Year: 2017

Maui!

We had a day layover that we built in to this crazy once-in-a-lifetime trip.

We had people at the airport back in London and again in Dallas offer to change our flight directly to LAX. We politely declined.

Here is something I found odd: The airport in Maui doesn’t have windows. I guess because the temp is so moderate in Hawaii they didn’t need to add them.

We got our rental car and started our Journey. We decided to drive around the island and stop to see as much as we could along the way.

The photo above with the stream and the rain and mountain – reminded our family of Jurassic Park. Truth be told, a lot of Jurassic was actually filmed in Hawaii so it stands as a reason.

Magical. I wish we had more time here. I never was a person who said “ohh I’d love to visit Hawaii” but only did so because if you can for free, why not do it? After visiting me and the wife decided that we would love to return and spend some extended time. It would be so nice to really dive in to this little area we never visited previously.

The beaches and the weather were great. It felt relaxing. We took a loop of the whole island and got out where we could. The kids were not really wanting to get out (as seen from the photos) as they wanted to stay sleeping. I think they were mainly just jet-lagged. We didn’t want to push it as this was the least stressed time we planned. We let them enjoy it from the seat of the car as they wanted to – got McDonald’s and even splurged on a Pineapple Pie (instead of an apple pie) which Arabella loved. It was interesting to see all the uniqueness of offerings across the world.

There aren’t many (if any) night photos. At the time the sun started to set, we began to feel the craziness of all the time changes. We pulled over and took a nap for an hour in some park along the road. Once we woke up we made our way to the airport and boarded our flight back to Los Angeles.

Finally, the rest of the month!

We got back to Los Angeles and spent a good few days recovering from our trip. We didn’t travel much (nor did we have the urge to) for the final couple of weeks of the year.

Christmas was quickly approaching. We didn’t have our Univeral pass any longer, but the local church put on an even for Christmas Photos with the Grinch himself! This was a great way for the kids to take another picture with “Uncle Grinch”.

Finally, we have some photos of when my kids first learned about the kid’s cart at Home Depot (seriously they go bezerk for those things, especially since they both can drive with a steering wheel).

Other photos include our annual trip to Naples to see the lights – our small (but affordable) Christmas tree. The parents opening a gift and finally, ending the year with Elijah.

That last photo of Elijah with the glasses, each time I look at it I think he is saying “.. are you lookin’ at me?” as he was so serious. Here comes 2018!

just Pray

note: this post was published on 08/08/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of December 2017 to keep chronological order.

We had major plans for our last day.

We found that throughout the trip as we were so busy that we hardly had any time to get some souvenirs. I think we stopped at a Loch Ness store but other than that- nothing until we were at the airport shops.

Not only were we spent, but the tyre pressure light keep coming on in the car and we didn’t want to chance any issues with our return, so we got some air (thanks again to Londoners who gave us the correct change to get some air). Once we filled it up, the light went off so we filled up the gas tank and returned the car.

We had originally planned to go to Stone Henge on this day but decided against it. Instead, we checked into our hotel and spend most of the day trying not to cry as we had to leave the next day. A couple of times we thought “well, it wouldn’t be so bad if we missed our flight, right?!” but we ultimately decided against that action.

We again stayed at Premier Inn. This time we had dinner too and took advantage of it. I like that they normally add lime in the coke and had to grab a photo. Also had some delicious dessert.

Then we found a coffee shop called Costa! They gave the kids some gingerbread men (and the kids were not a fan as they were spicy to them) and we ordered some coffee. Then we made our way back to our room and enjoyed the view.

Unfortunately, as much as we wanted time to stop here it didn’t. We quickly found the day spent and got up the next day to return back stateside.

Our journey wasn’t quite over yet though.

We boarded our plane and looked ever so longingly outside. Below is a photo of Elijah peering outside, my view out the window (over Ara who had the coveted window seat), and some British food that we were served on our way back. Back to LAX?! No. We were going to Texas (image below)

Here is another photo of Mr. Blue eyes himself and a sleepy girl with her plane trip book.

We arrived in Dallas only to have a connecting flight to Phoenix (the photo below is our arrival in Texas). From Dallas Ft. Worth we flew to Phoenix, our previous home. We had to spend the night at the airport. As there was not really much in the way of beds we made due with what we had.

A crew of American Airlines flight attendants/pilots was leaving and they noticed us hunkering down for the night. They came over and offered us multiple blankets from the airplane. The kids didn’t seem to mind. Not pictured: Where we slept. Right in front of them – on the floor in the airport we laid down and got a few hours of rest.

Next morning we got up early (easier than normal to do, especially when you are sleeping at an airport). Side note: it would be really great if airports offered a place for people to rest and shower. Maybe a dark room that you can rent or something for a few hours?! Does anyone want to go on shark tank and pitch the idea?! Got up and got on our flight. Where next? Why not Hawaii?! It was offered on a layover on the way back. We wanted to take advantage of this as much as we could. Anyway – On to Maui!

just Pray

note: this post was published on 08/08/22 but moved the publish date back toward the end of December 2017 to keep chronological order.

Here is a great day to start the day: the little dude. Look how happy he is

As we mentioned we were no longer going to try and take a car everywhere. We bought our travelcard and began our journey. We visited the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. We couldn’t find the direct route to it so instead of walking we hired a car (Lyft or Uber, can’t remember which) to take us the rest of the way. We then took many photos and after finishing up we looked at a map and noticed we wanted to be on the other side. There happened to be a ferry that took you right where we wanted to be.

The photo below of the Columns is from when we were at the college. It also included a collage of different transports we took (boat/bus) with a couple of cute kiddos and smiling faces.

Below you will find another couple of photos from the college, and the pretty photo looking up is another from the site. Fun fact: We keep visiting while things are under construction. Our purpose to visit the college was to see the “Painted Hall” and see what it looks like here. At the time it was closed and you couldn’t see anything. It was fantastic to visit the parts we could see.

Also, there are some random photos of myself and Arabella walking the streets. We were going towards St. Paul’s Cathedral. We arrived at 4:02 pm, which was fantastic because they closed at 4 pm.

So what should we do now? Let’s get dinner. We found a Pizza Hut close by and decided with our long days it would be quick and easy. Arabella liked it, that much is for sure. There are times the girl is super cute and just enjoying everything. She is still little though and has her moments when those big emotions come out. We were on the bus to Trafalgar Square and she was done (see photo below) with any more photos.

After a slight meltdown, we pushed forward. London at night, during Christmas time, is magical. It couldn’t feel much more like Christmas to be honest- the day before at the Princess Diana memorial it started to snow lightly.

There was some event going on at Trafalgar Square. We had no idea what it was. We ended up getting into a discussion with some of the police who were friendly enough and asked us if we voted for him. Who? The mayor of London (Sadiq Khan). At least now we knew why there was such a crowd. He was there to help light the giant menorah lit up for Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, in Trafalgar Square. We responded to them that no, we didn’t – we were from America.

Police: “Oh, I’m sorry, you guys have Donald Trump, I was hoping Hilary Clinton would win”

Us: “Ugh, yes please don’t remind me, we did NOT vote for him- I wanted her to win too.”

Police: “I feel bad for you – truly”

Little did they know what they were in for, less than 2 years later they would get a little Donald Trump the second known as Boris Johnson. Anyway, politics aside…

We stuck around long enough to hear him (the mayor of London) say “Okay everyone, let’s take a photo” and we crammed together with everyone to get in on it (photo below) and while I can’t tell you WHERE we are, I can assure you that we are in it.

The rest are other photos we took along the way. I think it in a very small way shows the feel of the city at that time.

I remember getting on the tube and getting an Evening Standard newspaper. I started to feel like a Londoner, at least in my head I lived as that for a minute. Not sure if we still have that paper somewhere or not… I hope we do.

By the time we got back to our hotel.. we may have been a little tired and ready for bed.

just Pray

note: this post was published on 08/08/22 but moved the publish date back to the middle of December 2017 to keep chronological order.

Tired? Who is tired?

We woke up to explore London. Our plan was to walk everywhere we needed to.

Went down to the cafe they had on site and ordered an Irish Coffee to start the day. Looked good. Tasting it I was surprised to find out that it was an alcoholic drink and didn’t taste good. They must have thought I needed a stiff drink to start my day. Arabella? Well, she fell asleep while we were getting food (see photo below).

Cold? Did someone say it was cold? Nah. We left the hotel and walked half the way we needed to when we (the wife) decided that we needed to turn around and get more layers for everyone. We trekked back and then made another mile or two walk (the same distance we had went) to get back where we left off from.

We walked up to Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower). Under construction. Not a total surprise as we noticed this already when we arrived at our hotel the day before. Thankfully I was able to hear him chime throughout the day. We hope to return one day and see the clock tower without the scaffolding surrounding it.

Walk walk walk.

We eventually broke down and got a pass to take the tube anywhere we needed to go. It was nice as it also included any bus trips too.

We visited the Princess Diana memorial (excited about the enhancements they are going to do as well) and walked to so many things. There are SO MANY PHOTOS. It is practically impossible for me to pick just a few. The ones below will have to suffice.

There was so much history that we saw. Some of the things we took photos of and then looked up to see the history later. We walked streets that were bombed during WWII, we saw new multi-billion dollar structures that were built (see the Shard) – it was a lot to take in.

Below are a few more photos. The sunset and the Shard, Tower Bridge, and a photo of Ara holding my hand while walking across.

Throw in another photo of the Shard at night, sandwiched in between a few other buildings and Christmas lights and you have our day. Or do you?!

We stayed at DoubleTree Dartford Bridge that night. Our room was on the top floor. We were tired (as we normally are at the end of our explorations). We were in our room when I noticed the smell of like an electrical burn. What?! What would that be? I peeked my head outside the room, and I could smell it stronger.

A few seconds later the fire alarm goes off. We made our way downstairs and out of the building. As it was cold they had these covers that would help keep you warm – once from the fire department. They looked like Aluminum foil. Everyone got one before we were able to. A nice older gentleman saw that we had kids and gave us his jacket. We gave it to Arabella to keep her warm. What a nice gesture. Yes, it is true what you heard – people here are really terrible.

Eventually, they cleared the place and we got back to our room. We found out that the fire was in the room next to ours. They offered to change our room but we really wanted to just go to sleep.

just Pray

note: this post was published on 08/03/22 but moved the publish date back to the middle of December 2017 to keep chronological order.

We have already: visited Loch Ness, stayed in and visited some Castles, walked the streets of Manchester, and visited some random cathedrals along the way.

Look at the view that we woke up to (below). That is the coast right along the Castle. We walked along the grounds admiring how decked out everything was for Christmas. It just made things pop a little more than I think it normally would have.

Arabella posted for a photo (in Minnie and Cardinals swag) and Elijah was as happy as a clam (photo from the booth we ate at in the Castle).

Down we traveled to Oxford to take in what we could. Visited where C.S. Lewis lived and where the author wrote all of his Narnia books and other classics. The house itself was featured in the Narnia books too which is pretty cool.

For us, it was cool to walk the grounds where this author lived. Try to think what he was thinking, or at least imagine. To see the church that he worshiped at and to have a glimpse (even if in a small way) of what would have been normal for him.

Then we went to stay the night at Jurys Inn in Oxford. We got up the next morning (again, each morning was at like 4 am) and saw SNOW. Someone took the globe and shook it up, making it into a winter wonderland. Would this change our plans? Not at all.

Photos below of our car (when we woke up) starting to get covered in snow and then photos from when we walked around the University of Oxford.

We hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and weren’t sure if the snow was going to be melting off soon. Either way, as we were getting hungry with our walk we noticed a coffee shop that had just opened. Vaults & Garden is a little coffee shop built right into the University Church of St Mary the Virgin which dates back to around 1270.

Snow falling outside, warm food inside. What a picturesque time. The food was amazing and it allowed us to warm up before venturing out for more.

See Arabella with her hot chocolate to keep her warm? This random stop at that coffee house ended up being one of our best memories from our whole visit.

That part and also when we were walking around this local couple came over to us and talked to us a little. They gave us an umbrella to keep the snow off and help stay dry. We still have that umbrella.

We ventured on down to Windsor Castle (it ended up being closed due to the snow). I remember standing at the entrance gate with a crowd of others who were inquiring about visiting. They announced that it would remain closed for visits for at least the day. To this, a group of people from Norway said “this isn’t snow, this is hardly a dusting!” and all of their group laughed at the small snow amounts. The guard didn’t find it as funny.

So because this was closed, we found whatever buildings were open in the area to explore. We also did the very touristy photo booth photos. Why not?!

By the end of the day, we had driven down to the London Novotel hotel ready to put the day to bed. We ordered some take-out to be delivered which didn’t come until an hour or so after it was supposed to. The kids didn’t miss out – they passed out trying to wait up (picture above with Big Ben in the distance). We woke them up they ate some of their food and went back to sleep. Our days were enough to exhaust anyone. We would wake up at 3:30a or 4a and end the day at around 10pm.

What a trip.

just Pray

note: this post was published on 08/03/22 but moved the publish date back to the middle of December 2017 to keep chronological order.