Wherever We Are, We Are

 Today we went to this nice little Waffle and Beer place where we made some waffles and talked about beer. The waffles that we made were so good and the place had dark chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and powdered sugar. The taste off the waffles was so good and the waffles were so fluffy.

 Today when we went to the beach after we had lunch I went to the arcade with Lisa and mick (who you can see in the photo next to me) and won this cute pink turtle on the coin push machine there was also one that had prime instead of turtles. The poor turtle was hanging off the edge so I decided to rescue it.

The first time I traveled to Malawi, my traveling companion Audra gave me the advice that the harder the experience is, the better the story you can tell afterwards.   It’s funny how that shift in mindset helped me get through some harrowing experiences during those two months in Malawi and it has served me well ever since. A trip of 80 days will have its fair share of challenging moments and I can’t wait to tell those stories.   One of these stories occurred on our tour of Stonehenge and Bath.  On our second day in the UK we took a bus tour out to Stonehenge and then on to the town of Bath.  Seeing these massive rocks that were carved and arranged with the most primitive tools thousands of years ago was inspiring.   This was by far the oldest human construction that I’ve ever seen.     We then headed on to Bath and saw much newer (relatively) human construction by the Romans and then the British.  We had a lovely afternoon but as the day wore on Grayson let us know that he wasn’t feel

On our first full day in London, we set out to see the sites on foot.  Ignoring the fatigue from sleep depravation, we walked a total of five miles round trip to take in Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar square.   After a yummy lunch, we made our way to Leicester Square.  While there, we decided on a whim to get tickets to see The Lion King, a musical we had planned on seeing as a family in May of 2020 but had to cancel due to COVID.   The best option for the seeing the show was that evening.  On our way back we stopped for some afternoon tea.  We nibbled on scones and macaroons and sipped tea, coffee and hot chocolate.  The boys said this was one of the highlights of their time in London.                                                After tea we headed home to get ready for the show.  We had about 45 minutes before we needed to catch our bus.  Using Google maps, I had planned our bus route to the theater and had allowed what I thought to be plenty of time to transfer buses an

One of my favorite things about traveling is that it requires me to be present.  I get so caught up in my normal routines that I often forget to stop and notice the moments unfolding before me.  When I go through the motions of my daily life, I give my mind space to worry about the future, think about my shortcomings or think about things I should have done.    When I travel to somewhere new, or spend time in nature, or alter my routine in anyway it immediately brings me back to the present and those thoughts and worries fade away.  Upon arriving to London, it was so fun to watch the boys being present as they noticed the differences that come with being in a new country and a new culture.  Though we were all exhausted from a red eye flight with little sleep, a flight delay in Iceland and jet lag from a 7 hour time difference, they immediately started calling out the little and big differences all around us.    One of the first things they noticed was that the Gattwick vending machine

Writing from the airport in Iceland — we are all properly jet lagged. The boys are passed out in their contorted positions at a cafe and Jeff and I are sipping coffee rather blearily. Our first leg went off without a hitch, and while our flight to London is slightly delayed, we are expecting a smooth flight there as well. These first couple days will challenge our body’s sense of time but we have planned to do a lot of walking, in hopes to fast forward the proccess of acclimating to our time zone for the next 80 days.  Leading up to this point had been a whirlwind. All four of us packed a lot in these last couple weeks. Jeff tied up loose ends with work (no small feat given his multiple roles) and attended a Health Ed Connect board meeting in Kansas City. Brooks was also in Kansas City competing in Destination Imagination (globals!). Grayson took part in a two day chess tournament in the middle of about five school projects. And I started dozens of lists and attempted to cross off each