england

After a whirlwind 13 days in the UK , we’re back in Texas and only slightly jetlagged (well, I wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for Isla’s 4:30am wake-up hollers across the house for cereal!). We landed in Manchester, then drove north 2.5 hours to Grasmere in the Lake District of England (most gorgeous place ever, seriously). We were there for two days, getting a royal tour from the Eskridges, who vacation there every year, then drove further north for 2.5 hours to Glasgow, where I have aunts/uncle, cousins, my grandmother and some of our very best friends. We were there for three days, then headed to Aberdeen, which was a similar drive, but towards the eastern coast. I was born in Aberdeen and grew up in a village called Catterline, which is about 20-25 minutes away from Aberdeen. We spent time with dear friends and their gorgeous children there, then I got to act as a tour guide and showed Sasha and the girls where the house I first came home to and the one I remember vividly living in as a young girl. We drove by my old school, park, etc. It was such a special day. After our tour, we drove 2.5 hours north-west to Inverness, where my sister, Jill, was getting married. We stayed in houses at Achnagairn Estate, which was nice to be able to see everyone in the communal kitchen, living room, etc. We went to Loch Ness (no Nessie sightings!), Urquhart Castle and the Botanical Gardens while we were in Inverness, but the majority of that portion of the trip was for family time and of course, the wedding! We had the rehearsal on Wednesday and the wedding on Thursday – everything went off without a hitch. It was truly a dream wedding. Jill looked like a princess, and Kevin, a prince (Harry and Meghan!). The food was amazing, the castle was magical and the dancing was unmatched. On Friday, we drove due south for 7.5 hours, which didn’t feel awful, given that we’ve done the 16 hour drive to Colorado multiple times. It was a dream trip. I loved spending time with our family and close friends, most especially my Granny Jill, whom the girls call GG and truly love so much. Isla never wanted to leave her side, and Emi followed her around yelling, “GG! GG! GG!”. I want to go back and do it all over again tomorrow – not just so we can eat Indian food every other meal. As for now, I’ll relive each moment through the hundreds of photos I’m sharing below!

Just missing my dad for this to be my favorite-men-in-the-world photo!

If you’ve been following Snapshots and My Thoughts for any length of time now, you’ll now that I love to travel. I have an extensive list of places I’m dying to go and visit – Sasha tells me that I “need to pump my breaks,” because I’m already planning an international trip for us three in December, and he thinks it’s a bad idea to take a 6 month old out of the country. We’ll see! I am not a list-checker when I travel, but there are some iconic landmarks I’m dying to see – see below. Have you been to any of these? If so, I will be asking for advice on what to do and see. Machu Picchu is probably at the top of that list! I’ve been very fortunate and have ticked-off quite a few of my ‘to-sees’ in the last few years (pictures below). Of all these places, Sydney, Istanbul and Paris were definitely my favorites.

As the adage goes, ‘not all who wander are lost…‘

Great Wall of China

Beijing, China

Machu Picchu

Peru

Cristo Redentor

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Giza Pyramid and Great Sphinx

Cairo, Egypt

St. Basil’s Cathedral

Moscow, Russia

Taj Mahal

Agra, India

The Colosseum

Rome, Italy

Stonehenge

Wiltshire, England

Petra

Jordan

Milford Sound

New Zealand

Newgrange

Dublin, Ireland

Some iconic landmarks that I have visited – and would love to see again! These travels have taken place mainly over the past 6 years – I don’t have many older pictures on my computer. I would love to give suggestions on any of these places if you’re traveling there!

Table Mountain

Cape Town, South Africa