2025 is our year for travel as Lila now has a passport! Our first international trip as a family of four was an incredible experience and kept the travel bug alive. One thing that helps is we live in the DFW area and there are so many direct international flights out of Dallas! We took a 9.5 hour flight from DFW to London Heathrow Airport after work on a Thursday and landed Friday morning in London.
We were packed in two carry ons (one for each kid) and a checked bag for Lyall and I. I also brought my backpack to hold the ipads, switch, coloring items, etc. These were handy for such a long flight. We made sure for Christmas this year that we purchased gifts for the kids that would help during all of our trips this year. The good part about long flights is they normally have tvs on the back of the seats in front of you with new releases and more to watch! We packed snacks and then jelly sandwiches that the kids love for dinner since we knew they would not be impressed with airplane food.
Calihan watched a movie, ordered his orange juice, had a jelly sandwich, and then ended up falling asleep pretty early on! Lila colored on her tablet, played with her velcro activity and then finally fell asleep when we had about three hours left.
We asked Calihan how he felt when we landed and he said “happy” which was the cutest response! His favorite thing is traveling and planes. This sounds crazy and maybe it is… but I did have border control stamp the kids passports which they tend to not do anymore. I felt like Lila’s first country had to be documented! The walk from the gate to passport control is very long so be aware if you have kids. Luckily, Lyall and I have been to Heathrow a few times so we knew we needed Lila’s stroller. After passport control you can go get your bags and then customs is next. We made our way to the shuttle to go to the rental cars next to make our 3.5 hour drive from England to Wales to Cousin Amy’s house!
We spent the first night (Friday) eating fish and chips and enjoying each others company! I did keep my phone away that entire night because we were just having good conversations and so I forgot to even take pictures or videos that first night. Saturday we made our way to the nearby castle which was a beautiful 30 minute walk! We didn’t expect Calihan to be so brave but he was having fun and decided to jump from rock to rock in the river.
The water was fresh from the mountain and freezing! We kept saying to be careful but he was just going for it rock by rock. He ended up slipping and falling in the water and his boots filled. Poor guy was shivering and not happy. I took off a pair of my socks and Amy tried to wrap his feet in plastic to keep warm but he was not having it. Amy and Lyall ended up taking turns carrying him all the way back to the car and we never saw the castle. I would say I was bummed but I also enjoyed seeing Calihan just be free and happy jumping around in the water. He seemed so care free! He is normally our very careful and reserved child.
We went back to the house and tried to get him in a warm bath but the water was hurting him because he was so cold. Amy made the best stew that night over rice – my favorite! Then we put Lila down for bed and Amy and Chris offered to watch Calihan so Lyall and I could go to the top of the hill to the pub for one drink. Anytime I travel I enjoy going to local spots and the history behind the pub was so neat. The pub is called The Top Monkey and being around locals and enjoying a drink is the best while traveling.
Lyall went to the Manchester United game while the rest of us went exploring. We had a long drive back to London, so we met him in Manchester to make it easier. Lyall booked Manchester United tickets a few months prior and the kids and I crashed the trip so this is how we ended up making the trek :).
Snacks are our best friend when it comes to traveling so we made sure the kids had plenty for the car ride to the airport hotel we were staying at. There is a Hilton right next to the Heathrow Airport and we booked more for convenience. Honestly – such a nice stay! The staff were very friendly and the rooms were clean. We ended up ordering room service because we got in around 8:30pm but tried to keep the kids on the US schedule to help with jet lag when landing back in the United States because it was a short trip. Lila and Calihan are both pizza fans right now so a basic pizza and fries worked. We then let them watch their shows before bedtime to relax a bit.
Normally, we do not go to the airport too early as all we do is wait around with the kids, but we wanted to get breakfast in the airport so we made our way. We also checked bags to make it easier. To my surprise – Heathrow has a kids area located on an upper floor in terminal 3! The place was clean and not busy at all. A solid 30 minutes was just our two kids. Another positive to this were the changing areas! Lila is only 1.5 so we had to change her and this made it super convenient.
I know I say this often but I am so incredibly grateful for our travels. We are able to have our kids experience other countries and cultures. There was a stage where we had Calihan show us where we needed to go in the airport to get to our gate. At least when they start traveling on their own when they are older my mama heart can be a tiny bit more at peace. There are so many places I want to see and being able to spend time with family while seeing those places is the biggest bonus. Also- do not let us fool you this is exhausting but I would rather be exhausted exploring another country 🙂
