On the bus ride back home, thought about what an imperfect mother I am to let Arienna's urine dry on my and her clothing, but then decided to forget about it and enjoy the vast fields of glowing yellow flowers blanketing the English countryside, and made up my mind that I now know why they call the Northeastern part of the U.S. New England. There was something very familiar and homey about driving through rural England. Nothing really stood out, except Stonehenge of course, but the rolling hills and clumps of trees did remind me of growing up in New England, so the name makes sense!
Big Ben and Tower Bridge are of course portrayed in Peter Pan and the Tinkerbell movies, so that made those landmarks relevant to the girls. Love seeing things through their eyes! Flashback to our late night taxi ride to our hotel, where we passed Big Ben and Parliament, the London Eye, and the Tower of London, while our kids took turns hanging their heads out the window, and our taxi driver was FRIENDLY! I used to feel that the British were reserved and not very outgoing, until we lived in Norway for three years. Now I find the English politeness and chattiness absolutely refreshing. So our taxi driver narrated our drive as if he were our tour guide, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
At the Tower of London, Nilson waited in line for us to enter the vault where the crown jewels are displayed, and meanwhile the girls were restless and started playing with stones that were at the base of an oak tree. We paid an entrance fee so they could play with rocks, great! They could not have cared less about the ravens or other castle-y rooms we could have explored, but they sure enough loved checking out the crown jewels. Those were some rocks worth seeing! Trying to explain to them though, this is the biggest diamond you'll EVER see in your life! They did express amazement, but I think they just liked the sparkles and pretty colors! Of course they were hoping we'd buy them one of those! We got back on the conveyer belt to look at the crowns again. Arienna on the other hand just wanted to be let lose. She finally got to take a little stroll inside a small castle room while we waited for the others to get ice cream.
We ended up getting ice cream outside the castle instead. Dripped red raspberry popsicle on shirts that they had to wear the rest of the day. Played with a little girl who didn't speak English, who was trying to boss them around, but they wouldn't let her, with Tower Bridge in the background. Weather was some of the hottest temperatures London ever sees, and totally untypical of April. We didn't bring shorts, so the girls had to roll up their pants for ventilation. We took some great photos in front of Big Ben at dusk, each girl posing for their picture, except Evelyn was in a bad mood, so some of her photos came out with adorable grumpy faces. Adorable only after the fact, of course!
While waiting in front of the London Eye ferris wheel, we were right next to a Middle Eastern family that was also waiting, and seemed to also have four little girls. I tried to make a comment to the mom, but she didn't speak English, so we just smiled and pointed, and I think it got across that between their family and ours, we sure had a lot of girls! We rode on the London Eye at sundown, and it was the perfect time. Eliana took some great photos from there and also earlier on our boat ride on the Thames. Boats never fail to be fun for kids. And a nice chance to sit and relax for mom and dad.
I almost lost my mind due to my constant state of trying to be aware of where all four girls were at all times. The underground train was totally nerve-wracking to me. I held onto their hands so tight. But they were very good at "minding the gap", jumping into the train when we said, "GO!" and even holding onto the bars if there was no room to sit. Couldn't ask for more adventuresome, happy-traveling troopers! Although there was still plenty of crying and tired legs throughout the trip, and massive half-hour meltdowns about things like, heaven forbid, not letting Alyssa get down from the bus seat without my help, for example.
The Museum of Natural History was a huge hit with the girls. They had an awesome dinosaur display, where they could touch dinosaur fossils, and even a meteorite. They stopped at every single display, and I went nuts trying to keep track of them, but they were having a blast. We took a photo with a life-size model of a blue whale, much bigger than a bus, and yes, it made even me look small, thank you very much, and we also saw their bones hanging from the ceiling. We went into a butterfly tent, where Eliana was illegally catching butterflies left and right. Not grabbing them, of course, but putting her finger under their legs. That was probably their highlight of London.
By day four, I was totally fried, and had to agree with Nilson that we would handle two kids each at any given time, and I would stop driving myself insane trying to keep my eyes on four kids. About to go totally cross-eyed. At least between two parents we do have four hands. I had to make a conscious decision to settle down. The train ride from London directly to Disney, going under the English Channel, was actually enjoyable, except for the toddler nearby who cried every time her mom didn't put her down and let her just start wandering away, how dare she? That was pretty much the whole trip. She must have been delightful at Disney, ha ha! Okay, I'll be quiet, my kids aren't perfect either.
Disney Paris at Easter time was, well, crowded... full of people with kids, who didn't seem to care at all that everyone else was there with kids too, and would cut and push in line whenever they had the opportunity, even if that meant knocking your kids around a little. I don't know how many times I had to tell my kids, yes, I know, it wasn't nice that they didn't stop and say sorry, some people are just not nice. And let's not talk about the short bus ride between our hotel and Disney. Those of you who know Nilson can picture the Venezuelan in him rising up and taking over! And since our kids have been raised in Norway for the past three years, well, they held their own! If there were any seats left to be claimed on the bus, they found them in a jiffy. One time we were treated to the sight of an elderly lady standing up from her wheelchair to get on the bus, only to be knocked backwards by someone rudely pushing onto the bus. She was caught by her family members, but once she got into the bus, I got to hear her telling that guy, "You shut your mouth, young man!" Which is elderly-speak for a much more colorful choice of words, I'm sure! Once again, gotta love the polite British.
I can now proudly, or perhaps insanely say, we have reached the top of the Eiffel Tower with four children ages 6 and under. Oh, and I knocked poor Arienna's head on the top of the elevator door, as onlookers gasped, while trying to get her off my shoulders as she was throwing a fit. More reflections about my imperfect mothering. Eliana had some appreciation that we were at the REAL Eiffel Tower. More importantly, though, they each had to get a colored Eiffel Tower souvenir. And it was much more entertaining to them to watch the gold-painted man at the base of the tower who was waiting for coins to be tossed into his bucket. Yes, that's right, a leaf-covered, gold-painted man, holding a golden leafy stick that made crazy squeaky noises whenever you gave him a coin... HUH? But the girls totally loved it. And they loved that their hands were golden after shaking his hand, and that he put some gold dust on their noses. Bizarre, but to them, awesome. They even shared some gold dust with Arienna. That is the sum total of sight-seeing in Paris that we felt we could handle with four munchkins!
So we headed back to Disney, and the long, pushy lines. The girls didn't seem to care about the long waits at all. It's just the parents who would prefer a hard punch in the face. It didn't matter to them that we waited an hour and half for two minutes with Rapunzel. Evelyn told me with great disappointment last night, while watching the movie, "Of course I forgot to give Rapunzel a flower!" Eliana asked me if Rapunzel's hair glows in real life. I'm a very literal person I guess, and I have so much trouble answering those questions! Nilson's like, for crying out loud, just say yes! Stop being a dream smasher!
The birthday lunch at Cinderella's cottage with princesses was simply magical, and the attention to service and friendliness was welcome even to us old adults, in the midst of the European Disney madness. Guess they darn well had to give some good service for those prices! Arienna fell completely in love with the human-sized mice at Cinderella's place. She would see them across the room and start screeching with excitement. Then, when one mouse made it over to her high chair to hug her and make silent "she's so cute" gestures by clasping her mousy hands together, then Arienna would spot the other mouse across the room and start screeching for her to come too! She wanted them both at once.
Princess Belle and the Beast (but only after he became a handsome Prince, to Eliana's great disappointment) came by to autograph the girls' books, and the Beast commented to Evelyn, "Shall I sign with the pink pencil?" And Belle said, "Pink, like a princess!" And with a stifled chuckle the Beast said, "That's always been my motto!" I got quite a giggle out of that one. I loved how the girls would run up to Ariel to get her autograph and hug her, and poor Prince Eric was right there, looking plasticly handsome, trying to add his unsolicited autograph as well.
Nilson and I first traveled to Europe ten years ago, including visits to Paris and London and a train ride under the Channel, still newlyweds after two years of marriage. Now, ten years later, we visit those places again together, only with four extra little people in tow. A very different experience of Europe, indeed. Perhaps many would think we are completely bonkers for attempting such trips with four small girls who will barely remember, if at all. But we wouldn't have it any other way. We love our almost fool-hardy determination to be adventurous, even as our family grows, and though we are getting older, we don't intend to get old and boring anytime soon. Do we enjoy every second of it? Um, no, it's tiring, emotionally draining, and frustrating. We come home and collapse. And please, do not ask if I've caught up with the laundry yet, that's depressing! But it's also wonderful, and we know we are blessed beyond anything we could have ever earned. Our thanks go Up for everything.
