Our day in Edinburgh was a little bit meh. Except for these Kelpie statues that Rusty really lovesI think we were coming down from our Glencoe high. We woke up to some pretty bad news about TapInfluence being acquired by Izea. This was a huge blow that came from left field. We had no idea anything was in the works. And, it wasn’t a good acquisition either. Rusty was pretty stunned and really bummed. Me too. It definitely put a damper on our day.

We went up to Edinburgh castle but the lines were super long and r was so crowded we decided seeing it from the outside was good enough for us.

We spent the afternoon walking down the Royal Mile enjoying all the shops and street performers. I love how every city has such a different feel to it. We loved seeing people in their kilts and enjoying all the bagpipes, harps and recorders being played on the streets.

We stopped for the most delicious waffle treat.  We all wanted to order another when we were done!

We planned to hike up to Arthur’s seat but when we saw the vertical distance our legs rebelled. We were still tired from yesterday! So we named our own hike Arthur’s footstool and just climbed one of the little hills in front of Arthur’s Seat. It was another lovely view for me and the pink backpack. She has traveled far with me!

We got stopped on the street by a reporter and Rusty and I got interviews about how we thought President Trump’s visit to the UK would affect US/UK relations.  Maybe we were on Scottish TV!

Our last stop was to a Hairy Coo farm. The cows wander across the mountain and people said with a bit of hiking they were generally easy to find. Blake was about ready to lose it so he and I stayed back and he had a nap in the car. After hiking for quite awhile Rusty and Halle and Josh were pretty disappointed not to come across any of our hairy friends. Right at the end they spotted two from a distance. There was another tourist who was dying for a picture so he climbed over the pasture fence and tried to herd the cattle over toward his girlfriend and Halle and Rusty and Josh. Apparently it was pretty entertaining to watch, but not very effective. But they did see some horses with some pretty wild hair

The flight back to London felt long, even though it was only an hour. I really like the security process at EU airports—it’s generally fast and easy. But then, it seems there is alway a giant shopping center you must walk though. The food shops and chairs are all in this area. When you actually get to your gate you must just stand in line until your plane boards. That stinks! It’s a lot of time in line. The kids liked walking out on the Tarmac to board the plane.

When we arrived back at Stansted we had to sit at our gate forever before they let us off the plane. Then, luggage didn’t arrive for more than 30 min. Come to find out Donald Trump has just flown out of that airport on his way to go golfing in Scotland. London had been protesting all day long.

We hired a driver to take us to our hotel near Heathrow and while we were making the hour journey we tried to check into our flight home. Well….come to find out American Airlines had cancelled our booking! Back in March we received a notice that our leg from Chicago to Denver had been cancelled and rebooked. It all seemed fine. But apparently the airline had also cancelled our Heathrow to Chicago flight and NOT rebooked it. We were in a panic! We were told that nothing could be done and maybe they could get us out on Sunday. Rusty must have spent 2 hours on the phone trying to figure it out. They advised us to show up at the airport in the morning and see if we could catch a flight on a partner airline. I took a shower and when I came out I heard all the kids squealing with laughter. Halle was telling the boys jokes it lift their spirits. It made my heart so happy. They are so lucky to have her as their big sister. She has been so kind and (mostly) patient with them this trip. They adore her.  We said a family prayer that whatever happened that we could arrive home safely, but also that we would really like to be able to fly as we had originally planned.

We woke up at 6am and got to the airport as quick as we could. Rusty took care of the dirty business while I herded the kids and the luggage. We were all a little anxious and nervous. The kids want to get home to their pets! They started playin “I spy” to distract themselves. Halle: I spy with my little eye something blue. Josh: our mood.

Miracle of all miracles, they were able to get us on our original flight. We were all sooooo relieved and felt like our prayer had been answered. So, now we are sitting on an airplane over the Atlantic Ocean and our trip already feels like one long, amazing dream. London, we love you!