![]() ![]() This was the runaway success of the entire trip. Creating diversions for the children, Part Two: Travel Journals Sophie started reading chapter books this year so we packed a few of those (lots of Roald Dahl to stay on theme) and a few old Ladybug magazines for Sebastian which made it easy on the packing and lugging. ![]() (This meant that I got to watch The Favourite, which was a shockingly good film and A Star is Born, which was meh but gets extra points for Lady Gaga who is of course a shockingly amazing talent.) But apart from this screen time, there was almost nothing else on our ten-day trip, largely due to our host family’s good habits and when in Londontown, do as the English do. ![]() On the way over we seemed to care more about taking breaks from the screen as we were less tired but on the way back we just plugged them in. They basically watched TV and movies for the entire duration of their intercontinental flights. They do this running thing where they make fun of themselves when they return from Europe and talk about the relaxed bicycling or amazing street design or pedestrian safety measures so yes, I am that person here but it is beyond inspiring! ( See one of my street pics here.) Creating diversions for the children, Part One: The Blessed Screen. (Give it a try here - you won’t be sorry). (I did do laundry twice on the trip, but this was weirdly an unexpected pleasure as I carefully hung and air-dried the clothes in the sun, something I would never do here in America, but should.) Experiencing street design in Europe. I really packed only a few outfits and one pair of jammies for everyone, the children included. When we first showed up, our friends asked where the rest of our bags were. This was an ongoing, running joke on vacation. ![]() Extra credit (or perhaps bare minimum effort, depending on how you look at it): we were doing our small part to off-set all of those carbon emissions from the plane ride. It’s less money than calling a car and safer too as I’m not so sure how the carseat situation would work. The children are delighted by it (especially in London where you must sit in the front on the top row of the double decker). Instead of Mona Lisa, we sent the children into the market with a little bit of French, a little Euro, and watched them re-emerge with satisfaction (and a baguette). Picnicking became our activity, sport, and destination in its own right with a trip to the market built into a walking tour that ended in a garden, lunch in tow. Near Shakespeare & Co., we lallygagged in a delightful little park with a view of the now-compromised Notre Dame, feeding pigeons and chatting with a lovely teenager from Sacramento who spent upwards of an hour braiding the girls’ hair with daisies. Or: get on the bus and head to the Luxembourg Gardens.) The nice thing about this is that we were able to go with the flow and experience the smaller diversions that popped up along the way. (Walk through Kensington Gardens toward Buckingham Palace. Honestly we didn’t really have a schedule other than picking one kind-of major thing or sight to get to at some point. Letting ourselves go off schedule by enjoying the little things. It sort of squelches the whining (or whinging as they say in England) from everyone involved, parents included. This sort of goes without saying but vacations are immensely better when shared with other children and families and parents who are in the thick of it just like you! Perhaps this is a personal preference, but my husband and I have quickly learned that this is our preferred way of traveling and vacationing. Staying with friends who have kids the same age. But I’d like think there were a few things we did get right. (In Paris, this should be a crime.) Packing too many sights into that last day in London. (A meltdown from our youngest party ensued.) Ordering a pizza a few too many times. Staying up until 10 PM to see the flickering lights of the Eiffel Tower. (OK, it was sometimes roses and candy floss.) What I mean to say is that there were a few parenting mishaps made along the way. The experience of adventuring in England and France with my husband, children, and friends has since coalesced - in hindsight from the comforts of my little writing desk - into one of those trips of one lifetime because when I think of it, just a week or so out now, I get a little knot of that feeling of nostalgia or home-sickness or wabi-sabi, that feeling of immense gratitude and joy for having experienced it. My family recently returned from our first intercontinental trip as a foursome. ![]()
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