Scotland & The Open {Part I}

12:08 PM

Getting ready for a trip across the ocean with 2 small kids is no joke. I spent weeks making lists, checking them, reading international travel blogs, etc in order to try and prepare us for this trip as much as possible. We decided on an overnight flight and it just happened to be the same flight that my brother and his family, also with young kids, booked. We also were traveling with my older niece and nephew because my oldest brother and his wife had gone ahead of time and spent a couple days in Paris before flying to Scotland.

Erik and I packed everything we thought we'd possibly need in the days leading up to the trip. Luckily, we were renting a car seat for Will, a pack n play, a jogging stroller and a small cot for Will so we could eliminate the need to take any of those on the trip with us. We did bring John's infant carrier because he was so little that he could still be strapped into it for the flight and a small umbrella stroller for getting through the airport. And my Beco carrier. And I can say looking back that the Beco was the single best thing we brought on our trip as far as kids' gear was concerned, other than John's car seat but that was more for safety reasons.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

We picked up our nephew Riley the evening before we left so that he could stay with us and we could leave from our house and go straight to the airport.We borrowed Pat & Amy's minivan so that we would have room for everyone and all of our suitcases, etc.

Off to the airport we go!

We arrived at Chicago O’hare airport about 2:30 pm for our evening flight. We made the last minute decision to have the parking service meet us at the airport so that we could unload everything right at check in and not have to worry about one of staying with all the kids and stuff. If you're traveling out of O'Hare, I highly recommend doing this as it was a big help. We met my brother and his family, got everyone checked in and waited in a long security line with all the kiddos.

Our flight took off on time (about 6:00 pm CST). John slept almost the entire flight, except to wake up for diaper change and eating. Mom sat next to a nice man on the plane and John really liked him, while he was awake! Erik & Will sat with Mara and right in front of Uncle Tim, Aunt Tricia and the girls. Erik said Will fell asleep about 8:30 and slept the remainder of the flight. Luckily, it was a very uneventful flight with all the kids and they did really great!

Monday, July 13, 2015

We arrived at Edinburgh airport on time (8:00 AM local time, 2:00 AM CST). Both kids woke up and were a little cranky but excited to be there! Our family got through immigration in no time, thanks to some very nice immigration workers who saw us traveling with small children, but we waited on Grandma & Grandpa as well as Uncle Tim & Aunt Tricia so that we could all take transport to the house together. Grandpa kept all the kids happy in the airport with the Oreos he scored from the business class lounge at O’Hare. Our transport arrived and took us on about an hour ride to our rental in St. Andrews: 6 Queens Gardens (or as Will called it, New Home or Number 6).

Once we got to the house we unloaded all the suitcases, decided on sleeping arrangements (we had a bedroom on the top floor) and waited for Grandma & Grandpa to arrive. Grandma, Grandpa, Mara & Riley all went to the grocery store to stock us up for the week and everyone else decided to take a nap. Uncle Pat & Aunt Amy got to the house early afternoon to join the rest of us, just as Grandma & Grandpa got home with the groceries. Mom & John woke up Dad & Will and we went out exploring in St. Andrews for the rest of the afternoon.

We thought it was cool that we saw a sign with the name Alison - similar to our niece's name!

Our first family picture in Scotland was in front of the Ruins at Madras College, Senior School Campus (on South Street).

The Parish Church of the Holy Trinity and its gardens were absolutely beautiful. Our house was just a block down from here so we walked past it literally every day of our trip.

We saw a local bagpiper playing outside while we were wandering the streets. St. Andrews is not very big so it's a great place to just walk around and explore.

Erik and I stopped for some food at Dr. Noodles and shared a noodle bowl. We were really hungry so it was quite delicious. Almost as delicious as the ice cream we had from Luvian's ice cream parlor - Will had chocolate, Erik had Scottish Tablet and John was asleep in the Beco carrier. John was at a great age for this trip (9 months old) because he truly fell asleep on me in the Beco carrier just about everywhere we went. It made things easy on us because we knew we could be mobile with him.

We walked by Tesco, the local grocery store, and saw a dog hooked outside waiting for his or her owner to come out. So funny! Will was pretty busy finishing his ice cream.