My nerves were shot after a week of "go/no go" warnings from the European air space thanks to the Icelandic volcano. Princess D had been so excited the last two days and had no idea that our trip might have been delayed a few weeks. I made sure we were ready when we got the final "go" from Heathrow Airport and Virgin Atlantic. The night before we left our bags were packed, boarding passes were printed and my daughter was fast asleep. Me? I could barely sleep. My anxiety was running high.
This was Princess D's first flight to England. Ten plus hours on a non-stop flight was gong to be challenging, but thanks to all of the the movies offered on Virgin Atlantic I she was fully entertained. Even more challenging was that it was just her and I traveling with A LOT of luggage.
Both of us did surprisingly well. Princess D ate a good amount of her airplane kid's meal, watched about half of every kids movie they offered and slept about 6 hours (half of them on top of me). The decent was rough for her due to a minor head cold she had come down with the morning we had to fly, but nothing I couldn't handle. I got us unloaded from the plane, through immigration, collected our luggage and got us through customs until we found The Boyfriend and his son who were waiting for us on the other side.
The kids got along, even though both were demanding of The Boyfriend's attention. He has become the human jungle gym with the two of them climbing all over him. The past two days we have been spent getting used to each other as a long distance "family". We have taken the kids swimming and shopping (both activities wearing ALL of us out) and just playing at The Boyfriend's parents house).
I have officially become "Mama" and am learning to juggle Princess D along with a very active, rough & tumble little boy. D is getting used to the Essex (East London) accent and the challenges of a "baby brother".
Today we are off to France for a few day at Disneyland Paris and sightseeing in the city! Princess D can't wait ... and neither can I!
