I must admit, the thought of going to Europe was more painful than the actual process. It was much the same when we went two and a half years ago but this time Matthew was the piece of the puzzle that made me nervous. The mere thought of taking him on a ten hour plane ride kept me up at night. But as the mother of three children and the fact that I am used to juggling- I just decided that Damien and I were going to have to be a two ring circus on the plane and just get through it!
We had a lot of highs and lows on this trip. Lows being getting used to the time change, staying up with Matthew in the middle of the night, dealing with his fever and giving him antibiotics and the cha chas that came with it, finding Claire sitting on the third story windowsill, Michael's sprained ankle, the long drive to Paris, Michael being pooped on by a fat pigeon and having to throw his shirt away, the drive back from Paris to Maidenhead, almost missing our flight to Dublin, constantly running from the rain then minutes later lubing the kids up with sunblock, Claire being stung 16 times by stinging nettles, all the cousins bickering over the silliest of things, dealing with a weak dollar and having to pay a lot of money for everything (the pound is worth two dollars and the euro was worth 1 3/4 dollars), and of course the flight back which included more throwing up from pure exhaustion. Yes, there were a few things that were rough but the lows paled in comparison to the amazing memories and times we had on this European adventure.
Some of the highs were landing in England, seeing Mark, Jocelyn and their babies, seeing where they live and what life is like for them, seeing my kids play with their cousins (they miss them very much), taking the Chunnel, hearing people speak French (we love it), seeing the kids remember some of Paris from our last trip, seeing our French friends, eating a lot of pastries in Paris, watching the kids chase the pigeons, laughing hysterically with Mark and Jocelyn over the craziness that came with traveling with five kids, Lion bars and peanut M&Ms, watching Michael play soccer with the boys from Mark and Jocelyn's neighborhood, watching Claire do a great job in including Brennan in most of what she did, seeing Matthew and Gabe play together, speaking with terrible English accents for most of the trip, being pleasantly surprised at how cool Dublin was, shopping, shopping, shopping, shaking our heads at Michael and Claire and their obsession with collecting little cartons of half and half, seeing Matthew play in the fridge in Dublin, the automatic espresso/coffee machine in our hotel in Dublin, Aer Lingus , having crumpets with PB&J for breakfast in Maidenhead, grocery shopping and discovering some fun foods and spending way too much money, seeing the sights in London which were really cool, watching the kids get scared by people dressed as statues that would move when they got close, trying all sorts of different cuisines in England, visiting High Street on our last day, finding Krispie Kreme in the airport before we flew home, and getting the bulkhead seats on the way there and back on the airplane.
We had a great time in England, Paris, and Dublin. And while we were completely exhausted by the time we got back- we were thankful for the opportunity to go and see what life is like for Mark and Jocelyn but also be able to hang out and catch up with each other. It was crazy- there is no getting around that. But the memories we created are priceless and our kids once again got a glimpse of the beautiful, giant world that is out there. I never took a plane ride until I was in the fifth grade. So far, our kids have been blessed to have seen a lot of our country- but also see how people live on the other side of the world. Goodbye, Cheerio, Au revoir for now. We promise to do it again soon. Not too soon- but you know what I mean!
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