We Have Returned
31 Nights in total our little family spent in Jolly Old England. What a trip. Even though Jon worked for most of the time, we got to see and do a lot. We kept a running blog while we were there, so I will just attach that and let that do the talking. There are tons of photos of course. The links to the albums are in the text below.
England Blog
January 28, 2010– Departure (click):
A big day for us. Finally got everything packed in a mere 6+ bags, got the house idled for the month and all our bills and other commitments tied off. Now was the simple matter of an 8.5 hour flight with a two year old. You wouldn’t believe the number of comments we got about attempting this. The good news was we had a direct flight from Denver and it left around 6pm. Ideally, we would take off, Caden would eat, then fall asleep for the duration. Of course we were not naïve enough to think that is how it would go down. But to our surprise, it did start that way. Caden was a champ at the airport, rolling his new Buzz Lightyear Suitcase around and looking at the planes. On-board, he was excited to have his own seat, his own TV and lots to look at. Shortly after take-off, he was asleep…even before dinner. Thought we had it made. Katy and I enjoyed a lovely (airplane) dinner together and watched a part of a movie or two. Then, we tried to make a good situation better. We tried taking Caden’s socks off cause his feet were swelling, and he woke up. For the next 4 hours he was a bundle of energy. Not that he was mis-behaving…actually, he was very well behaved. Just needed attention, lots of it. Then of course he started getting really tired and couldn’t actually get to sleep. So, we cheated and gave him some Benedryl which knocked him for the last two hours of the flight. Worked well enough to keep him asleep through deplaning, customs, baggage and pick-up.
The plan now, since we landed in London at 10am, was to stay awake for the rest of the day to try and adjust. This was hard obviously cause we were all working on 4 hours of sleep or less. My company generously provided a car service to get us and our cargo to the hotel, the hotel staff was very generous in getting us settled for our 31 days in there facility (the receptionist actually thought that was a typo on her screen), and we enjoyed a little shopping, unpacking, and swimming (though under the influence of severe tiredness).
Now for the Hilarious part. Katy and I had been dozing on and off all day trying to make it through. But Caden was a rock star, playing and talking and learning his way around the new digs. At dinner, we were all but dead. Trying to get served and eat and already being cranky made Katy and I kind of rough on Caden who would not settle down in the restaurant. He was screaming and moving all over the place and whining and we were losing our cool, fast. Then dinner came, Caden ate a fair amount, to our surprise then sat back and said he was all done. Katy and I continued our conversation and our dinner. Then, we looked over at our son, he was lounging in his chair, complete quiet, and eyes getting real heavy. I kid you not, from hyper to completely asleep at the table in under 2 minutes. We finished our meal with him dozing peacefully. He was so gone that I could have rolled him back to our room and he would not have stirred. So here we are, in our room, Caden next to me in his bed snoring in the exact position I laid him down in.
Sometimes, the body says, enough is enough. With that sai….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
First Weekend and Monday (click):
It didn’t take long for us to completely settle and practically become natives of England. Which is funny cause we are anything but settled in right now. After just a couple of days in the hotel, it was extremely obvious this was not going to work out for a full month. Not due to any lack of effort by the hotel really, but there is only so much you can expect. The food was a big issue. We had a mini-bar in the room that we used as a fridge, but it simply was too small and not cold enough to do any good. So that means no milk for Caden. And more to the point, all of our eating had to be done out, specifically at the hotel restaurant because there is nothing else near-by…that was going to be expensive to say the least. And even though we were not paying for the room, the month stay would have cost my company close to $10k. But they had a pool and a gym and room service and cleaning daily…sigh, so much for luxury. Anyways, Katy put on her ‘A’ game and worked out a solution in short order. We spent Saturday afternoon walking around Guildford, it was a nice day out which are few and far between this time of year. As soon as Katy saw a tourist info booth, she was in and making friends with the local friendly commerce officials. Within a handful of minutes she had a phone number for an apartment for rent. With another handful of minutes she had a get together set up with the owner on Monday. Long story short (or at least shorter), a little help from Surrey with finances and a handshake, we have an apartment for the rest of the month. It is right in downtown next to the weekend market, many restaurants, the train and bus station and close to the town rec-center. All at 1/3 the cost of the hotel. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a full kitchen and all the pieces needed to live for awhile. Exciting! Only issue facing us this second is how to move our 600 bags to the new place. Might have to get a car.
Sunday, we took advantage of another sunny (though chilly) day to head to London (click). Why not?! We worked out a discount card for the trains and headed out. Caden loved the train, of course he did. We got to London Waterloo and headed out. Saw the sights, enjoyed local cafes, hoped a double decker bus, walked the streets of Piccadilly and Oxford Circus and spent hours in Hamley’s (big toy store). Caden had a great time both walking the streets and sitting back in his bubble (we got a fancy weather guard for the BOB…it is perfect for the cold). The night finished off with a lovely pizza in China town (obviously). We then hit the tube back to the train and onwards home. Note, it is a lot of work taking a stroller around the tube, especially a big one. Stairs and escalators are EVERYWHERE. But we managed just fine. Got probably 12 miles of walking in. Fun day, fun weekend! And we have only been here 3 of our 31 days!
Yesterday (Monday), was the first day for me at work and Katy and Caden to head out on their own. Timeline is a bit off here, but it was when Katy headed to town to see the apartment. She worked out pretty much everything while I sat in meetings all day. Had the buses all figured out, grocery stores, gyms, pools, Caden fun, where to go and what to do and how to do it. So here we are, Tuesday morning, pretty much ready to start living our TDY in England. It’s gonna be fun!
First week (and a half…to Feb 10) (click):
Well, we are in the swing of things, I think. We are settled nicely into our flat (there is some discussion on whether “flat” means any sort of living space here, or it literally it must be flat or loft like unlike our place which has three floors and is more townhome like. But for now, let’s go with flat since that sounds more English). It has worked out well for us. Caden has the big bedroom on the top floor. He is sleeping on a mattress we put on the ground with his blankies and bears. He slept like a champ on the first night and every night since. Caden has given no indication that he will ever have detachment problems. Our room is on the second floor along with two bathrooms. There are two bathrooms right next to each other...at first this seemed absurd, but having two toilets near the bedroom is something we are going to seriously consider when we get home.
Our routine now has settled into this…I get up around 7am, have some breakfast and walk to the train station where I pick-up, not a train as one might believe, but a bus that my company uses to get its employees around. I work a pretty normal schedule then head home just before 5 reversing the course mentioned above. It works out pretty well. I am staying busy or staying busy trying to get busy by working with the overly busy Surrey engineers to get busy with my business. It is a fun work environment. I still feel like an outsider, but it feels more like I just started at a new company and am learning the ropes instead of being a foreigner. So that ain’t bad.
Katy and Caden have the more interesting days no question. I don’t have a minute by minute accounting of their doings (cause we both don’t have cell phones which is a real change from the constant contact we are used to…probably good for us), but I can account for things they have done. They have discovered the Guildford Spectrum. A massive sports complex with more pool square footage then the Olympic games and more fun to do than Caden can reasonably handle in a day. They have found the library where they can do, or, tried to go to story time (alas its cancelled until March because the library is under construction), get books, or hang out. They have explored the cathedrals and castles of Guildford (I think there is only one each, but plural sounds better). Farmers market and the shopping scene has kept them plenty busy on a daily basis (curse the British pound!!!). And Katy has planned out our weekend fun. Speaking of weekend fun, this past weekend (our second weekend), we took a trip to...
Canterbury (click):
For those of you unfamiliar with Katy’s past, she lived here during her 8th grade year and has visited on numerous occasions. So we ventured out to give it a look-see. The train ride was a little over two hours (note to self, Caden needs more to do then just enjoy the scenery on a two hour train ride). We arrived a little after 10 and got right to it. The two highlights of Canterbury are the cathedral and the Canterbury Tales, uhm, tour? Or side show? The town itself is nothing like I expected. I was thinking small and quiet with a lot of history to explore. There is indeed a lot of history, but it is anything but small or quiet. A bustling little city with all the shops you can imagine and a healthy influx of weekend tourist and local color. The Cathedral is of course magnificent; beautiful architecture that leaves any at awe, especially when considering when it was built (measured in millennium…). This is truly a building of the faithful. Constructed over 1000 years ago over the course of centuries. Through war, famine and plague the true believers came back to build this beautiful house of worship. And it comes with a history lesson that leaves even the least academic hanging on every word. We walked on the steps that Thomas Becket was beheaded (St. Thomas after that), saw the tombs of Henry IV and the black prince (the original knight in shining armor), and the tombs of countless others who have lead or worshiped in that building. I can never get my head around the past when I am in these places. It is hard to imagine all the stuff you read about actually happened and happened where we are standing.
Then, there is Canterbury Tales. Rick Steves describes it as corny, but fun. Probably about right. We all went to take the walking tour through the story by Chaucer. The tour is a walk through something that looks like a darker Small World. Caden would have nothing to do with it, scared him silly, so it was just me taking the tour. I enjoyed it & learned a little on the way.
We then spent the rest of the day walking the city wall, playing in a park or two, enjoying some fish and chips at the local hole in the wall and finished it off with a proper tea time at a cute little place called Tiny Tim’s off the main street. We all shared tea, biscuits, small sandwiches, and cookies. Yum!
The ride home was a further reminder that Caden needs something to do whilst sitting for two hours straight…you would think we would know that. But we got home intact and ready for bed and looking forward to tomorrow (London! Again!).
So we went to London (click) again, of course we did. And we will go again I am sure. Didn’t rush out of bed, just took our time and got there by noon. The weather was a little less friendly than the first visit, cold and windy with ominous clouds overhead. From the station we went right to the London Aquarium. Actually no, we went right to the closest food stand to settle the pregnant lady and small child. Then we went right to the aquarium. It was nice, very crowded, and very cramped, but had lots of cool exhibits that kept us all entertained. On a side note, we found this deal England is doing all month on many of the sights. If you travel by train, you can get a ton of 2 for 1 deals on many of the cool attractions. To date, we have saved something like 50 pounds on touring! Not bad. After that, we wondered over the Thames to parliament and Westminster Abby. Then to lunch part two (for me this time). Caden was asleep during this part as he has been for each noontime activity in his stroller. That has worked out well for us. From there, we took a series of crowded and bumpy tube rides to Kensington Palace (the home of the late Princess Diana and other royalty…current royalty too I think). That was nice, Caden enjoyed trying to slam the century old doors and trying to sleep in the baby cradle of Queen Victoria. The highlight, for Caden at least, which translates to our highlight as well, was the Princes Diana park. Just up from the palace was this ginormous complex of playgrounds. All enclosed in one area, but each section having its own theme. A large pirate ship, a massive tree house, tunnels, musical instruments, and on and on. Caden went to town. The weather was unfortunately deteriorating fast, snow was starting to fall and the wind was picking up. So it was on to dinner. We were in the Notting Hill neighborhood, lovely corner of town. Found a pizza place, same place we found last time in London, and managed to wrestle some food down Caden’s throat. It was actually a nice evening. From there it was two tube rides and one train ride home.
We were excited to learn that the Super Bowl was going to be broadcast here in the UK…however, we were quickly dismayed to learn that it wouldn’t start until 11:30pm. Needless to say we didn’t make it very far into the game—only through the first quarter. However, that gave us more than enough of a taste of English football announcers! Exhausted, but pleased with our weekend, we start out on week two...
Cambridge:
Our second week got off to a slower start because everyone was exhausted from week one. So, as poor Jon went off to work, Katy and Caden laid low all day. Watching a little TV (Caden loves the Cbeebies channel here, BBC backwards and cutesified) reading books and doing puzzles. Then to top off all of the excitement we took our nap (actually at home in bed this time!) and then went and played around town a bit. On the way buying diapers…also a new experience here! Our new Monday night tradition is to eat at the Slug and Lettuce because they have ½ price night on Mondays...very exciting for us!
Tuesday however, was much more exciting. Once again Katy and Caden took it easy in the morning and then in the afternoon we ventured to Petersfield (click) to visit our friends Kristy, Simon and Elsbeth. It was Katy and Caden’s first train trip on their own but they did it with no problems at all and had a great time. So good of a time in fact that we had Jon come down and meet us for an Indian take-out dinner. It was a very nice afternoon/evening and Caden had a GREAT time being with another kid!
As luck would have it Jon was able to get Friday off work so we were able to leave on our Cambridge (click)adventure Friday morning. To get there we had to take several trains which Caden thoroughly enjoyed. First it was Guildford to London Waterloo, then a couple of subway trains to Kings Cross Station then onto Cambridge. Our family friends Ruth and Roy Henderson were nice enough to take pick us up at the station and Caden thoroughly enjoyed riding in their car from the train station to the house. The Henderson’s were nice enough to have us stay with them at their home in Milton and it was so nice for all of us to be in a regular family home again. Our first day there we visited, caught up on all the family news, and took a stroll around Milton. I showed Jon the house we stayed in when I was 8 yrs old and the school I went to. That evening Ruth made us a lovely English Dinner of Cottage Pie. Judith and her husband John arrived to join in on the fun!
Caden definitely hit it off with all of the Henderson’s! He enjoyed being around a big group of people to show off for. His favorite activity of the weekend was “helping” load, unload and push around the trolley cart that was used to take dishes and food to and from the dining room. I’m not sure how much actual help Caden provided but he definitely had a lot of fun doing it!
On Saturday Judith & John took us into Cambridge to see the sights. Cambridge is beautiful and I think we could definitely spend a lot more time there in the future. The weather was…lets just say less then optimal. All in just a few hours we experienced bitter cold, sun, rain, snow & wind. We didn’t let it deter us though and we took a walking tour around town, visited Kings College Chapel & more. That evening we headed back to the Henderson’s for an amazing roast dinner complete with parsnips, brussel sprouts, Yorkshire pudding & trifle for dessert—Yummy! After dinner was a bonus of getting to Skype with Peter and Isabel who live in Brussels! Even Jon chatted with them a bit despite never having met them in person!
Sunday provided more fun for us before heading back home. We took a walk along the village paths and visited a fun playground that had several sections to enjoy! Caden of course was especially impressed with the little hill that all the kids were playing on and then doubley impressed at the amount of rabbit poo that was on there and kept screaming Poop, Poop—Its Poop! At the top of his lungs!
Sunday also happened to be Valentines Day so after our long journey home Jon went out to find us a valentines day dinner. He came back with a heart shaped pepperoni pizza, salads & desserts. It was a perfect evening, having dinner together, then putting Caden to bed and watching our first taste of the 2010 Olympics!
Windsor (click) and Portsmouth (click):
Week three once again got off to a slow start for Katy and Caden, but a regular one for the work horse Jon. We spent Monday just catching up on sleep, doing laundry and playing toys here at the house. Caden seems to still be processing the fact that Jon goes to work and Mom doesn’t seem to be doing much work anymore and definitely hasn’t been leaving for work at all. Several times a day he says “Daddy go work, Mommy play toys. No Mommy work, stay here.”
Tuesday was the first really, really rainy and wet day we’ve had…at least one where the rain lasted all day. So I decided to be brave and take Caden to the “indoor soft play” at the Spectrum (local rec center). Those who know me well know I don’t EVER do these things with Caden because they’re too dirty and germy for Caden, but I did it and even let Caden play there for quite a long time. There was everything I hate but Caden loves there…tubes, tunnels, climbing things and ball pits galore. Caden had never been a ball pit and these were heaven to him because they had a few slides going into it. This is where he spent most of his time. He probably did one of the slides about 25 times in a row! The entire play section was just a bit above Caden’s level and it was on several different areas so I had to help Caden through every step of the way. Not a problem, but its built for children…not pregnant women so lets just say its lucky I wasn’t any bigger than I already am!
On to the weekend! We decided to go to Windsor Castle on Saturday and Portsmouth Harbor on Sunday with Kirsty and her family. Both destinations were reasonably close so it seemed manageable. Windsor was perfect. It was one of the very few days that we had clear skies and warm(ish) weather. We took an early train to Clapham Junction and got a second train to Windsor. The castle looms over the horizon a good 20 minutes before you arrive. A truly medieval looking place. We got there in time for the changing of the guards. This was lucky because, a) it does not happen every day, b) the aforementioned weather and c) choice seats to watch. We sat on the curb and gorged ourselves with some McDonald’s (hey, not every meal can be at a quaint pub when you got a 2 year old!). Then, in the distance, a marching band approached. Caden was alert. The band was followed by the guards marching in form to the castle gates. I guess I didn’t appreciate the nature of these guards. They are not for show, they are military packing some serious arms. Anyway, it was pretty cool, especially to Caden who could not wait for them to come back out with the other guards.
Afterwards, we took a tour of the castle itself. Impressive of course. Caden enjoyed the audio tour immensely (he stole my audio gizmo). The castle is the weekend home of the Queen and by a quick inspection of which flag was hoisted, we could tell she was actually there this weekend. The castle is home to the massive Queen Mary doll house (with working plumbing & electricity), an armory worthy of any military base and banquet halls that have hosted all sorts of dignitaries.
We also toured the famous St. George’s Cathedral and posed with the guards (Katy had to twist my arm to do it...something seems wrong about a photo-op with a heavily armed on-duty officer). From there we dove into the town. Very nice place with more upscale shops and many nice eateries. We chose the Three Turns pup just outside the castle gates. That was a nice cap to the evening. A late train ride home with a bunch of drunk rugby fans capped off a nice day. Now, just a short night sleep until Portsmouth Harbor.
We took a slightly later train down to Portsmouth Harbor on Sunday, on the way picking up the Layton’s at Petersfield. Today, the weather was making up for the obvious gaffe of spring like weather in February with a fair amount of rain and wind. Too bad, Portsmouth is an amazing spot one could spend many hours wandering...which of course we did anyway weather be damed. The train station is actually out on a pier between the Spinnaker Tower and the HMS Warrior. First, the tower. For those of you not nautically inclined (unlike our tour guide Simon who is a sailing instructor), a Spinnaker is a type of sail used on certain types of boats (shows what I know). Naturally, the tower looks just like one. A short ride up to the top gives a view of the entire harbor which is alive with activity. A glass floor lets the kids and adults alike get a fun scare of walking on air hundreds of feet up. From here there is plenty of fun things to see. A couple of man made islands that were turrets protecting the harbor during war time mark the ends of an underwater sea wall that kept enemy subs out. One of those islands is not a private house. Just across the bay is the Isle of White which we will have to visit on a return trip when the weather is better. Right below is an old submarine base and to our back is a new navy base. It is an active harbor with centuries of history.
From there, we took a walk over to the historic dockyards. I mentioned this before but it bares repeating: Simon was an excellent guide. His knowledge of marine history made for a great “insiders” look at the naval history of the UK. And we didn’t have to pay for it! The first stop was the HMS Warrior. A ship so fiercely built at its time that its sole purpose was to patrol the seas and simply intimidate the enemy. Worked so well it never once saw action. Down a ways more was the future museum of the HMS Mary Rose, King Henry the VIII’s favorite ship. She sank in 1545 on accident (too many modernizations made it top heavy). In recent history the hull, or what remained of it was brought back up and placed into this museum. I should say future museum because the hull is still being prepped for visitors. It undergoes some sort of waxing process that takes many years to apply and dry.
But by far, the jewel of the harbor is the HMS Victory. Famous for her caption, Lord Nelson who lead the English fleet to victory against the Spanish and French in the Battle of Trafalgar. It is amazing because this isn’t a model or a replica or even small pieces of the original ship; it is the actual, fully assembled nearly 250 year old vessel itself. Amazing to see. A man of war without question. A tour onboard (which we passed on this time) shows what living was like on-board, the 3 gun decks and the spot where Lord Nelson died. I will be going back for a more detailed tour.
Godalming (click):
Caden and Katy decided to get adventurous towards the end of the trip and took a train ride all by themselves to Godalming. They knew virtually nothing about the little village other than it was only two train stops away, was supposed to be pretty and had some ducks to feed. Upon arrival they found a very nice postman who decided to tell them all about the little village which as it turns out is where the movie “The Holiday” was filmed and has some strange relation to the state founders of Georgia. Godalming is BEAUTIFUL. It is much smaller and slower paced than Guildford and had lots of lovely picturesque buildings and parks, a lovely High Street with lots of cute little shops and a park by a canal FULL of ducks for Caden to feed. We didn’t let the rain slow us down, we spent our morning in Godalming just wondering the town, touring the village church and then feeding the ducks an entire loaf of bread. Later we found a nice little fish and chips restaurant where we had lunch together before heading home for nap time. Godalming is definitely a place I’d like to spend more time in the future...and definitely one Jon will have to see next time he’s in England!
Our Last Weekend, London (click):
Well, we pretty much did it. A full month in a different country. I think this is more impressive in that we did it with a 2 year old and we actually had to live there, not just tour. Our last weekend I was really looking forward to. I would be done with work so I could just enjoy the time with the family. Of course there was a hurdle or two to get over first. We needed to pack up the apartment, and of course we have A LOT more stuff from the mounds of shopping. Katy of course tackled this problem just like she tackled it before we left. By Thursday night, we had everything in bags. This, of course, was not the manner in which we would be flying, but once again we had a car service to take us into London. Oh yeah, so why we are going to London...are apartment lease was up on Friday. So, I took that day off and we booked a hotel across the street from the airport. The thinking is that we get a nice hotel, with easy access to the airport on Monday (which would be nice with the mound o’crap we have) and easy access to London to enjoy the last few days. Mostly that is just how it worked out too. The hotel was very nice. Very comfortable, a nice pool, great breakfast and great views of the planes taking off without any of the noise in our room. Access to the airport was a simple taxi cab ride. The last part, access to London, was not as easy as we hoped. We had to take a bus for 15 minutes to a tube station that then took about 45 minutes to get into the city. But whatever, it was straight forward enough and didn’t stop us from doing anything. Over the next few days we enjoyed many more of the sites London has to offer (good lord there are so many). We went to the Tower of London the first day so Caen could finally see the beefeaters (Historical Point, turns out, no one knows why they are called beefeaters). Walked across the Tower Bridge and took a LONG stroll through Harrod’s. I swear that store is so big you can go five times over every floor and still miss entire sections. We then hit the trains for the long ride home.
Next day we did the transportation museum. This was an ideal place for Caden (and daddy). Lots of cars, buses, trains and other modes of transportation from every era of British history. Caden could climb on everything and there are lots of interactive activities. His favorite was to take a special card around and collect stamps and all the stations. After a very pleasant lunch on an open patio over looking the Thames River (and Caden asleep), we wandered back towards Parliament and Westminster Abby. It was such a nice evening that we decided it was a perfect time to take a trip up the London Eye. That was loads of fun. Couldn’t take a decent picture, but trust us, its hard to beat that view. Caden enjoyed looking at the people in the bubbles next to us. Another successful night followed by another long train ride to the hotel.
Last day, Sunday. Took it a little easier. Planned to have breakfast, go into London, then head home early for pool time and room service as we packed for the flight home. In London, we went to the Science Museums; very cool place. Caden was pretty much done with all things touring, so it was a quick trip. Fortunately, it was free! We did pay for a 3D IMAX film that we thought Caden would enjoy. Nope. It was a cartoon about three flies who are on the first moon landing. Mommy and daddy thought it was pretty fun, But with all the 80 foot tall things jumping off the screen, it scared him senseless. So daddy and Caden took an early leave and wandered around an impressive aircraft exhibit. Shortly after, we left and wandered around the town one last time. Saw the horse guards and Buckingham palace, then called it a day and headed home.
Monday morning, fly home day. We had been dreading this day for awhile. The trip home is longer than the one outbound by two hours. So we had a nearly 11 hour flight with an already cranky child in the middle of the day where we could only hope for an hour or two of sleep. We got to the airport with our 5 checked bags, three carry-ons and car-seat with little trouble. Had some time to wander around the airport, which wasn’t as fun as I thought. Caden wasn’t in the mood to do much. He wanted to be on the airplane and be home RIGHT NOW!!!! Note to those traveling to Heathrow and their “new” Terminal 5. It is a pain in the arse to get around there, especially with a kid and his crap. To get to the plane (after all three of us being searched due to new security rules), we had to take an elevator to a jet way, jet way to a stair case (where I had to take Caden down in his car-seat and leave Katy and him standing in the stair-well while I ran up to get the other suitcase), the stair case led to the apron outside where there was a bus waiting. The bus took us (on a ten minute ride) to some other remote corner of the airport where are plane was waiting complete with a fancy stair case...again had to take Caden up with mommy then run down and get the other suitcase (on a 777 this isn’t a small set of stairs). Anyway, after about 45 minutes of searches, dragging crap around and squeezing it into the overhead compartments and settling in, we were ready as could be for the 11 hours that lie ahead. To keep it simple, we were pleasantly surprised. Caden was a great. He played with his books and toys, and watched his TV and the airplane shows. He napped some (maybe only 1.5 hours in total) and let mommy and daddy watch some movies too. We all enjoyed some meals and wandering around the plane talking to people. Caden enjoyed playing with the large lever that opens the rear doors (I assume that is fine since there was no sign saying not to). Before we knew it, we landed...11 hours later and 3 hours after we took off (crazy time zones...). Caden was great through customs and was thrilled when grandma Myra was there to meet him. LUCKY US!!! Until that night when Caden came down with a serious case of croup and we had to rush to the ER for several hours. The END!
Us in front of the HMS Victory in Portsmouth England