This is our final weekend in Europe which feels… completely and utterly unbelievable.
I took this picture on 7 March:
At that point, it was winter in Canada, we were at the airport about to take our first (of many) flights, and I could not believe that after months of planning this idea of ours had finally come to fruition and we were about to set off on an epic European adventure.
And now, we’re just a few days away from heading home.
It feels like a lot to process. We’re limping toward the finish line in terms of energy. It’s a long time to be away from family and friends and familiar routines. It’s a long time to schlepp luggage on and off of trains, planes, buses, and trams. It’s a long time to essentially live out of suitcases. It’s a long time to navigate foreign public transit systems and be surrounded by different languages. It’s a lot of different “homes” to set up and get accustomed to. It’s a lot of laundry machines to figure out!
It’s also a lot of time to fill. When we’re not adventuring, we mostly just have our family for entertainment. Sometimes that has been tough.
And yet, without any doubt, it has been the single coolest thing we’ve ever done as a family. It’s made even cooler by the profound realization that we’ll never do something quite like this together again.
We’re going to blink and Belle will be finishing high school. Of course we have no way of knowing if this trip will influence the direction of their lives in any way, but it will definitely always be memorable. We have so many shared experiences to carry with us through the rest of our lives.
All that to say: by this time next week, I’ll be back to sleeping in my own bed and likely feeling very overwhelmed by all sorts of feelings. Relief, sadness, panic about ALL THE THINGS that need doing… and deep gratitude for this incredible experience.
Let’s chat Happy Things for a while, shall we? I’ve been inconsistent with this practice the last few months and I can feel the impact on my mental health. I feel so much better when I’m habitually on the lookout for Happy Things.
EXCITEMENT FOR HOME
Our kids HAVE PLANS. Like… immediately. Indy wants to go to school on Thursday, Belle has various social gatherings planned for Thursday (reminder: we get home Wednesday late afternoon), and Friday Belle heads off overnight for her first day of leadership training. Saturday, Indy has a free 2-hour tennis clinic with his two best friends. AND SUNDAY WE GET TO GO TO CHURCH.
CASTLES
I’ll write more about this in an upcoming post, but our family got the chance to tour two castles in Wales last weekend. Of particular note was our time spent at Caerphilly. It’s the second-largest castle in the United Kingdom and it was my first “real” castle visit. It was an incredible experience and the kids loved it!
10 HOURS OF SLEEP
Goodness, I’ve been so tired since getting back from Scotland. One night, I managed to sleep for TEN hours.
HOT SHOWERS
One morning I was feeling sluggish and tired. I took a hot shower and it turned my whole day around.
QUIRKY STOPS
We’re big fans of finding quirky things to do when we visit new locations, so I perked up when I happened to see a headline about the longest playground slide in Wales being just outside the heart of Cardiff.
Indy and I headed off to investigate yesterday morning and his verdict is a 10/10 rating. Fast and fun!
(I went down twice and agree—my biggest complaint at my age is bumpy slides and this was remarkably smooth.)
TACKLING MY TO-DO LIST
On the train back from Edinburgh I wrote out an old-school to-do list on paper and it was… depressing. It felt overwhelming. I had so many little things that needed to be done, ideally before we went back to Canada.
I procrastinated on a lot of things and then eventually gave myself a little shake by the shoulders (not really, but metaphorically), and got on with it and POWERED THROUGH so many things.
I still feel behind in a few areas of work and life, but I feel… less behind.
EVENING WALK WITH RACHEL
After Rachel’s kids were settled in bed one night this week we went on a wonderful heart-pumping uphill walk to get some incredible views of Cardiff and the surrounding towns.
Rain was in the forecast so we set out knowing we might get wet.
It held off until we reached her car and then the clouds unloaded. The timing could not have been planned more perfectly, and it was our first time alone together since I’d arrived in Cardiff. No offence to either set of kids, but it is refreshing to walk at an adult pace and having adult-level conversations.
WORLD CUP
I’m not particularly engaged with professional football but there is something unifying about a global sporting competition. I know there are all sorts of challenges and controversies and I wish I had a magic wand and could get rid of all of that noise. But it has certainly brought my family together. We’ve been watching at least part of a game each night and we were cheering so loudly when Canada scored its first-ever World Cup goal.
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- The smell of the cedar hedge on the way back from the grocery store/bus stop here in Cardiff.
- Spending time with Rachel’s kids! They really are adorable and hilarious.
- Belle declaring that the simple grilled cheese sandwich I made this week was the best grilled cheese she’s had in her life. I’m taking it as a compliment and not an underhanded complaint about the previous grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve made for her.
- The cake Belle baked; she divided it into three different toppings: Nutella, Biscoff, and peanut butter frosting. SO good.
- Raindrops on roses. LITERALLY!
I’m off. It’s the midsummer holiday for John, so we’re going to go explore on what is his first (and only) vacation day while we’re in Wales! We have plans to head to Penarth Pier Pavilion and walk back to Cardiff Bay and explore that part of the city for the first time.
Happy weekending, friends <3
Your turn.
- Tell me some Happy Things from your world this week.
- What frosting would you pick: Nutella, Biscoff, or peanut butter frosting?
- Would you hop on and go down the long slide?
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Ahh you did the giant slide! I have been reading about that and will need to get there sometime, I am glad that Indy gave it the seal of approval! It looks fun!
The walk with you was my happy thing this week. Kids are great and cute and all but I am CRAVING some adult human time and I am sorry we haven’t had more of it this trip! It’s a stage… but I forget what fun grown up things I will get to do when I am *not* in this stage. I also love that although the forcast was rain, we both went with the “people are waterproof” approach to clothing choices. We both would have been quite wet if i thad rained.
Castles are always a happy place. We can get cheap 3 year local memberships to one castle (but you have to pick one!) and last time I picked Castle Coch because the kids were small and it’s so contained, but when we renew in 2027 I am 100% going for Caerphilly.
Enjoy Penarth and Cardiff Bay today! I am so glad it finally stopped raining for us.
Oh and just checking, was there a triple frosted cake down the road from me all week???! I don’t get people FOMO or event FOMO but I definitely get cake FOMO.