Traveling across the pond

For weeks we have been prepping Moira for the “airplane trip” to England to see Nan and Grandad. We’ve been reading books about travel, looking at airplanes in the sky, and telling her stories about visiting Nan and Grandad’s “fairy garden.” When the day finally arrived, I think the truth is I was more nervous than excited. It is quite a feat taking a 2-month-old and a 2.5-year-old on an overseas journey!

The girls while I was packing for the trip!
Aside from our first leg being cancelled and the rebooked trip being delayed for two hours out of Indy, thus making the connection in Boston too tight for my taste, we did pretty well on the flights. Moira had a meltdown as we were boarding the international flight (to be fair, it was 10:30pm), but as soon as she saw the blanket and pillow on the flight, she laid her head down and fell asleep quickly. Hannah traveled tremendously well.  The fact that she likes to be held definitely worked in our favor. She slept the majority of both flights and the car ride down to Alan’s parents’ home in Newton Abbot.

Our beautiful room!
We all fit into it very comfortably!

Moira in the garden with Monty right after we arrived!

Nan and Hannah together for the first time

During our first full day in Devon, Verena, my good friend and roommate from my days at IU, came to visit. She normally resides in D.C, but she happened to be in London visiting friends and decided to make her way down to the southwest for the day, just to see our family!



Verena is a documentary photographer in her spare time, and she took some amazing photos of our family at the beach and in Gordon and Lyn’s home. 

Ness Cove, Shaldon, Devon

Moira's first time in the ocean

She loves it, even if the English Channel is cold!

Walking along the red sands (and rocks)

What a smile!

Splashing with her dad!
Cute toes!

Convincing her to leave was difficult!
Lovely ladies, lovely view!


We had a lovely time paddling in the ocean at Shaldon, a fantastic time catching up at lunch at the Ness hotel, and Verena even had a chance to relax with a cup of tea and take photos of Hannah before catching the train back to Paddington Station.
Isn't she adorable?

I'm so glad Verena met my babies!
What an amazing first couple of days in Devon! No doubt we will have many more stories to share. Stay tuned...

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