Traveling with children, Jet Lag, and exploring the UK

Sundresses and shorts: 0.  Patagonia Down Jackets: 1

While our general itinerary follows an Endless Summer vibe, we couldn’t pass up the chance to visit Will’s sister who is living with her husband and sweet little boy Percy in England for 6 months, and so we decided to kick off our trip intercepting them while they were in the Yorkshire Dales of Northern England. We landed in Edinburgh buzzing with jetlag, a lack of sleep and excitement to be met by weeklong forecast of rain, rain and more rain.  The best thing about flipflops is that it doesn’t matter if your feet get wet, so at least we had that part covered ;) Our first stop was H&M to get rain jackets, an umbrella, cozy sweatshirts, and an extra pair of pants for the boys as we quickly realized 1 pair wasn’t quite going to cut it. Based on the fact that we had to sit on our suitcases to zip them for the journey over, these items will have to get left behind, passed on to the next traveler in need.

We quickly learned that the best way to overcome jetlag for kids is a solid afternoon romp in the hotel pool, relying on the cornucopia of cakes, scones and ice creams to keep going until it was time to crash for the night. We fought every urge to take naps in the rain and would jump in the pool whenever our will power started waning. After 2 days of city wandering, exploring the Edinburgh Castle (the boys quite liked the cannons), seeing all things Harry Potter, and climbing to the top of Arthur’s Seat, the boys were 99% adjusted and it was time to head to the country to see our little cousin. It was a week filled with the greenest fields I have ever seen, millions of sheep dotting every hill (fell), valley (dale) and view (view). We visited old castles and monastery ruins, dairy farms and beautiful gardens, we ran up fells and along nature paths. One of my favorite travel hacks with kids is to get them bikes whenever possible so they can ride while we can run alongside, giving us all a chance to burn off some energy and see wherever we are from an entirely different vantage. The boys were in heaven playing with their little 2.5 yr. old cousin who might be the cutest, happiest little dude ever and I felt pretty damn lucky to have a sister-in-law with impeccable taste and a whole lot of cashmere sweaters to make-up for the very inappropriate wardrobe I had packed.  

The highlight of the week however (well, the highlight aside from the daily consumption of cakes, crumpets and sticky toffee pudding… actually, can I just take a moment to note how mind-blowing it is that there is an entire population that eats cake on a daily basis?!?!  I feel like we have done our fair share of traveling, eating and exploring but never have I been faced with as many baked goods in such rapid succession than in our 10 days in the UK. Granted we have absolutely zero will power or ability to say no and dove in headfirst to every scrumptious bite, but you don’t just get a scone, you get a scone with jam, butter and clotted cream at least once a day. It’s pretty spectacular. Sorry, I digress….) was an “Agricultural fair” that we attended just across a sheep field from the house where we were staying. It was like stepping back into the 1950s, filled with tractor shows and Quoit throwing (essentially horse shoe) competitions, floral arranging and walking stick carving, a contest for the ‘4 best potatoes’, ‘3 best onions’ and ‘6 best blackberries’. We lucked into arriving just as the kids’ competitions were getting going and the boys jumped right in, having no idea what was on the docket and bursting with excitement for all of it… First up was a sprint race of about 40 meters which ended up with kids sprawled everywhere slipping and sliding in the wet grass. Next up, the “Potato Pick-up” where each kid was given a bucket and 4 ‘potatoes’ were set in a line in front. They goal is to sprint and pick up one at a time, filling your bucket, then racing across the finish line. Think of childhood gym class shuttle runs.  Needless to say, it was brilliant. This was followed by a 3-legged race and our personal favorite, the “Wellie Toss”. Each contestant is given a wellie, they all stand in a line and then throw their boot as far as it can go. It’s a dynamic spectating sport as boots fly in every direction possible, crashing into the crowd as often as not; be ready to duck, dodge and cover your head while trying not to die laughing while keeping your eye on the next incoming boot. Huxley was pretty excited to win his age category and Holden came in second in his, each winning 20 pence. Perhaps they should give up the dreams of growing up to be professional soccer players and focus on boot tossing instead ;) The day finished off with a proper egg toss (thank God we bought that second pair of pants) a sheep parade, and ice cream, of course. It was the most sweet, wholesome, wonderfully British affair and has the boys begging to come back next year to do it all again. I’d say we’re off to a good start so far 🤣