Skull Church : York (pictures)

That is every picture I took with my Canon Rebel T3. Brings back so many fun memories! I had a blast at Skull Church York with Penny strapped to my chest!

England vs America

Back when I was living in my bubble and I thought about England, I thought it was going to be exactly like America, but the people had cooler accents and spoke a bit more proper than us Americans.  I still think they have cool accents, and they definitely speak more proper than us. Americans talk loud and shorten anything and everything we can. Think about it, instead of "best friend" it's become "bes fren"...WHY?!? The English are so eloquent, even in the way they ask their friends if they have plans for the weekend (a conversation I overheard and can't get over!!). 

England is not completely different from America, but there were quite a few things that weren't the same.

Here I share some "major" differences I found between England and America.

• We quickly realized that pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way. Traffic comes at you from a different way (because they drive on the opposite side of the road), but that actually wasn't too hard to get used to for me. I look both ways anyway. :) Also, most roads have painted arrows and then the words "look left" or "look right." But you better believe if a car is coming you either need to run to get out of their way, or wait until they pass to start crossing. They also are not afraid to use their horns!

• A huge difference, that was quite embarrassing for me : you do not ask for cream for your coffee/tea. They will look at you like a lunatic. Cream in England was explained to me as a butter-like consistency. If you want what Americans call cream, you just ask for milk. 

• Along the lines of coffee/tea, the biggest size drink cup I came across was 12oz, instead of our 24oz.
  
• If you want water at a restaurant you have to order it. They'll ask if you want still or sparkling. I believe if you order still it's a water bottle and they charge you. If you say "tap" it comes from the faucet and is complimentary (they also never used the word "free").
  
• There was not really any ice anywhere for cold drinks. A couple of restaurants gave a few cubes in tap water. You can't order an iced drink anywhere though.  

• On beds they only have fitted sheets and then a heavy blanket in a duvet cover. 
• I missed my flat sheet and thin blanket!

• They only have one salad dressing choice. It's called salad cream and was described as "almost like thousand island."

• Air conditioning was rare. 

• If you know me at all you know I like very bland food. However; English food is terribly bland. Zach said they don't have hot sauce, you have to bring your own! 

• If you're a traveling parent with an infant/toddler, some of the best advice I got was to not bring a stroller because they have a lot of cobblestone roads and sidewalks which makes for bumpy rides. They also have a lot of stairs to get into the attractions. Also, inside the old buildings there are quite a few stairs, and not everywhere has elevators.
• Carseats : one taxi service had one, the other didn't. We called ahead for both and requested one. The one that didn't provide a car seat charged us 20pounds more (about $40) for liability reasons. The driver said if he were to get pulled over he would get three marks on his license.

• They use military time, Celsius for temperature, pounds & pence for money. One pound is a coin, anything higher was a bill. 

There you have it, the main differences I found that actually affected me while there. :) 

Now I will share a short story from my time in England ::

It was the first day Penelope and I had arrived in London, so we were walking around exploring the city. I had noticed a couple of buildings had security. At one gated and secured street there was quite a large crowd that had formed. I looked around and had no idea what I was looking at. After about five minutes I finally decided to ask a gentleman what this was. He responded, "10 Downing Street." He must have noticed my still confused face. In my head I was thinking, is this some Downton Abbey thing? Do they shoot here? Thank goodness I didn't voice those questions out loud! The gentleman spoke again, "The Prime Minister lives down there. This is what you see on the news all the time, them capturing him entering and exiting his residence." Yeah, I'm an American and we don't have a Prime Minister so I actually have no idea what his role is! I should probably look that up now!

England

This post is going to be an overview of the whole trip, 

but also my opinions on traveling with a 10.5 (almost 11) month old!

Wednesday June 25th
We flew out of Kalispell, MT. Our flight was full so they asked if we wanted to check any luggage for free. Umm, YES!! 
For Zach, Penelope, and I we had :: 1 diaper bag, 2 backpacks, 2 rolling suitcases, 1 duffel bag, Zach's cymbals, and a bag that the church asked us to check full of merch/bibles. We checked the duffel, cymbals and bag for the church. So Zach and I each had a a roller & backpack. Then I had Penny and he carried the diaper bag. But when they asked if we wanted to check any luggage we gladly gave up the rollers! It seriously made everything so much easier! I highly recommend checking any and everything you can when traveling with an infant!
Our first flight was a short 2ish hours to Minneapolis, MN where we got on our long 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands. From Amsterdam we flew 2ish hours and landed in Manchester, England. We then got our rental car (with carseat) and drove 2+ hours to York, England.
Penelope did so wonderful on every flight. Truly. She had about three meltdowns on the way over, but they were extremely short-lived (5 minutes of pretty loud screaming when she woke up from a nightmare was the worst of it). She wasn't a wiggly worm. She remained very satisfied with the few toys I packed and her snacks. She slept for about 5 hours on the long flight. I tried putting on a kid cartoon but she has never sat and watched tv so she sort of giggled, looked at me, then continued playing with her toys. 
One of our flight attendant's from Minneapolis to Amsterdam was so incredibly sweet. She loved Penny and kept checking in on us to make sure we were as comfortable as possible.
For the drive to York we had one of Zach's band mates with us to navigate the gps while Zach drove and Penny and I sat in the back. At home Penelope loves her carseat, and she loves car rides. In England, it was her least favorite thing and she fussed almost the entire time! I felt horrible. We were all exhausted and had to listen to a screaming/crying/fussing/whining baby for an hour and a half!

Thursday June 26th
So by the time we got in the rental car it was actually Thursday in England. I think it was around noon.
When we got to York we went to Calvary Chapel, where we stayed until Monday morning. 
Some people from the church made us a bbq dinner that first night. 
We walked into town and explored a little. 
York is incredible. I fell in love.
I brought my ergo carrier to lug Penny around in. I had read that it's not always a good idea to bring a stroller to England because of cobblestone streets, narrow sidewalks, lots of crowded areas, stairs (lots and lots of stairs), etc. The ergo was honestly the best decision for us. I saw woman struggling with strollers and I just felt bad for them. There were quite a few people in York carrying their babes in carriers, so I felt great about that decision.
We went to bed pretty early. 
Penelope slept through the entire night and woke up around 7am! I could not have been happier!

Friday June 27th
It was set up day for the event. 
The band had run-through. 
I went with Penny and a friend to pass out fliers to invite people to come to the event. We wanted to check out a couple thrift stores, and decided that was a perfect opportunity to invite people along the way.
I am still kicking myself over a missed opportunity. We were standing in line at an atm and a gentleman commented on how neat Penny's carrier was. I agreed and said it was amazing. End of conversation. We walked away. KICKING myself!! Why didn't I say, "hey...something else that's amazing, this event we're throwing just down the road!?" *hand flier* Easy as that, and yet the thought didn't cross my mind until minutes later. I still pray for that gentleman and sincerely hope he already has a personal relationship with Christ, or comes to know Him soon.

Saturday June 28th
The first night of Skull Church York!
Not too many people showed up. 
Only one person came forward to accept Jesus as their Savior. 
But I was NOT discouraged!
If anything it gave me more fuel to really invite anyone and everyone!

Penelope did so great in the carrier with her noise-cancelling head phones. 
I had brought my Canon Rebel T3. So I walked around and took pictures of the band playing. 
Penny woke up nearing the end and started fussing a little, so I took her into an attached room where we hung out with some other kids. 
Once Skull Church was over we went to go to bed while Zach went out on the town.
Penny would NOT go to bed. We ended up playing toys on the floor until about 10:30pm, and then I had enough. She finally went to sleep and woke up two or three times throughout the night. I just let her cry it out. 

Sunday June 29th
We attended church. 
Levi preached an amazing message (might be my favorite to date). 
We hit the town to invite more people and explore some more. 
Second night of Skull Church York!
More people showed up. 
There was a lot more movement from the crowd. (The first night no one moved. They all stood perfectly still. No one sang along with the songs. The second night there was some swaying at least!)
Quite a few went forward for the invitation.
Again, during the end of the night Penny started fussing, so I took her into the other room again.
One of the pastor's daughters made everyone enchiladas, rice & beans. I ate early and then took Penny to go to bed.
Everyone else tore everything down and then went out on the town again. 

Monday June 30th
We woke up at 5:30am and drove Zach to the airport so he could go to Budapest, Hungary. 
Again, Penny had a meltdown in the car. 
Penelope and I then got into a taxi at the airport (that Zach had prearranged) and headed to London.
Another meltdown.
Poor, poor, sweet taxi driver! I'm still thanking you in my heart for your kindness!
We arrived around noon to the hotel. 
Check-in wasn't until 3pm.
It was a brand new hotel (it opened two weeks prior) and was still under construction. 
They hadn't finished building the queen rooms, which is what we had booked. So they downgraded us to a double. The hotel really did everything they could to make us happy from that point forward. They were very sweet and helpful.
Penny and I took those three hours to explore the "big city" a bit. 
Little did I know that within a mile radius from our hotel we could hit almost every attraction that we wanted to see. 
As soon as it was 3pm I was back at the hotel. 
I was so exhausted.
I checked in and went up to our room.
Tiny. 
Tiny may not even explain it well enough. 
It was a 7' by 15' rectangle with a bed, wall mounted tv, and a bathroom with stand-up shower. Oh yeah, and we had to throw in a play-pen for Penny to sleep in. 
There was literally no room to move. We sat on the bed and I made her roll and crawl a bit. She had been strapped down in a carrier and carseat for so long, I felt horrible she couldn't move around. 
We went to bed around 8pm (very normal for Penny) and then it was meltdown after meltdown. The child would NOT sleep. At one point I started hysterically crying. I had no idea how to calm her down, NOTHING (and I mean nothing) was working. I had reached my breaking point and had no one to pass her off to. I prayed, harder than I ever have before. 
It took a lot, but she finally passed out and slept solid from 2am-6am. Then I fed her and she fell back asleep until 8am. 

Tuesday July 1st
I woke up in a horrible mood. The kind of horrible mood that nothing can shake. 
I was slow to get ready. 
I was slow to leave the hotel.
I was slow to walk to a coffee shop and get free wifi. (The hotel wifi hadn't been working.)
I looked up places to go and decided on Buckingham Palace and the park nearby. 
We took our time meandering down the mile or so it took to get to the Palace. 
I wandered aimlessly. I had no idea where to go. I had no motivation. I just wanted space. I wanted time to myself. I was done carrying around my 15lb peanut. The child was on my nerves. 
Later on in the late afternoon, as I was praying for Budapest, I had an "aha" moment. 
Nicole, what are you doing!? You're in London. A place you've always wanted to visit. And you're having a pity party. A nasty, no good, selfish, pity party. KNOCK IT OFF! 
I realized that Penelope is just a baby and she was going through a lot. She can't help that she's teething, in a foreign country, dealing with hay fever, and not sleeping well. She was just an innocent child who needed her momma.
We walked to dinner and had a fabulous time. 
That night was another no-sleep, meltdown kind of night. But I just prayed and did everything I could to calm her. 

Wednesday July 2nd
DADDA MET US IN LONDON!
Zach was running on little to no sleep, so we had a super mellow day with a nice long nap and early bedtime.
We walked down to Trafalgar Square. There were a few vans parked in the square, lots of people waiting to see who was coming out, paparazzi, etc. So I decided to get my camera ready. Out walks Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He was promoting Hercules. 
We continued walking down to Big Ben area.  
We went into Westminster Abbey and that was beyond amazing! 
It's one thing to see pictures, it is a completely different thing to experience the places for yourself. 

Thursday July 3rd
When we were researching for our trip we found The London Pass. 
Anyone going to London and planning on going into more than one "attraction," buy the London Pass! So worth it!
We started the morning with a river boat cruise down the Thames. We got on the boat at Westminster/Big Ben/London Eye and ended at Tower Bridge/Tower of London. 
AMAZING! 
Maybe it was just the fact that we weren't walking, but it may be my favorite part of our London experience. :)
After the river tour we went into Tower of London, also amazing! 
Then we went to the British Museum, guess what?! Amazing!
We took my first tube ride. Can you say hot and sweaty?! 
We ended at Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace, do I even have to say it?! Amazing! ;)

Friday July 4th
So incredibly strange to not be at home celebrating our country's freedom! 
Independence Day is my favorite holiday. Time spent with friends/family, bbq, lake, fireworks, it doesn't get much better!
At this point we felt like we had seen everything we wanted to see. 
We were sore from walking so much. 
We sort of wished we would have only spent one day doing the London attractions and stayed somewhere in the countryside the rest of the time. 
We felt that after you saw the attractions it was just like any big city.
Penelope had been attached to me 24/7 so I was overwhelmed with all of the crowds. Too many people everywhere you turn. 
We decided to take the tube to Harrod's to get pastries. 
Umm, that store is unreal!
So large, and beautiful, and expensive!
After we settled on a cheese biscuit, pretzel and cupcake we walked to Hyde Park to have a picnic and relax.
Then we walked through Wellington Arch and down to Buckingham Palace for Zach to see.
We relaxed in St. Jame's Park for a while then had an early dinner and went to bed early again.

Saturday July 5th
Our taxi picked us up at 6:30am and took us to Heathrow Airport.
We flew out at 10:30am and had a pretty great flight to JFK.
One of the flight attendant's came up to us at the end of the flight and said, "I just had to tell you guys that you have the most well-behaved child I've ever seen. She was so wonderful." I thought that was so incredibly nice of him to say. I'm sure flight attendant's have some crazy stories about children on planes. His comment made me cry. I was overwhelmed with all of the traveling and any whimper Penny made I would just hope she wasn't bugging anyone around us. So to hear he thought she was well-behaved made my day.
At JFK we had to go through customs. 
The line was insanely long. 
They checked our passports, good to go. 
Had to grab all of our luggage to go through customs. Got into another long line for that.
Then they herded us like cattle with all of our luggage to re-check it. A security/police gentleman kept yelling and being so rude telling people to keep moving. 
A very nice gentleman said, "you just put your luggage here, you have a baby." So we were able to drop our luggage way before everyone else and didn't have to stand at the counter line to re-check it. (There are a few perks to flying with infants/toddlers. ;))
Then we had to get into the security line. 
It was SO HOT in that area, and there were SO many people waiting. 
As we were weaving through I overheard the ladies who were checking boarding passes say, "ONE at a time. Don't hand me them all at the same time."
So I gave Zach the heads up. 
Finally our turn.
Zach hands over the first boarding pass & passport. It's Penelope's. 
The lady says, "this isn't a boarding pass." 
Zach, "ok? That's what we've been using every single time. There's never been an issue."
L : "It says coupon. It says coupon right there."
Z : "Ok, can you tell me where I need to go then to get her a boarding pass."
L : Silence. Continues checking our documents.
I'm freaking out in my head. Are you kidding me?! We've used these printed things every single time. No one else had a problem with them.
Finally, the lady says, "see on her boarding pass (mine) it says "infant in arms," that's all you need." Hands everything back and motions us to move along.
I was FURIOUS! 
Why did she give us such a hard time?! Why was she so unnecessarily rude?! Why was she adding stress that didn't need to happen?! She could have said, one of the adult passes needs to say infant in arms, instead of staying silent.
I told Zach "if someone doesn't like dealing with the general public, if they don't like people, they probably shouldn't work in customer service, or where you deal with thousands of people every day." 

Zach said, "welcome to New York." 
I said, "it shouldn't be like that. They don't have to be so rude!"
Now that being said, I don't think that all New Yorkers are so rough and rude. But the few that I ran into were very short of pleasant. I would still like to visit some day though.
We found our gate and lucked out on finding a couple seats in the waiting area. 
There were three planes boarding at our gate, it was mayhem!
Finally we got on the plane and got settled. Penny was ready for a nap so she was a bit fussy. I was trying to wait to feed her but that was not going to happen. She passed out.
The plane still hadn't left the gate. 
The pilot got on the intercom and explained that the plane had gotten stuck in some ruts and because there was a lot of weight we were unable to get out. 
We sat there for an hour. People were getting antsy and upset. 
FINALLY a large something came and rocked us out of the ruts. 
Thankfully we made our connecting flight in Minneapolis and were headed to Kalispell. 
As we flew into the Valley the sun was setting and the mountains looked so insanely beautiful. 
My goodness it was good to be home!
It was 10:30pm so we went straight to bed.

Home Again
It has been an interesting adjustment for Penelope and myself. 
She wakes up around 6-6:30 every morning (instead of the usual 8pm bedtime and 8am wake up). But she also wakes up every two hours throughout the night and whimpers & talks to herself but moans herself back to sleep fairly quickly. 
I'm trying to keep a strict schedule/routine to get us back into the groove of things, but summer life in MT is what we live for. So it's a lot of late nights and not being at home for naps during the days. 
We are making it though, and are really just enjoying being home. And I can't complain about all of the amazing sunrises I've witnessed.  

Montana you have my heart. Your beauty. Your people. I couldn't ask for a better home. 

After it was all said and done Zach and I decided that it's not worth it for us to travel overseas with an infant/toddler unless necessary. 

• Zach felt bad for leaving us at night to go explore and hang out late. 
• I was bummed to have missed out on all the nighttime shenanigans. 
• It was a hassle to try and maintain a somewhat normal routine of nap time, eating, etc. 
• Carrying a child around (even though she's light) adds up to a lot of sore/achy muscles.
• Because it was an international trip we had to pay almost $400 for Penny to fly (even though she sat on my lap the entire time). 
• Because we were exploring a lot Penny got used to me holding her often and we're now dealing with more attachment issues. (We were already trying to break some habits before we left.)
• Finding food that Penny could eat was not as easy as I thought it was going to be, so I ended up breastfeeding her way more than I had been. (She was down to two times a day. While there she was eating about 6 times a day with normal food on top of it.) I'm now trying to ween her again.
• Traveling can already be stressful, and then having to add extra patience for a little one can be tough.
  
  I will say though, Penelope was probably the best 10.5/11 month old to bring on such a trip. She is easy going, mellow, and well behaved. Her meltdowns really are nothing compared to most children's I've witnessed. She did excellent and I'm very proud of her.
  
  Also, I have extreme respect for every parent that has traveled, does travel, or is going to travel with a child or children. Seriously, super heroes! Parenting is a tough gig. Parenting while traveling, well, you're just flat out amazing!

I don't write this to discourage any parent planning on traveling with their child(ren). 

This was solely my experience and my opinions. 

If/when you do travel with your child(ren) hopefully this better prepares you so you know to expect the worst and anything better will have you feeling awesome. :)

All in all it was an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

I learned a lot about Penelope and myself. 

I had fun exploring new places, and am so thankful for everything we did and saw.