Scotland & Thoughts on Early Motherhood

Being pregnant away from your home base is a different experience. Our families never saw me pregnant in person. They never touched my belly and felt Connor kick. Baby products are different in Scotland, so I couldn't ask friends in America for advice. And, well, the same goes for the medical system. My coworkers at Starbucks loved talking about my pregnancy though and enjoyed feeling Connor kick. I was like a live science experiment to them. They even threw me a surprise baby shower. But, when I went on maternity leave, we moved 2.5 hours north of Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

My first year of motherhood was pretty much the same way. Once, Connor had a cold and I asked a random lady with a baby at church for advice. Our small group leaders helped a ton. The wife always invited me places and made sure I got out of the house, both with and without Connor. She would offer me advice and encourage me when Connor just didn't want to be in the church nursery.

When I was tired, I had no one to call and ask to take Connor for a little while. I just put my big girl panties on and dealt with it...of course, it helped that I was just dealing with one kid! I didn't drive. I went for a walk with Connor every day, despite the weather...sunshine, rain or snow. I would walk to Starbucks, sit down and drink a cup of coffee. I would wonder around book stores and shops. I made a weekly trip to the movies for "cine-babaies"...they showed movies at lower volumes and only moms with babies were allowed in the theater.

I realize my experience as a first time mom probably would have been vastly different had we lived in California. Sure, it still would have been special. But it probably wouldn't have taught me to be so strong. It probably wouldn't have eased me into the world, into the rat race, of motherhood as easily. I really do appreciate all our time in Scotland. But the time of me transitioning into motherhood will always be the most special.

^^ Standing in the exact same spot as my maternity picture taken 5 years earlier

^^ The hospital Connor was born in (it was pouring down rain when I made Connor get out of the car to take this picture) and the house we lived in.

^^These are the winter gardens (a HUGE enclosed garden) at a park that was just by our house. I spent a lot of time with Connor at that park and when the weather was bad, I walked through these gardens with him. 

I really didn't expect being back in Scotland to bring up so many emotions in me. Good emotions. It was fun going back and remembering what that transition to motherhood was like. And remembering all the places we used to take Connor. Scotland will always hold a special place in my heart...and, well, Connor will always have a birth certificate (and passport) from there. 

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London

We had a lot of fun in London, but I would have to say that out of all the places we went, London was the least kid friendly. Most of the underground stations don't have elevators. And the city is so spread out, it takes so much time just getting from one place to another. Of course, the silver lining here is that Connor seriously loved it every single stinking time we rode on the underground.  

We didn't really do much in the way of touristy things in London, but we did go on the London Eye. Isla fell asleep on our way to it and slept through the entire thing. Connor, on the other hand, was so excited and enjoyed the entire ride. His favorite part seemed to be the "iPads" they had in there explaining what you were looking at. He kept running from one to another and getting really excited about it. 

I had a couple random things on my "to do" list and we managed to do them. One was take the kids to Hamleys toy store. It is a 7 story toy store. It is a bit overwhelming, but totally fun non-the-less. We said each kid could pick out a small toy. Connor picked one out right away (a lego...shockingly). And Isla, well she never picked one out. I tried and I tried, but the girl went home empty handed. She didn't seem to mind though and had plenty of fun playing with the various toys on display.

The only non-kid friendly thing I wanted to do was to go to Portobello Market. It was super crowded, but I really enjoyed roaming the street and seeing all that was for sale. In the middle of it, we sat down and ate lunch outside. Both Ian and I enjoyed sitting there and people watching, as there were certainly plenty of people to look at. Just down the street from the market is the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. I had read online that it was super cool and it did not disappoint.

 

^^ On our way out of London one afternoon, we ended up right by Big Ben, so we snapped a couple pictures quickly.

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Edinburgh

There is something about going back to a place you are all to familiar with. You have the ease of getting around without directions. You feel a sense a peace. Then again, you have a list a mile long of things you want to do because you know what you are missing out on if you don't!!!Oh, Edinburgh. It is such a magical place to me. I had never been there before we moved there and this place stole my heart rather quickly. There is something so magical about the castle in the middle of the city, the cobblestone streets, the flowers everywhere. Then, there are the old bay windows, the cozy cafes and the beautiful bridges. It really is a special place. We had the privilege of not only visiting some of our favorite places, but also catching up with some old friends. I got to see a few of my old work mates, and even managed to sneak out for dinner one night. We also had fun playing in the park with one of Ian's old work mates and his kids...who oddly enough we also met up with when we went to Vancouver, Canada a couple years ago. After living in drought conditions for a while, I was almost shocked by how lush and green it is. It was so beautiful. Not to mention, the chill in the air and actually needing a jacket and scarf...while California is still suffering through temps in the high 90's. Even with a jacket on, Connor was cold. He asked how he was supposed to keep his face warm! 

 

 

  

 

 

My only regret is that we didn't have more time to spend in Edinburgh. I really want my kids to fall in love with the place that has stolen my heart. And, hopefully we can manage to make it back for another visit in less than four years this time!

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Paris

Traveling with kids is just so much different than without kids. All the travel guides usually don't tell you the cool places to take kids. Thankfully there is pinterest these days and I spent time on there researching places to go and things to do with kids in each city we went. The weather in Paris was amazing the whole time we were there. It was in the 70's and sunny. It made spending time outside at many of Paris's amazing parks a breeze. 

We spent a lot of time in parks just playing. There is a huge park, Champ de Mars, that the eiffel tower is at the beginning of. Besides tourists walking far enough back to take full shots of the tower, the park really doesn't have tourists in it. And, there are THREE different play areas for kids in it! One was practically at the base of the tower and had amazing views. For a while, we were the only people in that play area. It was like our own little paradise.

Paris is full of carousels. It seems like there is one everywhere you look. And, the kids did a stint on a double decker one that had a view of the eiffel tower. But, the really cool one was a little hand crank carousel tucked back in a park. The French man operating it obviously loved his job. He would make the kids laugh and laugh...which considering that there is a language barrier proves that language isn't everything. 

There was also a petal car track in the park that the kids tried out. It was again run by a French man that seemed to love children. He cheered Connor on...of course, I don't actually know what he was saying...and both kids got excited and loved it.

The flat we stayed in was an airbnb find. It was about half the price of a decent hotel room. I really wanted us to stay close to the tower, since that was the main reason we were going. Not only was it close, but we had a view of it too. Both kids liked watching the tower "sparkle" each hour. And Connor even woke up one morning and checked to make sure the tower was still there.

 

We did a ton of walking around in Paris. One day we walked 7.5 miles. Connor actually did pretty good walking, but in the end, ended up on Ian's shoulders. Isla actually took a couple hour nap in the stroller while we were walking. Aww, the time change...it actually has her napping daily! Of course, nights aren't necessarily the best ;)

 

When we left Paris, we took a flight to Edinburgh. Isla fell asleep while we were checking in for the flight. She even slept when we took her out of her stroller and went through security. At the door to the plane, she woke when we took her out of her stroller. She literally went mental. She was kicking and screaming and I was afraid they were going to throw us off the flight before it even started...the flight attendant was kind of being mean to us about the whole thing, as if we planned it! Once we were in the air, she calmed down. But, it was a lot of crying, kicking and screaming before that. Let's just say I am not ready for our long haul flight back to America next week!

After the perfect weather we had in Paris, it was a slight shock to the system to get into Edinburgh and have the highs be in the low 50's. But being able to cozy up under a bunch of blankets in bed is one of my favorites, so I didn't mind. More on our trip to Edinburgh to come...

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Eiffel Tower

We just finished up a four day stint in Paris and, well, so much happened on the eiffel tower that I thought I would start with there. Paris will definitely see some action at some point because I am just a little trigger happy and have WAY TOO MANY pictures. But on to the eiffel tower...and a fraction of the too many pictures I took there.

I originally hawked the idea of adding Paris to our trip because Connor has been obsessed with the eiffel tower for well over a year now. It all started with a little statue of the tower in our house that I got when I went to Paris with my family when I was 19. Both kids have been so excited about the eiffel tower. Then, a week before the trip, Connor declared that he didn't want to go up in the tower. Uh, WHAT?!? After talking to him, I realized his real fear was of people stopping the elevator (you know, pressing the elevator stop button). After telling him there was an elevator operator, all was fine again.

 

A couple days before our trip, I was looking at tickets to the tower online and realized you can buy them online and bypass the long lines. Score! I went to buy tickets and every day we were in Paris was sold out. I was gutted to say the least. Then, my 'ole friend google helped me discover that apparently you can only pre buy tickets online at least 3 months in advance...as if I plan anything that far in advance! 

Knowing the line to buy tickets, then get up the tower, were going to be long, we were armed with entertainment with the kids. Connor was so excited, he didn't need entertainment. And, the line went rather quick anyway. When we got on the elevator and Connor saw the elevator operator, he said, "You were telling the truth about the elevator man!" Glad to see you have so much faith in your mom, kid! 

We finally made it to the top (you have to wait in another long line on the second floor to get up to the top). We headed outside to check out the views and enjoy some fresh air after being sardined in an elevator. Connor got insanely hyper and wanted nothing to do with being up there. And, it got worse when we decided to take a family picture up there. He was hysterical, so Ian finally put him down. And, about 20 people were standing around trying to convince Connor to at least stand in front of us for a picture. It was nice that so many people wanted to help, but also super embarrassing that we were a spectacle for so many. Even going inside to the enclosed area didn't help Connor. I told Ian it wasn't worth it and for us to just go down. 

We went back down to the second floor to change elevators to head down to the bottom. While waiting in line for that elevator, some Asian ladies took great interest in Isla. In broken English, they asked to take a picture with her. I said yes. I totally thought Isla would flip when one of them picked her up. But, no. Girlfriend was enjoying all these ladies doting on her. It was actually quite funny.

On the way down, we stopped off at the first floor. And, that was the perfect stop for us. In fact, I think it redeemed our trip to the eiffel tower for me. The first floor is literally at least six times the size as the top and practically no one stops there. It made the perfect place to stop with kids. They could run around and be themselves. We didn't have to worry about them hitting other people or loosing them in the crowd. We still had rather good views. And, there are some crazy glass floors that you can stand on. I will be honest and admit that I was slightly freaked out standing on the glass, but it was really cool. 

So there you have it, the eiffel tower in like a thousand word essay! No one ever accused me of being short winded :) Now back to vacationing I go...

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