England Trip (March 7th-8th)
On to the task of recording my England trip! I had such a good time and so many adventures, so I will try to sum it up by day. Well, here goes...
The thing that has scared me the most about traveling to England was that I might go into labor on the plane. I went to the doctor a few days before my trip and because of my preterm labor, she recommended that I don't go. That made me even more nervous. I hear that the air pressure from the plane can actually break my water. I was determined to do it though, so she sent me home with a copy of my medical records just in case.
Knowing this might be my only chance to go to England for a long time, I went on faith and prayed that nothing traumatic would happen. Brian gave me a wonderful blessing and the day I left I was finally comforted.
Well, there was really no reason to be worried. I had felt more calm about the trip since we made our plans. I drank lots of water and made sure that I took many trips to the bathroom. I was surprised at how calm I was. I don't think I had one contraction (which is great for me!).
Cami and I had a great time showing our new passports to the security officers. They definitely made us feel welcome and excited about our trip. The flight attendants were all very polite and we stuffed ourselves with a dinner right when we got on and then a breakfast about two in the morning (Maryland time!). We didn't have a very restful night though, but I think I was a little too excited to get the rest I was hoping.
We finally got on a two hour bus ride and made it to Cheltenham. It was a beautiful ride with rolling green hills all around. The sheep and baby lambs were grazing everywhere we looked. I was amazed at the old moss covered buildings. It seems that every house was built to last hundreds of years.
Joni was at the bus stopped when we arrived and she was very relieved that we made it safe (we definitely were too). It was great to be with Joni again. She looks the same except her little pregnant belly that she was just showing. She walked down the center streets of Cheltenham and took some pictures. She then took us to lunch at Zizzi's (an Italian restaurant). It was in a beautiful old church that they had made into a restaurant. It was late afternoon and so we were the only ones there. The wood burning stove was actually over the altar of the church. We had yummy pizza and garlic bread on the side.
That evening we headed off to a British grocery store. That was quite an adventure. Everything costs about twice as much as it does in the states. There were many things that we couldn't find though, like swiss cheese. We stocked up on English chocolate though and bought a few snacks for our travels.
That night we came home, had cheese and bread (mmmmm....) and tried to get a good rest after such a busy day. Joni let us take Leah's room (after bribing her with Mentos) and we were very grateful to have somewhere to rest comfortably! I was very glad to put my feet up, my ankles had swollen twice the size and were very uncomfortable to walk on. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up at two in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. This was probably the only time I struggled with homesickness. I wished my family were with me in this strange land, but I knew that they were all safe at home with Brian. I was then very grateful for a wonderful supportive husband whom I had full trust in. I finally fell asleep for a couple more hours to be woken by cute little Leah wanting to play! I was glad to have Leah and Caleb reminding me off my sweet girls.
The thing that has scared me the most about traveling to England was that I might go into labor on the plane. I went to the doctor a few days before my trip and because of my preterm labor, she recommended that I don't go. That made me even more nervous. I hear that the air pressure from the plane can actually break my water. I was determined to do it though, so she sent me home with a copy of my medical records just in case.
Knowing this might be my only chance to go to England for a long time, I went on faith and prayed that nothing traumatic would happen. Brian gave me a wonderful blessing and the day I left I was finally comforted.
Well, there was really no reason to be worried. I had felt more calm about the trip since we made our plans. I drank lots of water and made sure that I took many trips to the bathroom. I was surprised at how calm I was. I don't think I had one contraction (which is great for me!).
Cami and I had a great time showing our new passports to the security officers. They definitely made us feel welcome and excited about our trip. The flight attendants were all very polite and we stuffed ourselves with a dinner right when we got on and then a breakfast about two in the morning (Maryland time!). We didn't have a very restful night though, but I think I was a little too excited to get the rest I was hoping.
We finally got on a two hour bus ride and made it to Cheltenham. It was a beautiful ride with rolling green hills all around. The sheep and baby lambs were grazing everywhere we looked. I was amazed at the old moss covered buildings. It seems that every house was built to last hundreds of years.
Joni was at the bus stopped when we arrived and she was very relieved that we made it safe (we definitely were too). It was great to be with Joni again. She looks the same except her little pregnant belly that she was just showing. She walked down the center streets of Cheltenham and took some pictures. She then took us to lunch at Zizzi's (an Italian restaurant). It was in a beautiful old church that they had made into a restaurant. It was late afternoon and so we were the only ones there. The wood burning stove was actually over the altar of the church. We had yummy pizza and garlic bread on the side.
That evening we headed off to a British grocery store. That was quite an adventure. Everything costs about twice as much as it does in the states. There were many things that we couldn't find though, like swiss cheese. We stocked up on English chocolate though and bought a few snacks for our travels.
That night we came home, had cheese and bread (mmmmm....) and tried to get a good rest after such a busy day. Joni let us take Leah's room (after bribing her with Mentos) and we were very grateful to have somewhere to rest comfortably! I was very glad to put my feet up, my ankles had swollen twice the size and were very uncomfortable to walk on. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up at two in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. This was probably the only time I struggled with homesickness. I wished my family were with me in this strange land, but I knew that they were all safe at home with Brian. I was then very grateful for a wonderful supportive husband whom I had full trust in. I finally fell asleep for a couple more hours to be woken by cute little Leah wanting to play! I was glad to have Leah and Caleb reminding me off my sweet girls.
Comments
I finally posted too! Kind of condensed, but I just needed to get it DONE!