Bloggings, Family, Travel

Traveling to Mexico!

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My parents spent the night last night so it would be easy for us to all go to O’Hare together. We woke up around 4 am. Getting to the airport was nice–uneventful.

Once at the airport we checked in easily. Then we stopped at the food court for breakfast. Lucas had a McDonald’s sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit with a hash brown. He later talked me into getting him a donut from Dunkin. The rest of us had burrito beach. It was a nice relaxing time.

Lucas and I got upgraded to business class because we booked separately from Don. We tried to get our seats back, but we could not. So Lucas and I are enjoying our time in business. I kind of miss the coziness of economy in our whole row, because here there is a seat divider.

Once on the flight the flight attendant came right away to get drinks. I got a mimosa. Lucas got apple juice. Then they took our order for breakfast. We got a smoked salmon plate with fruit. They brought us a hot wet cloth and Lucas was very confused by it. He said “when we get to the airport can you tell Dia everything that happened here”.

He ate all my hard-boiled egg and some of my salmon. I had to take away his butter because he was just eating it plain. The flight was good. Lucas watched ninja turtles. I read and tried to sleep but couldn’t. Lucas took maybe an hour nap.

Lucas and I got off the plane quickly and we got in line to go thru security. The line we were in did not move at all from the time we got in it until we saw Don and my parents. It had to be at least 10 minutes.

They got in the line next to us and Lucas and I attempted to go there but we were told no kids so we had to go back. Don and my parents were done quickly. It took Lucas and I at least 30 minutes. Once we got done there, we looked for our driver from USA transfers. That was pretty easy. It was a good transfer.

Upon arrival we were greeted by a man who took our bags. Then we went inside and checked in. The check-in process was long. It also did not feel like the man wanted to tell us anything. After about 20-30 minutes my parents had a room but ours was not ready. So we went to the buffet.
 
The food was ok. Once we were done eating Lucas, my mom, and I went up to their room and Don and my dad went to check on our room. Mom and dad’s room was nice, but it was a king with a Murphy bed which is what the guy said we had. So we were confused. Also, their luggage wasn’t there yet despite the man telling us it would be there in 5 minutes.
 
Don got our room, and it was also a king with another bed so I guess that’s cool. After getting our rooms Lucas wanted to check out the pool. The pool was nice but there were no towels available. The swim up bar was cool. I am not used to all inclusive, it feels weird just getting a drink with no payment haha. We finally got towels and then we got out to dry off and walk around.

We looked at the beach. Then we decided to check on getting dinner reservations. You need a reservation for pretty much all restaurants for dinner and the website says you can’t book them until you’re here. You have to talk to a person at the desk. Long story short, there’s basically no reservations. We have one reservation for Thursday night at 9 pm and one at 5pm on Friday at the Italian restaurant. The buffet line was so long, but we eventually got in. The food was ok, nothing great. Then we went back to the room for bed.

Bloggings, Travel

Great Wolf Lodge

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It snowed most of the day when we were driving up to Great Wolf Lodge. Luckily the roads were not bad. We got here around 3:30. Our room was ready and we immediately went to the waterpark to meet up with Marty, Kathryn, Julius, Leo, Kasey, Chad, Isaiah and Scarlett. 

We had surprised Lucas with this trip and he also didn’t know we were meeting friends. The kids played a lot and the little kids did the little slides. Kasey, Kathryn, and I did a big slide with a big raft. Then we did a big slide where you just slide down. It was definitely more painful than when we were younger!

We got cleaned up and went to Buffalo Wild Wings. When we got back we walked around with Kasey and her family. We played a game of mini golf. 

The next morning we had breakfast at the buffet. If was pretty good and standard. Then we went to the arcade. We had blast getting tickets. Lucas got a bow and arrow and some parachute men with his tickets. He also played a few claw games and got some little toys. 

Next we checked out Magi Quest. It’s an interactive game where Lucas points his wand at screens around Great Wolf Lodge and completes different tasks. We didn’t do a lot of it. After we came back to the room for a bit. Then we did gemstone mining with Kasey and her family. 

After that we all went to the waterpark again. Don and I did some slides. We got some pizzas. Everyone went back to rest but we stayed. Lucas got brave and did the bigger slides in the kids area. He loved it. Then he did the big raft slide with us. His face was priceless. 

Next we went back to the room and rested a bit. We split up for dinner. We just ate at the restaurant here. It was ok. We did some more Magi Quest. Then we went to the waterpark again with Kasey and her family. Kathryn actually went home because her kids wanted to. 

Sunday was our last day. We went to breakfast and packed up our room. We hung out with Kasey, Chad and the kids for a bit and then we decided to split up. They left but we decided to work on Magi Quest. I was kind of determined to finish it. It was a lot of work! Lots of walking! But we did it. Lucas became a Master Magi.

Great Wolf Lodge was a good time but exhausting!

Bloggings, Family, Reviews - Travel, Travel

New Jersey Family Visit

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We left super early Thursday 10/10. Our flight was at 7 am and we were struggling to get out of house. We had to drive because construction going on in our alley means moving the car a lot, so we didn’t want to leave it here all weekend. 

We got to O’Hare with 30 min before boarding! I was worried our bags wouldn’t make it (they did). We got to the gate with about 20 minutes to spare. There were no places to get food in the United terminal besides a McDonald’s that had about 50 people waiting. United terminal is the worst! We got pre-made sandwiches but no coffee! I needed coffee!

We got on the plane and soon after the pilot told us we were delayed 30 minutes due to mechanics working on the engine. That delay turned into 1.5 hours but at least the plane was fixed, and the flight went well. I got some coffee on the flight.  

We got a Kia Soul to drive and we headed to Don’s mom’s house. We had lunch and hung out. Then we went to watch Raiden and Rayne’s martial arts class. After the class we went to Jonathan’s and the kids played. We ordered Indian and the kids had lasagna. We talked a lot and then went to our hotel around 8:30. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Paramus. It’s nice.

On Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and it was pretty good. Then we made our way to Liberty Park. Lucas has really wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, so we thought, why not? We have never seen the statue from the Jersey side. It was way less crowded—highly recommend! The $25 ferry included Ellis Island and Liberty Island. We skipped Ellis Island this time.  

Lucas was so excited and it was really cute. We looked in the museum which had the old torch. I don’t remember this museum. Lucas was able to answer questions and become a junior park ranger. 

We took a lot of pictures. It was a beautiful day. Lucas said “liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty”. We had lunch at Liberty Cafe. It wasn’t bad, pretty decent. Lucas talked to an impersonator; a man dressed up as one of the architects of the statue. Lucas asked him so many questions and talked to him. The best question was “are you open on Christmas?” the answer was “no but we are open the day before” 

Lucas picked out a little statue and he loves it. After Liberty Island we went to the Liberty Science Museum. Jonathan let us use his members pass so we got in for free. All Lucas wanted to do was dig in the giant sand area for dinosaur bones. I would love to go back to and see more of the museum.

After that we went to Lola’s for a bit before going to meet Khris and Jess out for dinner. We met Khris and Jess near their house. It was a pizza place called Gentle Giant Brewing, and it was pretty good.

On Sunday we went to Chit Chat Diner with Lola. It was good. Then we went over to Jonathan’s. Lucas, Raiden and Rayne played. 

Next, we all went to a pumpkin patch called Abma’s. Some of Raiden’s friends also came. We took a hayride and picked pumpkins. We bought some apples, strawberries, and cookies at the store and then we went to the petting zoo.  

On the way back we picked up a cake to celebrate Lola’s and Lucas’s October birthdays. Wighanda also has an October birthday. Everyone came over to Jonathan’s. The kids ran around. Some of them were not so nice to Lucas at times. But overall, they were all playing.

Lucas was so surprised we got a cake for him and sang. Jonathan made some delicious chicken and food. We did a few fireworks, and we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas.

It was another nice visit with family.  

Bloggings, Family, Travel

Heading Home

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I woke up around 6 even though I tried to sleep until 6:45. We got packed up and had breakfast. The breakfast here at the DoubleTree Hilton in Queensferry was pretty good. We left for the airport around 8:45 and got gas. We dropped my parents off at the aiport with most of the bags and Adeline then we took the cars back to Arnold Clark. It was a very nice and easy return at Arnold Clark.

We made it back to the airport and met back up with my parents. Checking in at Edinburgh airport was pleasant. The woman who helped us check our bags was very nice and even filled out a boarding pass for Lucas. It was super cute. The security was a bit weird and kind of annoying but quick.

The airport was pretty small. We tried a few times to get our seats switched but we were unsuccessful. For lunch we got some sandwiches. Our flight to Newark was a bit delayed but not by much. Lucas asked Don, “Dia, are you excited to see Lola?” He thought since we were going to New Jersey that we would see his Lola. I sat with Lucas on the flight. The woman next to me would not switch so Don could sit by us, but it was ok. Lucas slept a lot, and he even ate the ravioli pasta! There was an incident where he was frustrated with a slide puzzle of Oscar the Grouch that he couldn’t do. One of the United flight attendants gave him a goodie bag and a slide puzzle was one of the toys. My least favorite type of puzzle! Thanks, United!

Once we got into Newark Lucas was excited to see a small replica of the Statue of Liberty. He had to have his picture with it. We got some Shake Shack for dinner and then we boarded our flight to O’Hare. Once we boarded a United flight attendant was passing out goodie bags to all the kids and guess what was in it? Yep, another Oscar the Grouch slide puzzle! When we landed Lucas said, “Mama, are you excited to drive on the right side?”

It was sad to part ways with everyone at the airport, but we were also glad to be back in the states and heading home. Despite its difficulties our first family trip out of the country went pretty well! Scotland was beautiful!

Bloggings, Family, Travel

Flight Canceled!

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We woke up today at 6 am to leave for our flight. Unfortunately, right when I woke up I received a notification from United that our flight had been canceled. This was sort of expected due to the news we found out yesterday about all the flight cancelations and chaos caused by the Microsoft/Crowdstrike incident.

The next couple of hours were spent trying to figure out flights, where to stay, and the car situation. The flights were re-booked for tomorrow. Unfortunately, it is not a direct flight. The flight leaves from Edinburgh tomorrow at 1:50 pm and lands in Newark, New Jersey for a connecting flight to Chicago. We won’t get into Chicago until after 9 pm, so Kelsey, Jared, and Adeline will have to stay another night in a hotel in Chicago. I also couldn’t book seats next to each on these flights tomorrow. Luckily, for each flight there are 2 seats next to each other so someone will be able to sit next to Lucas. In the process of trying to get seats United Airlines charged me $400. I don’t think their app is working appropriately but all of the refunds will have to be dealt with later.

It was easy to book our cars for one more day with Arnold Clark. I’m so glad we reserved cars with them. Their customer service has been outstanding.

Finding a place to stay for all of us tonight was the most challenging thing. Unfortunately, the Holiday Inn we are at right now has no rooms for tonight. Don called around to several places and finally was able to book 3 rooms at a Hilton in Queensferry.

During all this time being spent on our phones and laptops luckily my parents took Lucas and Adeline to breakfast. Once things settled and we were ready to check out Don found what he thought was a farm with a restaurant. It turned out to really just be a restaurant with a shop. The restaurant called Saline Shaw was in a beautiful area in the country with rolling hills. The food here was very good. Lucas had a hot chocolate that had little cows as a design in the foam. He really liked it. He also had a breakdown about not being able to get a blue tractor at the shop. He has been so good on this trip so far I think everyone is just ready to be home.

After the restaurant we tried to go to a sheep farm, but it was really just someone’s house. It was beautiful but not a place we could stop. Then we tried to go to an animal farm, but it was closed until next week.

Nothing we were finding online was panning out, so we decided to go to an Abbey called Culross Abbey. The drive was very pretty but the parking here was crazy! It was a one lane road that people were parked on and also driving either direction. The Abbey was very beautiful. We took a lot of pictures here. We also saw the end of a Scottish Wedding. After the Abbey we stopped at a garden. We had some desserts and Lucas got to play fetch with a dog named Connie.

After the garden we decided to walk down to the town of Culross to look around. Jared and Don took the cars to park in a parking lot. We walked around the town for a bit. Lucas played at a playground. We walked out on the pier. It was starting to get rainy and gloomy so around 4 we decided to go check in to our hotel. Lucas had another tantrum about ice cream on the walk to the car.

Our new hotel was much nicer and more spacious than our place last night. It also has some very nice views of the bridges in Queensferry. We had dinner with my dad at the hotel restaurant. Lucas had calamari, which he loved, and more fish and chips. After dinner Lucas and Don went back to the room and Kelsey came down. We had a beer with my dad.

We ended up using Lucas’s travel cot here that I had brought in case he didn’t have a bed. Everywhere we stayed on the trip had a bed for him except here. He liked sleeping on the floor next to the ceiling to floor window. He said, “it felt like he was camping indoors”. As we were all getting ready for bed Lucas came over to us and whispered, “I want a baby”. It gave us a good laugh. I’m really hoping tomorrow goes well with our travels. Even though today we were supposed to go home, we still had a pretty good bonus day in Scotland.

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