The summer of 2016

There is so much more to share about the summer travel we did. I am slightly disappointed I didn't get to more blogs then Day 1. My excuse will be losing my phone somewhere in the middle of the trip. This meant the blogger app went missing with the phone, and writing them became more troubling. None the less, I should have. About 6 weeks later and much of the vacation is fuzzy thanks to the project that awaited us when we returned (the new house, settlement, packing, another settlement, moving, and so much more).

To summarize the vacation, 3 weeks away was a lot of work. We moved every 3 days, except for the last week in Glasgow.  Our itinerary was 3 days in Reykjavik, 3 days in Inverness, Scotland, 4 days in Dublin with the kids with Grannie, and 8 nights in a flat in Glasgow with many day trips.

For me, returning to Dublin after 12 years was the personal highlight. I still love that city and would welcome the opportunity to live and work there. I think I could easily be convinced to stay.

For the family, I think the highlight was the day at Culzean Castle outside of Ayr in Scotland. This is not far from where Bob grew up. It was nice to see the area. The kids loved being on the beach and exploring. The day was gorgeous. Everyone was happy and we had even a good meal.

The kids were troopers. Some days were better then others. I hope they look back with fond memories such as driving the boat on Loch Ness whilst looking for the monster or one of her babies, playing at the Castle, baking with Grannie, playing at the nature park, enjoying the local parks in the cities we wondered, seeing the great wonders of Iceland, and hopefully even the silly sleeping arrangements and the adventures of flying and traveling.

They did great on the planes - thanks to the movies!

The one challenge was getting Clair to sleep when it was light nearly all the time. One night in Iceland she lay in her bed for 3 hours with the eyes wide open, propped nearly by toothpicks as she was exhuasted. But each time i tried to tell her to go to sleep, she would say "But the Blue Sky is still awake Mommy." We needed that girl some black out curtains!

Maybe over time I will write a couple more stories down, but for now, the 3 week European Adventure will be know as that, and A Great Family Adventure!