Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Adam has been back in England off and on since September so when Kayla said she was going to fly over to see him in February I jokingly said I would join her to help her on the flight. Somehow that joke turned into reality and on Wednesday we took flight with 5 kids ages 1,3,5,7 and 9 from Halifax to London.

We all piled in the van Tuesday morning so that Jacob could drive us to the airport. We had originally hoped he would be able to join us for at least part of the trip, but that hasn’t worked out. With three kids in the third row, two kids and Kayla in the middle, Jacob and I up front we hit the road. We managed to make it to Halifax with only one short pit stop without any major meltdowns – rather impressive if you ask me. We grabbed a quick bite at Jack Astor’s and then let the kids burn some energy at hop!skip!jump! Before we settled into the airport hotel for the night.

Jacob dropped us at the airport Wednesday morning and Kayla and I set out with the kiddos. We killed a couple of hours with the kids running around the airport and then boarded a very empty (thank goodness) flight. The kids all did really well on the 6 hour journey, turns out all that travel training has paid off. Kayla and I mostly kept our cool. We travelled carry-on only so managing the bags was a little bit hectic. Seems worth the hassle since Air Canada managed to lose 1 of the 2 pieces of the stroller that we gate checked. After we cleared security and walked the 3,000 miles across Heathrow airport we almost literally ran right into Adam. Ev and Archer were especially glad to track down Dad.

We grabbed a quick supper and checked in to our airport hotel for the night. The kids were a bit loopy after a day of travelling so we after quickly discovering why late night cable tv is not a good idea, we played a game of Clue and went to sleep.

Thursday was a jam-packed day of travel – but the kids held up pretty well. It was a rough wake up but they managed to pull it together and get to the underground to make our way towards King’s Cross. We somehow ended up missing out train by 2 minutes but it gave us enough time to check out Platform 9 ¾ and grab some lunch before boarding the next train.

We made it to our house for the next week in time for supper and a movie before everyone crashed hard for the night. Everyone is looking forward to a non-travel day tomorrow.