount Rushmore (again), Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Custer State Park, Minuteman Missile, Badlands (again), and Falls Park  - flying and renting a vehicle

4. Quebec (less than a week) - Watkins Glen, Women's Rights, Harriet Tubman, Parliament buildings in Ottowa, Byward Market, Canadian War Museum, Rideau Canal, white water rafting and zipline tour in Quebec, La Citadelle, Plains of Abraham, Terrass Dufferin, Montmorency Falls, Montreal Botanical Garden, Saint Joseph's Oratory, Mount Royal Park, Notre Dame Basilica, Utica Zoo, and Fort Stanwix - driving in our car 

5. California - Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks - flying and renting a vehicle

6. Utah - Las Vegas, Death Valley National Park, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire State Park, Grand Staircase Escalante, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and City of Rocks National Reserve - flying and renting a vehicle with 4WD

7. If the Nationals for Bible quizzing are held in South Carolina in 2027 or 2028, I'd like to visit these places either before or after the quizzing - Billy Graham Library, Biltmore Estate, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, and Little River Canyon National Preserve - driving in our car

Graduation Party

It's been a month since I wrote a gratitude list. Here are some things I've been thankful for over the past month.

1. I am thankful that we have all been healthy for more than a month, and considering we were on several flights during that time (which seem to be an easy place for germs to spread), I am very grateful for good health. 

2. After the panic over needing to adjust plans when one of our flights was cancelled about a week before we left, I am grateful that nothing else was cancelled on our trip (except by us). 

3. Aside from a downpour when we were at the Arc de Triomphe and a mist being blown onto us (which caused us to be rather soaked) when we hiked on the Isle of Skye, we didn't experience any rain, which is quite amazing for that area of the world. The temperatures went from unseasonably cold at the beginning of our trip to a record-breaking heat wave at the end of the trip.

4. Although renting vehicles was more expensive and stressful than anticipated, I am very grateful that Paul was able to navigate driving on the "wrong" side of the road, endless roundabouts, and very narrow roads, parking garages, and parking spots without incident.

5. Our accommodations were very nice during the entire trip. Typically, I use Priceline.com, hotels.com, Airbnb, and VRBO to find places to stay. The website that was the biggest help for this trip was Booking.com. 

6. We had some amazing experiences on the trip. If each member of our family was asked what their top 3-5 experiences were, here are some of the answers that would be given: Alnwick Castle, Phantom of the Opera, Paddington the Musical, Conwy Castle, Snowdon Mountain, Caerphilly Castle, Big Ben, Camera Obscura, Arthur's Seat, Quiraing, and the coast of Northern Ireland.

7. Milo was well cared for by the Seiberts while we were gone.

8. Xandir spent some time with my boys at our house on May 9, and Abby and Faith spent some time with Nadia at our house on May 28-29. 

9. Ian started his first job on May 28.

10. The Schrecks came over for dinner on June 4. 

11. Rachel spent a few days with Nadia. She flew here on June 4 and returned back home on June 7.

12. Paul and I started another eight-week session of dance lessons on June 5. This is the first time we're taking two classes at one time (two hours each night).

13. We had Nadia's graduation party at an indoor roller-skating rink on June 6. Based on the RSVP's, we anticipated over 70 people attending. The amount who came was much less than that, but Nadia had a good time. Our neighbors won the prize for having the very best reason for not attending. Shortly before they were about to leave to come to the party, the wife was struck by lightning. I'm sure they would rather have been at the party than the hospital! Thankfully, she is fine. We had a lot of extra food, drinks, and paper products, but they will be used eventually. I don't think I'll rent an entire roller-skating rink again, but I think it made for a special graduation party for Nadia. I made a 17-minute slideshow that was playing on our television that we brought from home during the party. If any of you want to see it, let me know. I can't post it on YouTube or anything like that because I used some of her favorite songs as the background music, but I can send the link to the file on my Google drive by text or email.

14. Nathan and Wesley arrived at our home on June 5, and the rest of the Towfighis (plus Jenna and Toby but not including Andrew) arrived on June 6. Most of them left on June 7, but Wesley, Micah, and Julianna are still with us. I'll be driving them to Messiah University on Thursday afternoon, which is also when I'll be picking Ian up to bring him back home.

15. Ian has been attending a cybersecurity camp at Messiah University this week. He's staying at Jenna and Toby's home, and Nathan is also staying with Jenna and Toby and is driving Ian to and from Messiah.

16. Micah, Wesley, Oliver, and Julianna have been enjoying having a free lunch at the park each day this week (starting on Monday). 

17. Aside from a dress I got for Jenna's wedding, it had been nine years since I got myself a new dress. My dad gave me money for my birthday that he wanted me to use toward a new dress. I got myself two new dresses, and I wore one of them this past Sunday. I got the WORST haircut of my life on Thursday so it helped to at least have a pretty new dress to wear when I was feeling self-conscious about my hair. Ian's reaction when I first came home after my haircut was that he was very grateful that I cut his hair (because he thought I do a much better job than the woman who botched my hair). Yvonne's first reaction when she walked in our house was "I'm so sorry" when she saw my hair, and that was after I snipped some more to try to even it out. In addition to being 2-3 inches shorter than I requested, the sides were very uneven. I am determined to not be in any photographs until it grows out and doesn't look so embarrassing. I'm hoping that will be true in August when we are in Canada, but time will tell. The good news is that it's just hair, and it will grow back. I wish I liked wearing hats as that would be a great way to cover it up. 

18. Yvonne gave me money towards a new ski coat for my birthday. She knew I haven't ever liked my 1980's ski coat. Instead of getting a ski coat, I recently got a longer really warm coat that I plan to wear when we walk Milo and it's very, very cold outside. I donated my 1980's ski coat to Goodwill on Thursday. It was still in great shape as most years I only wore it when I went skiing. 

19. This recent vacation was definitely not one of my favorite vacations, partially because I kept waking up too early the entire trip. A few days ago, I had my best night of sleep in over a month. It felt heavenly. Also, my right knee was in a lot of pain during the trip, which was problematic given we were typically climbing hundreds of very narrow, spiral staircases on many days (in castles, Big Ben, National Wallace Memorial, etc.). Thankfully, I've been wearing a knee brace, and my knee is doing much better. I've decided that in the future I should always bring a knee brace with me on vacations just in case it's needed. My right elbow has been in pain for months, and I haven't found a way to reduce that pain yet, but that doesn't slow me down when walking. I'm having serious doubts about the idea of going to Japan (Ian's request) in 2028 due to how long the flight would be and also how significant the jet lag would be (13 time zones away). I have two future trips planned - an 11-night trip to Canada this August and a 5-night trip to Canada in August 2027. I've begun working on a trip (I'm guessing it will be about 9 nights long) to Utah and Nevada for May 2027. I'm trying to make the trip a loop so that we can rent a vehicle through Turo. I don't have anything planned beyond August 2027. At one point I said I wanted to visit Australia and Africa at some point, but right now I'm content to stay in North America.

20. I've enjoyed listening to the series The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion the last few weeks.

Home Sweet Home

Although it is nice to be able to visit other places, there's nothing quite like being at home. I always feel like I have to hit the ground running when we return as there are usually a list of tasks that need to be done as soon as possible such as doing laundry, putting away the suitcases, mowing the lawn, calling the orthodontist to reschedule the boys' appointment for June as it conflicted with Ian's work schedule, and buying eggs, milk, and produce. Ian and I were affected by jet lag the most as we were both waking up far too early the first few days after we returned home. Susie's 22nd birthday was on Wednesday, but due to jet lag plus the fact that she's in California, I waited until Friday to talk with her. The only thing on our calendar on Wednesday was Bible quizzing for all three kids plus Nadia's small group met after that. On Thursday Ian and I went to the high school to get him a work permit. Nadia worked the morning shift on Thursday, and Ian worked his very first shift that afternoon. Abby and Faith came over in the afternoon on Thursday and stayed until Friday afternoon to spend time with Nadia. She is seizing these opportunities before she heads off to work at Camp Susque and then moves to Virginia after that. The boys both had a tooth extraction on Friday at the dentist, which was at the request of their orthodontist, and Oliver also got his first filling. Nadia and Ian haven't had any cavities yet. Nadia and Ian worked a shift together on May 30 which was special. Nadia has worked at the kennel since November 2024.

Being at home also meant a return to our church. On May 3 and 10 we attended only one service at our church, and we were in Europe on May 17 and 24. This meant Paul and I had missed four weeks of our Sunday School class. We're studying the book of Acts currently. We were able to attend both services on May 31, and I was asked to play the piano in the foyer after both services. And being at home means Ian has his first piano lesson today since May 8. It will actually be his only piano lesson this month. Next month he is scheduled to have five piano lessons and four voice lessons. I also was able to go to the library and get a DVD for us to watch as a family (Soul on Fire) and also a book for myself. I've been busy preparing for Nadia's graduation party which is this Saturday. I've put MANY hours into making a 16-minute slideshow that will be playing on repeat during her two-hour party at the roller-skating rink. I've taken thousands of pictures of Nadia over the last almost eighteen years. I selected about 400 of them for the slideshow.

Although we are back at home, at least for Nadia and Oliver, they are not back to doing schoolwork. Ian is still finishing his precalculus class through ASU. We shall see if he finishes it by the end of the month or not. Oliver knows that I expect him to do three things every day - read, study I and II Corinthians, and get some exercise. He has really enjoyed listening to audiobooks for some time, but thankfully he has recently become more of a reader and has progressed to reading longer books. Nadia has begun the process of going through her bedroom to figure out what to give away, throw away, leave at home, and take to college.

My faith in the USPS has definitely fallen over the past several months. I had an incident awhile back where a Christmas card I sent to Annapolis took more than six months to come back to me. In December I mailed a 9x13 envelope to the PA Dept of Treasury with tax documents from the trust. It came back to me about one month later. The accountant showed the image of the envelope to someone at the PA Dept of Treasury, and they couldn't understand why it wasn't delivered because they said it was the correct address. They gave an alternate address to use, and I mailed it again in January. Unfortunately, the accountant accidentally put an extra 1 in the zip code. The employee at the Post Office caught the error, but instead of deleting the extra 1 in the middle of the zip code she just took off the list digit. That 9x13 envelope has yet to be delivered OR come back in the mail to me (4 months later), and we only live a 90-minute drive from the state capitol. At the beginning of May I mailed the documents a third time, but this time I used UPS instead of USPS, and they delivered it the very next day. Similarly, I mailed Susie her birthday card before we went on vacation, and while we were away it came back in the mail to me. I showed her a picture of the envelope. She said I had addressed it correctly but that she frequently has the issue of mail bouncing back. So, I took a picture of the card so she could see what I had written, ripped up the check, and sent her money by Zelle instead. I remember debating with my friend, Joanna (who is a lawyer in Annapolis) back in the early 90's that I thought the USPS should be privatized, and my opinion has not changed over the last 30+ years! 

Here are some additional random observations from our trip to Europe:

1. I was never asked to show a credit card or ID when checking into a hotel or any other type of lodging. I remember 20+ years ago being asked to show a passport, and of course here in the US I'm usually asked for a credit card and a driver's license. 

2. Often when traveling to a foreign country you have the issue of encountering a different language. The only time this happened on this trip was during our day in Paris, but English was easily spoken by ever person we spoke to on the trip. In Ireland and the UK English is spoken, but of course with a different accent than we have here in the US. In our experience, the Scottish accent was the one that was the strongest and sometimes made it harder for us to understand what was being said. While we were on vacation, I started listening to a book series (The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion) which is read by a British actress. There are eight books in the series, so I've continued to listen to them since we arrived back at home. There are also instances where different words are used than we typically do here in the US. Garbage is rubbish. The place where rubbish goes is called a bin (not a trash or garbage can). Bathrooms are either labeled toilets or WC. Traffic circles are roundabouts. Parking lots are car parks. Chips are steak fries, and what we call chips are called crisps. 

3. We did get confirmation on Friday that our second parking ticket would be cancelled because we submitted proof we had paid for parking prior to the ticket being issued. We were very grateful for the rare instances when we had free parking. This happened in Alnwick and also when we visited the C.S. Lewis Square in Belfast. 

4. As I said, we usually attempt to curtail how much we spend on food on our vacations. One way we did this on this trip was to buy meal deals at some convenience stores. They varied in price but were often around 5-6 pounds per person and included a main dish (ex. a ham and cheese toastie) plus a drink and a snack (usually candy or crisps). The kids would often choose an energy drink in this instance. When we were punting on the River Cam, our tour guide informed us that it was actually illegal in the UK for Oliver to have an energy drink because he was under the age of sixteen. Oops! They let kids have wine at a meal starting at age sixteen, and they can have any liquor at age eighteen, but they are stricter with energy drinks.

5. Nadia and Ian definitely consumed more caffeine than they usually do. Nadia and Ian had coffee almost every day, and Nadia also had many cups of hot tea. Ian almost always orders a mocha. One time he had a double shot of espresso in his mocha. Nadia had at least one latte in France, Ireland, Scotland, England, Norther Ireland, and Wales. All but one time she had a vanilla latte. She broke that trend and had a caramel one the last time. The coffee machines available with the Holiday Inn free breakfast even made lattes and such. I'm the only person who didn't consume any caffeine on the trip. I had only two hot drinks - hot chocolate both times. The first time I was grateful for the warmth it provided my hands because I got it after we climbed to the VERY cold and windy summit of Snowden Mountain. I wasn't keen on the taste, and after I had a free cup of hot chocolate at a Holiday Inn I then came to the conclusion that I like hot chocolate better in the US, so I just stuck with water from that point onward.

 

Europe 2026

Here are 15 random observations from our 15 days abroad.

1. We never had to pay to use the bathroom, which was a pleasant surprise as we’ve had to pay in Europe in the past.

2. We also never had to pay for a glass of water, which was another unexpected blessing.

3. Growing up I remember eating a lot of complimentary meals on airline flights. Our kids have not had that experience, but Aer Lingus does still serve free meals on transatlantic flights. One the way home we were served a beverage with Penn State pretzels followed by a main meal. We had two choices for the main dish (chicken or pasta) and everyone received a chickpea salad, piece of wheaten bread, water, and a small serving of passion fruit mousse. Coffee and tea were offered with the meal. Several hours later we were served a very small cheese sandwich and a small brownie with coffee or tea.

4. Back in 2001 I remember hearing the phrase "mind the gap" many times. We heard it again on this trip. On this trip I noticed in Scotland and Ireland that they often used the phrase "wee bit." 

5. Wales is a VERY dog friendly place to visit. We saw dogs in most shops, restaurants, etc. In one restaurant I noticed they had free dog treats and also toys available for the dogs. As long as they were "on a lead" they were permitted in most places. 

6. Stop signs are almost nonexistent. There are some stop lights, but much less than we have here in the US. Instead, they have what felt like about five million roundabouts. I'm very grateful Paul was the one driving as I'm not a fan of roundabouts. 

7. Except for the night we stayed at the Cowshed Bunkhouse (boutique hostel), we had complimentary coffee and tea available at every place we stayed. Many times, there was an electric kettle in the bedroom. That kettle came in handy the morning I wanted to make instant oatmeal that I had brought from home. On the other hand, we never saw an ice machine or had a microwave or refrigerator in our room unless we were staying in an apartment that had a kitchen.

8. Gas is ridiculously expensive. I'm sure the war in Iran made that worse, but wow it costs an arm and a leg to fill up the tank of a SUV. They also don't have pay at the pump at gas stations. Everyone has to go in to pay, and most people do some shopping while they're in there so if you're waiting for a gas pump to become available, you might be waiting awhile as people buy groceries or just an ice cream or whatever in conjunction with paying for their gas.

9. Parking spaces and parking garages were not made with SUVs in mind. We were SO grateful for the amazing cameras that the vehicles we rented had but still parking and navigating a parking garage were not for the faint of heart. My hat is off to Paul. I would have had to have a smaller vehicle if I was driving. 

10. I enjoyed seeing the statues inside the Wallace Memorial as they honored a variety of Scottish people including Robert Burns, Mary Slessor, Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and John Knox.

11. During the majority of our trip the temperatures were lower than normal for May. The good news is that it hardly rained when we were walking around, and that was a blessing as usually it rains more than that. May 23-26 the weather was unseasonably warm. In fact, they had record breaking high temperatures in the UK on May 24. We actually got some sunburn that day! We definitely didn't need any umbrellas any of those days it was very hot and sunny. 

12. Slices of bacon are SO big in the UK and Ireland. The first time I saw a piece I thought it was a slice of ham due to the size. 

13. We had many delicious breads in Paris, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. For example, I really liked the soda bread we had with our breakfast at the Guest House on May 25 in Northern Ireland.

14. Some foods that they serve with breakfast are not ones we typically have at breakfast in the US. We ordered breakfast sandwiches in Dublin our last morning (by that time we knew what baps were), and on each plate there was a small salad. You also never get to pick a salad dressing in the UK. Breakfasts also usually included baked beans (which I didn't mind although I don't plan on eating them for breakfast at home), stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and bacon. 

15. We were able to use a credit card to pay for almost everything. I had gotten some pounds and Euros through AAA before we left because I knew that we had to pay cash for our dinner at the guest house, and I figured we'd need some cash for bathrooms and such. We did need cash a few times such as at the Cardiff Market and the machines in some parking lots only accepted cash, but the vast majority of the time credit cards were accepted. If I had to do it over again, I would have just used our debit card to get some cash at an ATM over there, and I wouldn't have exchanged as much as we did. We made sure at the end to use cash instead of cards so that we would come home with as little of those currencies as possible. 

Northern Ireland

Renting a car in Belfast was a very quick, yet rather expensive affair. You either have to pay a lot for insurance or allow them to put a hold for thousands of dollars on your credit card. Ugh. Our first stop was the Blackhead Coastal Path which was beautiful but not as stunning as the Gobbins Cliff Path. We stopped for ice cream and snacks at The Rhinka which is a family owned ice cream shop that has been selling homemade ice cream since 1921. We have enjoyed trying unique flavors such as Biscoff, rhubarb, and sticky toffee pudding. Because our 2.5 hour hike on the Gobbins Cliff Path was a guided tour, we had to wait awhile as we got there early. We then drove to our guest house which was located very close to the Giant’s Causeway. We had preordered a dinner (at an extra charge) from the guest house. After eating we hiked around the causeway. The views from the guest house were absolutely stunning, the beds were very comfortable, the water was very hot for the shower, and there were three twin beds plus one queen size bed in our room. Perfect! The free continental breakfast was quite comprehensive, but we also bought three hot breakfasts.

After breakfast we drove to the Carrick a Rede rope bridge which again afforded us amazing views of the beautiful coast. We ended our time in Northern Ireland in Belfast. We had a one hour private guided tour outside the museum that included a free small drink and a small bit of food at a restaurant, and then we went inside the museum. It was very different from the Titanic Museum in Tennessee as this one is focused on the building of the ship. It was very high tech and even included a ride. Our last stop was to C.S. Lewis Square where we saw statues of the beavers, White Witch, Mr. Tumnus, Aslan, etc. We were surprised they didn’t have statues of Peter, Edmund, or Lucy. C.S. Lewis was born and lived in Belfast for the first several years of his life. We drove to the airport to return the rental car, took two taxis to the train station (don’t ask how much that cost us!!), grabbed a bite to eat on the train, and rode a train for 2 hour plus 15 minutes to Dublin. Thankfully we only paid for one taxi to take us to our hotel. I was game for walking the one mile from the train station to the hotel, but I was outvoted. The kids shared a room with three beds. Paul and I had our own room. The most any one room could accommodate was four people. This morning we walked to a cafe for breakfast as the hotel we stayed at charged extra for breakfast. Then we took one taxi to the airport. We arrived very early, but I knew there wasn’t enough time to do something in Dublin before going to the airport so we decided to play it safe and get there earlier than necessary. We are supposed to be served two meals on our flight to Newark. Thankfully this is not a red eye flight like we had coming over here. I’m not looking forward to the jet lag, but I’m very much looking forward to holding Milo!

Scotland

We spent five days in Scotland, longer than we spent in the other countries. We spent the first day and a half in Edinburgh. They pronounce it “Edinboro.” We had a guided tour of Edinburgh Castle. That was the first site we visited on the trip that was very particular about our entrance time. I do not enjoy the added stress that comes with the fact that timed entrances are required for SO many activities. Most places were very accommodating even when we showed up rather early. Thankfully they bent their rules a little and let us come in prior to the time of our guided tour. Most of the places I had made dinner reservations, reservations weren’t actually necessary, but it did come in handy at the Makars Mash Bar. We tried different types of mash(ed potatoes). When planning vacations I try to choose the top rated activities, but when it comes to food, affordability factors in far more heavily. This restaurant is rated the second best casual dining in the UK, but due to three of us ordering bowls of tomato soup instead of a main dish, it wasn’t a splurge financially. The kids’ favorite activity that day was the Camera Obscura. Because of the late nights, we decided to skip the hike up Calton Hill. We stayed at an apartment on the outskirts of the city. The washer and dryer were two separate machines, but the dryer was utterly pathetic. I was babysitting the dryer from 4:30 am onward. Some of the clothes were still wet when we left. When Paul and I were in London in 2002, our hotel room was so small we barely had room for a suitcase. The room was almost the same size as the bed. Thankfully that hasn’t been the case this time around. 

Wednesday morning we had pastries from a bakery for breakfast and then hiked up Arthur’s Seat trail. One of the types of pastries was called a yum yum. The pastries were delicious and the views on the hike were beautiful! I had my first two sightings of the Eurasian magpie, which I saw elsewhere on the trip. We had lunch at the Haggis Box which was in the same building as John Knox’s house, which we visited after we ate. Oliver had haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes). Ian and Paul tried a bite of Oliver’s haggis the next time he ordered it. After touring John Knox’s home, we had gelato (second time on the trip for Oliver and I and third time for Ian and Nadia). Next we visited St. Giles Cathedral where John Knox was the first Protestant pastor there (it had been a Catholic Church prior to that). We didn’t have any timed reservations that day which was so freeing!! No tickets are needed for St Giles, a hike, or the National Museum of Scotland, and no advance tickets are needed for the John Knox site. We also visited some places that JK Rowling had used as inspiration for the Harry Potter books. We have never spent so much time trying to find specific gravestones in a cemetery before, ha ha! We had a delicious and inexpensive dinner at the Piemaker. Nadia and I really enjoyed our feta vergas. Oliver loved his macaroni cheese pie. Our day ended with the Kelpies in Falkirk. Had I known that our ride on the Falkirk Wheel was going to be cancelled, I would have booked an apartment in Sterling, but the upside of where we stayed was the fact the dryer actually worked! By the time we left we had washed and dried all our dirty laundry, and we didn’t lose any sleep to accomplish that feat.

Thursday morning Paul asked for us to visit the Battle of Bannockburn since we couldn’t ride a boat on the Falkirk Wheel as planned. The kids stayed in the SUV. We all went on a guided tour of Stirling Castle after we had explored part of it ourselves. Nadia dubbed this vacation- castles and cathedrals. We’ve climbed a LOT of stairs on this trip. Most of them have been very narrow circular steps. There were 246 of those steps at the National Wallace Memorial. When planning vacations I always factor in how much driving will be required. Sometimes we skip something that sounds really good because of how much extra driving would be required (ex. Big Bend National Park in May last year). If we had skipped the Isle of Skye on this trip, we would have saved a lot of driving, but our hike ended up being Nadia’s favorite thing we did in Scotland so I think I made the right call. 

We spent one night on the island in a boutique hostel. We had a room with four bunk beds. My preference would have been to get a room with six beds, but that one didn’t come with its own bathroom. Paul preferred having our own bathroom so he and I squeezed into one twin size bottom bunk. Obviously neither of us slept well. We had stopped at a grocery store on the way there the night before to buy an ice cream treat to eat right away and some food for breakfast and supper the next day. The view from the Cowshed bunkhouse was amazing! Unfortunately, it was very foggy and was misting during our first 2.5 hour hike at Quiraing. Oliver really wanted to do the loop that included hiking over the top, but we weren’t all capable of that so we went out and back. The views were utterly stunning, but it was rather nerve wracking as if you slipped, you’d probably die, and we had to scramble over walks and through a waterfall. I wasn’t always sure I was capable, but I succeeded and never fell down. The fog had lessened on our walk back, but the wind had blown the mist onto us so the backside of our clothes were soaked. Our next stop was just a viewpoint for a waterfall. We planned to hike the Old Man of Storr hike, but due to the fact we were wearing wet clothes, we opted to skip it. Given how full the parking lot was there, I’m not certain we would have been able to park there anyhow. We got found a bathroom in Portree where we could change into dry clothes and bought some individual wood fired pizzas that we ate in the SUV. On our drive to our bed and breakfast we stopped to look at the Eilean Donan Castle, our last for the trip. Thankfully our drive toward Glasgow was much less stressful than our drive from Stirling. There were so many sections of that windy, curvy road that were two way but only one narrow lane! Yikes! We’ve seen a lot of sheep this entire trip (except in the big cities), but Paul was disappointed that he didn’t get a glimpse of any Highland cows in Scotland. That is a disadvantage of being the driver. 

We spent our last night in Scotland at a bed and breakfast. The couple served us s lovely breakfast. We ordered what we wanted the night before. Breakfast was included. We paid extra for five bag lunches plus one small load of laundry that the wife did since our clothes were wet from the hike. We had a very short drive to a birds of prey center. We had booked a 90 minute owl experience. Paul and the kids each interacted with three different owls. I took pictures. Then we watched a 45 minute flying show before walking to the pier where our 60 minute boat cruise on Loch Lommond departed. Next we drove to Glasgow and visited the Riverside Museum. They were having a music festival there that weekend so the Glenlee tall ship was closed. We had dinner and filled the gas tank before checking into the Holiday Inn at the Glasgow Airport. Paul returned the SUV while I checked in to the hotel. We had two rooms again. Unfortunately, Nadia left her Kindle in the room she and Ian shared. She also left her Alaska hoodie somewhere else in Scotland. Not having the adapter has been far more annoying, but that didn’t cost anywhere near as much as the items she left behind.

The cooked breakfast didn’t start until 6:30, which was when we felt we should walk to the terminal. We were able to eat a continental breakfast. It turned out we could have eaten the hot breakfast as we waited awhile at the airport before they even told us what gate to go to. It was a domestic flight so we didn’t go through immigration. Their security was very sensitive. They even tested my stick of deodorant?!? I’ve never had that happen before. The weird thing is that Nadia had the exact same kind of deodorant in her bag, and they didn’t test hers. It was a very short flight to Belfast. Thankfully, I’ve gotten on a very good streak with making it through the body scanners without any issues. We’ve learned to take off hiking boots even if it’s not required because they set off the scanners.

England and Paris

 

On May 15 we began our day with a visit to Jane Austen's home in Chawton, England. Nadia had specifically asked for us to go there. She has read three of Austen's books, and years ago one of Nadia's favorite book series was the Mother Daughter Book Club, and in one of those books the girls visited Austen's home in England. We then drove to London and parked the car in the parking lot of the apartment building where we were going to be spending three nights. We planned to take the bus, but then we thought it would be faster to take a taxi to Buckingham Palace, and we didn't want to be late for our "private" tour (we were 5 of 20 people in the tour). A comedy of errors ensued. We had trouble getting the app to accept our credit card. Then we waited for the first taxi driver who accepted our request, but then he changed his mind. We had to wait for another taxi driver to come our way. We *thought* we were helping out by walking in the direction of where he was coming from, but in reality he came to where we had been when we requested the taxi so we then had to RUN back to where we had been in the hopes he would still be waiting for us. We were supposed to arrive 15 minutes before our tour began to go through security, but in reality we arrived one minute after our tour began. Paul knew that they would be collecting our phones so he turned off his phone as we were walking into the palace. Paul and Nadia got new phones this year, and when we upgraded their phones they were switched to a plan that includes international traveling. Ian didn't bring his phone, Oliver doesn't own a phone, and I've only been using my phone in airplane mode. Unfortunately, Paul forgot that the tickets were on his phone, and ironically when he turned off his phone, it went through an update and had to be restarted on Wi-Fi, and there wasn't any Wi-Fi in that area of Buckingham Palace. So we had no way to show our tickets. I took my phone off of airplane mode (which incurred a $12 charge from Verizon) to try to access the tickets on my phone, but that also was unsuccessful. Thankfully, they had my name on a list and finally let us in without actually showing tickets. From that point forward I made sure to save screenshots of all tickets on my own phone. The tour was interesting, but the tour guide spoke very quietly (trying not to disturb those who were working there). 

As we walked from Buckingham Palace to the British Museum, we stopped at a Pret A Manger for dinner. It's a British fast food restaurant which serves much healthier options that most fast food places in the US. Paul and I tried to go to the British Museum in 2002, but they were on strike the day we tried to go. The Bayeux Tapestry which we saw in France in 2002 will be on display in the British Museum from September 2026- July 2027. I wish the kids could have seen that, but I'm very glad that Paul's 24 year wait to visit the British Museum is over. We ended the night with Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre. It was my third time seeing that Broadway show and Paul's second time, but it was the first for the kids. They liked it. Ian jumped a couple of times (such as when the large chandelier fell down). It was the kids' sixth Broadway show. When we saw Aladdin in Buffalo while on vacation I was mortified at how underdressed we were compared to most people, but in general people weren't dressed up for the show in London so we were fine. The bus ride was only supposed to take about 20 minutes, but there was an incredible amount of traffic that night even though it was late so by the time we got to our apartment it was about 11:45 pm. In hindsight, we could have gotten back much sooner if we had walked back despite the fact it was about 2 miles away. The first two nights in Wales our apartments had a machine that was both a washer and dryer, but I didn't do laundry because our trip had just begun, and then we stayed at hotels which didn't include free laundry. I started a load that first night in London and it took me days to get that small load of laundry dry! I had hoped to do multiple loads over the course of three days. That didn't happen. The first night of our trip we got almost no sleep as we were on the plane. The second night we went to bed later than planned because of a variety of factors. The third, fourth, and fifth nights of the trip we were able to go to bed at a very reasonable hour and didn't have to get up early. Two of those nights Nadia and Ian had their own room, and I think they (or at least Ian) stayed up later than recommended. He also didn't think to take a shower either of those days or nights, and he left our adaptor at the hotel, and that has been sorely missed since then. The sixth, seventh, and eighth nights of the trip we didn't get enough sleep.

On May 16 we walked to the Tower of London and had breakfast at a place called Cheese & Peppers on the way there. Paul and I prefer guided tours. The kids generally do not, but they did all like the Beefeater tour at the Tower. Thankfully we saw the crown jewels before the line got really long. Our next stop was the Tower Bridge. These two stops were the only ones that were repeats in England for Paul and I. The Tower Bridge tour hadn't changed that much, but the Tower of London site was much different. Next we took the underground toward Westminster Abbey. A protest was being held that day very close to the Abbey so we had to alter the route we took to get there. Our fourth stop was the Churchill War Rooms. We planned to visit the bronze statues at Leicester Square, but many roads were closed due to the protest. We finally gave up on having dinner where I had planned and also skipped seeing the statues. We had time for shopping before we went to see Paddington the Musical at the Savoy Theatre. The kids liked Phantom of the Opera, but they absolutely loved Paddington. They have been listening to it every day since then. Thankfully we didn't encounter extra traffic on our bus trip back to the apartment that night, but it was still a VERY short night of sleep because we had to get up at 2:45 am to drive to the airport for our flight to Paris. 

I thought leaving at 3:15 am would allow us plenty of time. I was wrong. The line for the security screening was very long. By the time we got to our gate, they had already started boarding. In Paris we bought 5 passes that allowed us unlimited use of the trains/subway for the day. We took the train from the airport to Notre Dame. They didn’t give out any reserved tickets that day, but thankfully the line wasn’t long. Since it was Sunday morning, they were having a service while we were there. After visiting the Cathedral (which Paul and I had been in before the fire), we bought some baguettes and pain au chocolat, which was a treat I really enjoyed when we spent a week in France in 2002. They were having a bread festival outside of the cathedral. Our next stop was Sainte Chapelle, which is my most favorite cathedral I’ve ever been in. In 2002 we had a private guided tour of it, which we loved. We just walked around it ourselves this time. There were far more security screenings now compared to 24 years ago. We went through scanners 8 times in one day (two times just for the Eiffel Tower). We had crepes for lunch at Chez Suzette before visiting the Musee de Orsay, which was the only site on our itinerary that wasn’t a repeat for Paul and I. Monet, Manet, and Renoir are three of my favorite artists so it was a delight to see so many of their original works of art there along with ones by Van Gogh. We ended our day in Paris with a visit to the Arc de Triomphe, eating pizza at Chez Pippo, and going to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t bring my camera to Paris because of the rain forecast. We did experience a total downpour for about 75 minutes in the afternoon around the time of the Arc. We had brought two umbrellas with us and bought two more in Paris. Considering how frequently it rains in the UK, we considered ourselves fortunate that this was the first time we had much rain. We took the train back to the airport, and then we had a long wait at the gate because our flight was delayed. By the time we drove back to our apartment, I had been awake for almost 23 hours straight. The kids had slept in the car and on the airplane. Nadia really wanted to visit Paris, so this was a gift to her.

 On Monday morning we started our day at Kensington Palace, took the underground to Westminster, and toured Big Ben. They collected our phones so we didn’t get credit for going up all those stairs, ha ha. It was a very interesting tour. After the tour we took the underground back to where our SUV was parked and drove to Cambridge. Driving in London is not exactly pleasant. We had a punting trip on the River Cam (similar to gondolas in Venice) and walked around the town some to get dessert at Jack’s Gelato. We got another parking ticket, but we have challenged this one because they said we hadn’t paid for parking at 6:13 when we had paid for two hours at 6:03. We have proof that we paid so I hope our appeal is successful. I never, ever want to rent a car in another country again! We didn’t have this trouble when we rented vehicles in Europe from 2002-2004. Paul has been a champ driving on the left side of the road, but it can be stressful especially on very narrow one lane (yet two way) roads (especially true in Scotland). We got behind schedule in Cambridge so we didn’t check in until around midnight at our hotel. It was the only Holiday Inn in this trip that had a room that could accommodate 5 people, and they had an amazing breakfast selection. 

We ended out time in England at Alnwick Castle on Tuesday morning. The kids were excited because some of the scenes from Harry Potter movies were filmed there. We took a guided tour that focused on the movies filmed at the site. Due to the grass being wet, they weren’t having broomstick training that day, but they did provide broomsticks for photos. Due to the fact it was raining  when we parked, I didn’t bring my camera to the castle. It never rained while we were there so I wish that I had brought it because it’s much harder to freeze action with a cellphone. Paul was more interested in the history of the castle. After eating lunch at the castle, we drove to Scotland.