Sophia and Elannah Go to the United Kindgom (Duckface Edition)

Sophia and Elannah have been visiting their aunts, uncles, and cousins in England and Wales for the last two weeks, or fortnight. No shooting involved (game reference) and, in fact, you can't even carry a knife around in that part of the world (political reference).

I lack Instagram wits, meaning that I forget Instagram exists, can't remember the password for the account I set up long ago in order to do research for my content writing, and don't care enough to look at it. I'm sure they've been posting plenty of supercute pics to their Instas (or is it cooler to call it IG?), but I'll post the ones they've sent me on WhatsApp. There are a lot of duck faces going on. I am praying they are duckfacing only in an ironic fashion; otherwise, I've failed as a mother.

Duckfacing in the Nottingham Caves

Duckfacing in the car whilst traveling on the left side of the road

 

Not duckfacing whilst shopping in the town centre, bless their cotton socks

A town cathedral. Bath? Devizes? Nottingham? Not sure. They don't feel it necessary to explain their pictures

Sophia on the porch of a manor somewhere near Nottingham

You can tell Elannah was taking these photos and laughing so hard she almost couldn't stand up

The girls didn't get to London (not sorry about that, honestly), but they have seen a lot of southwest England (where Husband's sister and her family live in Devizes), including Bath; Cardiff and Pencoed in Wales, where Husband grew up (they even got to see the house he grew up in!); and the Midlands, including Nottingham and Bradford (where one of Husband's brothers lives with his family). They desperately wanted to see a West End play, but we really didn't want them traveling into London to see one. It so happened that the West End production of Les Miserables was touring the country, so when they went up to Nottingham to see that uncle and his family, they headed further up north to Bradford one afternoon to see a matinee. They loved it, of course.

They've seen Stonehenge, the Avebury circle (a cheaper, less dramatic stone circle), castles, the ocean, chip shops, kebab shops, lots and lots of town centres for shopping, and they've climbed up to the Westbury White Horse. They've also been able to hang out with aunts and uncles and cousins, of course. One of their cousins recently got his mission call to South Africa, and because he and the girls are such good friends, it was great that they got to see him before he leaves in September.

From what I understand, the girls are paying the cost to bring home an extra suitcase which they are filling entirely with chocolate and other British treats. I think they've spent a lot of money on British chocolate, which is so expensive here and so cheap there. Plus, they're bringing home flying saucers (styrofoam-y discs filled with a powder that turns creamy in your mouth), Parma Violets (my favorite favourite), and sherbet fountains (Husband's favorite). Also Monster Munch crisps (pickled onion flavor), prawn-flavored Skips (another type of crisp) and Battenberg cakes (Elannah's favorite).

They're exhausted. I've spoken to Elannah several times on face-to-face calls, and she's homesick even though she's having a great time. They're happy they got to go, but they're happy to come home, too. I told her it's like traveling to another dimension, where things are familiar but different enough that you just can't quite get comfortable. Also, jet lag. She agreed. She has revised her desire to get some sort of job that requires her to travel all the time. Turns out she's really a homebody.

Aren't we all, really? Don't we all crave some place of grounding, a place where you feel truly relaxed and comfortable?

I'm missing them. We're all missing them. But they'll be home tomorrow night, late, and the dog will probably pee himself with happiness when they walk through the door.