So we have been home for a week and a half now and things are both starting to settle and beginning to get really busy. We saw some beautiful country in Wales and England (4 national parks including the breacon Beacons which we stayed in and Dartmoor which was the setting for The Hound of the Baskervilles) as well as castles, ruins, and coastlines. The kids were pretty good. I can’t wait until they are old enough to be force-marched across Ireland. But Merlin wants to go to Paris, so I guess France will be the next trip (in 2yrs – once we pay off this one!)

So, my world traveler advice for traveling with children?

1) Don’t attempt things in other countries with your kids that you would not do at home. If you don’t take them to fancy restaurants at home, don’t experiment with it when you get to another country.

2) Keep in mind that everything you love as well as everything that annoys you about your family will be seriously magnified by your complete inability to escape each other when you travel together. Adjust your attitude/reaction time accordingly.

That’s all I can think of really. We took rain boots for the kids which turned out to be a brilliant idea, and I bought a high quality travel thermos that probably saved my sanity (it carried the caffeine, after all.)

We missed Scotland (again!), but my pet theory that the Scots are the nicest people in the world was upheld by a Scotswoman who ran a B&B that we stayed in at Tintagel.

I am still on my post-travel euphoria about Austin. I want to do every touristy and interesting thing there is to do here. I am loving the mild, wet, warm weather and the wildflowers everywhere, and I have made a cd compilation of songs by Texas people. I had to leave a lot of favorites out, and it is decidedly “cowboy poet” in its content, but it is a pretty good CD (actually 2 cds.) If you want one, let me know and I’ll mail out some copies.