A couple months ago, I learned that I had to go to Europe for work in mid-April. Then when we realized that it overlapped with Ally's spring break and my parents' Taiwan visit, we decided that it might be a good opportunity (and excuse) for us to travel to Europe together.
Edward and I were both pretty nervous about the flight, but it turns out that that went pretty well overall (other than a little crying and kicking in the middle of the night). In fact, when we were deplaning, the mom in the row in front of us turned around to compliment us on how well-behaved they were. That was pretty cool.
Jet-lag, on the other hand, was a bit more of a pain. The first night, we were able to get them in bed by 10pm. But then around 2am, Griffin woke up asking, "Is it wake-up time?" "Uh, no. It's 2am. Go back to bed." "But I'm hungry!" Then Ally woke up. A full breakfast and 2 hours later, I gave up and went back to bed. Edward then stomped over to them, ordered them back to bed, and somehow it actually worked! We all proceeded to sleep until 10am or so. The next day they got up 4-ish, the following day 6-ish, and then they were normal.
It really helped that
we were staying in a house and not a hotel. Our friends Helen and Ruud had recently moved to Belgium, so we were able to stay at their places in London and Belgium. And since they have little ones, it was a perfect set up for us -- the London place was stocked with kid-friendly food, 2 kiddie beds, and lots of recorded kid TV shows ("In the Night Garden" became a big hit)!But the absolute best perk was Tess, their old nanny. She came and watched the kids a few nights so that we could walk around London and have some nice meals. She was really amazing with the kids, and they really took to her immediately. That was pretty awesome.
The kids really loved riding the Tube and train (esp Eurostar to Brussels).
They seemed especially delighted that there were no seat belts, which meant they could roll all around the seats and floors if/as they so desired.
Another highlight was seeing Edward's cousin Jack, his wife, Sining, and their kids, Livy and Lucas. Jack and family moved to London this past summer, and it was really great to spend some time with them and see their cool little London pad. They hosted a nice brunch on Saturday and also invited Edward's Auntie Linda and Uncle Tom, who were visiting from Zurich. So that was a lovely little family reunion.
A couple friends asked what the kids thought of Europe. The funny thing is, I don't think they really even noticed that they were in a different county. People with different accents -- standard in Bay Area. Different architecture -- not something you notice as a kid. Eating lots of bread, cold cuts, and cheese -- cool, but not that different. What they really noticed was the trains, walking everywhere all the time (this got old real quick with Ally), and hanging out with us 24/7. In fact, they had the most fun playing with Livy and Lucas, Kaitlyn and Alex (Helen's girls), and just chillin' with us. But Mama and Daddy had a great time being on a real European vacation, and that's A Good Thing.
A couple friends asked what the kids thought of Europe. The funny thing is, I don't think they really even noticed that they were in a different county. People with different accents -- standard in Bay Area. Different architecture -- not something you notice as a kid. Eating lots of bread, cold cuts, and cheese -- cool, but not that different. What they really noticed was the trains, walking everywhere all the time (this got old real quick with Ally), and hanging out with us 24/7. In fact, they had the most fun playing with Livy and Lucas, Kaitlyn and Alex (Helen's girls), and just chillin' with us. But Mama and Daddy had a great time being on a real European vacation, and that's A Good Thing.
More Europe pics here.
