We’re on our way to England. It’s kind of funny how we’re celebrating Independence Day by going to England. Most of you know, Tanuj and Claire are getting married in Brighton. Right now we’re on our way to Detroit. We have a long trip ahead of us. So far, M has been good. She had a little screaming fit because she was tired, but didn’t want to take a nap. (What else is new?!) Now she’s sleeping on T’s lap.

Getting ready for the trip was a little overwhelming. Usually when we travel I take care of myself and T takes care of himself. This time, I took care of all three of us. There were so many little details: diapers, baby food, confirmations for hotels that I didn’t even book, and new things like how do we get the cheeky monkey on the freaking car seat?!

With all the little details to worry about, I didn’t really think much about the big things. You know, everything on the news. All the stuff that no one wants to bring up in a conversation with me because they don’t want me to freak out. I’m not really freaked out, though. The first time I visited London was in January of 1991. I was taking a drama class. On a long weekend visit to Ireland, the US went to war. It was kind of freaky listening to the CNN guys describe the war live while we were floating on a ferry between two countries.

So here I go again. I should be nervous, but I’m not. Maybe it has something to do with getting on the MARC train and going back to work on September 12th. I just keep going on with life. Only this time, I hope I packed enough diapers.

I’m going through all of the wedding photos so I can send them to Claire’s sister, Laura, but I keep getting distracted by all of the little movies I took. This one is of Bella dancing with Craig, Laura’s son. I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since we were in Brighton!

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we had on our vacation to London. I think it was one of my favorite vacations ever. I can’t believe I almost didn’t go. All of the money we spent to super-duper expedite Bella’s passport was totally worth it.

I was pretty good about writing while away, but it’s mostly stream of consciousness stuff. I’m hoping to convert most of it to blog entries in the next few days. After I get over my jet lag, which so far hasn’t been all that bad, and after I download all of our pictures from T’s laptop. A few random thoughts:

Things I missed while on vacation:

Things I didn’t miss while on vacation:

Other random thoughts:

A final note:

This is more for those who are thinking of having a baby or who are already pregnant. Many people may tell you that your life is about to change forever. Most will say this in an ominous tone. Some will tell you to enjoy all of your favorite “couple” things before the baby comes because you won’t be able to do them anymore. Others will tell you that you won’t be able to jet off for a last minute vacation like you used to do.

I am telling you that yes, your life is about to change forever, but not like they imply. Life is about to get more fun and exciting than ever before. You can do pretty much anything with a child that you want to do, and it will probably be more fun than anything you ever did as “just a couple.” In an entire week there was only one thing that we couldn’t do because of Bella: watch F1 in a pub in Brighton. (Pubs in Brighton are “gay and straight friendly” but “child free zones.” We watched it in our hotel bar instead.) That’s not bad for a week-long european vacation!