What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, or something like that.

Here is where the trip changes from London to England/Ireland

Of course more bullet points, because at the end of the day that is about all I have, especially on this day.  Enjoy!  These are the notes I took along the way.

• Checking out of our London hotel
• Weird tongue from crazy catsup
• New rules. If the boys are brats, first they lose electronics for 1 hour, then 2 hours, and then all day. To answer your question, Eli lost electronics for and hour, and Kyle for two.
• Sad to leave London. Wish we could have spent more time there hanging out and seeing the city.
• Our Travel Tip. There are so many free museums and things to see that I do not think the London Pass is worth it. I would not recommend it. We are discouraged because we spent our days in pursuit of doing our London Pass Activity, which ultimately took too much of our precious London time. We spent time on trains and in places we did not want to be in attempts to get to the London Pass activity.  Some places we stood in line, and most places close by 5:00 p.m. Often the activities felt similar, like we were going through and assembly line, viewing the many tiny short historic beds in tiny little bed chambers. The highlight was definitely the Collar of Torment in the Tower of London. Sadly, the Tower of London felt more like an Epcot Center Exhibit than a piece of history. I definitely prefer seeing the Tower’s grandness and amazing architecture from the outside then cattle calling my way through the inside. Hampton Court took stole an entire day.  The gardens were underwhelming, and again tiny little beds. The high point was the dining area. As interesting as Henry VIII is, I can read about him or watch the “Tudors,” right?  Seriously, we found it much more interesting and gratifying to walk the city, look at the architecture, meet the people, read the historic plaques and learn the city.
• Back of the Van: The back of the van is where I spent most of today. It was crazy cramped and every time Dave came to a stop and re-started his engine that auto-stops at the stop, a suitcase would fly into my head. Eventually we put the middle seat between Kyle and Eli down and re-configured the suitcases. After that I was only occasionally pummeled by oncoming luggage. It was a long travel day. One that should have only taken a few hours. Damn London traffic! In truth, the back seat ended up being pretty awesome Zen-heaphone-wearing-music-turned-up-loud safe space.
• Eli says he knows what I’m thinking. He is sort of right.
• I’ve lost my mind. (At some point during the day I wrote that phrase. I thought it many times).
• While in the backseat, I took advantage of Dave’s wi-fi hot spot.  That sounds slightly inappropriate, doesn’t it? Anyway, I took advantage of his hot spot, and began reading my local KSL.com. I was almost delighted to here about the final Rainbow Family arrest at the end of the Rainbow Family gathering back in Utah.  Many people were in an uproar and girls’ camps in the area were in some sort of uproar. Anyway, I began to read that a dude was arrested for assault, I believe. I read further and found the specific charge was for disturbing an Om circle. Indeed. 😉
• Meltdown when we stopped — me, that is.
•  (Another thing I wrote during the day.)  After being pummeled by suitcases for two hours, and being smashed in the back, Dave stopped the car and I lost my mind. We all got out. Wait. What I meant was Dave was out the door and on his way while I was still trapped in the back.  I called him back and asked the boys and my mother-in-law to go on ahead. “Please do not say anything.” I said and continued, “I need to vent. I am about to snap.” And then I did, vent and snap, that is.
• Dr. Who Shop: What I didn’t realize is that we were stopped to go to the special Dr. Who Shop, which happens to be located next to the Pies and Eels take-out restaurant.  It was exactly as you would expect it to be.
• Things I think about while driving in the car: human connection — my need for it, how handsome my boys are. I love Kyle’s new pink sunglasses and I love how accommodating Eli is as I stretch my leg out underneath his outstretched arm.
• Lunch – grocery store and shish kebabs. Kebab place next door to two funeral planning places next to the mini, mini dealer.  Once we had our food, we sat on a little stone fence across from the Kebab place and ate our lunch. I don’t even know what town we were in.
• After our epic fail at the grocery store, it was Dave’s turn for the meltdown.  I can’t say that I blame him. Driving on a different side of the road is nuts. Driving in that kind of traffic is crazy business. He only sort of went on the wrong side of the road once.
• Did I mention how heinous the traffic was today?
• After telling the kebab guy I was from Utah (he asked where we were from), then Sweden, I realized he was not really understanding. Finally I said I was from Canada. He seemed to like this. We settled on Winnipeg, which I figured was the safest answer seeing as how it is the closest to Minnesota, where I am really from. HE kept saying, “Canada, lots of lakes.” I kept thinking, “Minnesota, land of 10,00 lakes.”
• (Yes, I wrote this again on my notes from today.) Dave’s meltdown
• Deep fried hotdog, (Kyle ordered one from the Kebab place).
• Toenail ripped off. Yikes is correct. We were stopped to see a castle that we did not see. I think it was because it was not on my mother-in-law’s British Heritage Pass. Watch out for those travel passes. They try to control your destiny, and they are good at it. Anyway, as I was climbing back into the back of the van I kicked the metal runner the seat was connected to and part of my toenail ripped off. Yes. Ouch indeed.
• I am officially annoyed.
• Dave and I both had a meltdown. Once we checked into the Bates Pub and Motel, Dave and I lost it. We all got into the car to see the drive to the Chalk Cliffs only to realize that the good parts are way too far away. After 17 billion hours driving in traffic, and not a lot to show for it, Dave and I fell apart. We screamed, we cried. We both feel bad, but not mad at each other. He knows I am here for him, but forgets to let me. Traveling with kids and an extra passenger is complicated. We are re-grouping. If I am not kidnapped by Casper the Friendly Ghost, we know that tomorrow is another day.
• Horror movie hotel (again, yes, I wrote this down). Let’s just say, there is stale chlorine smell flowing from the bathroom. The walls are covered in cobwebs. The carpet is old and gross, and I am very relived that we have our own spare set of sheets. Pray for us!