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Monday, March 14, 2016

Harrogate Reunion Trip

Nearly a year ago my family planned a vacation to Mexico. It was going to be a week of relaxing on the beach drinking pina coladas while my parents and sister played with Zahara. Dan and I planned a special kid-free lunch at a restaurant nestled in a jungle only accessible by boat. Sounds lovely, right? Sadly, it didn't quite work out that way. Due to Zika virus, I had to cancel my trip to Mexico. Rather than sit at home and mourn my lost vacation, I truly made lemonade out of lemons by planning a trip to Harrogate!

Baby's first plane ride: 18 weeks pregnant

It's been a year and a half since I'd seen my friends back in England and I missed them terribly. If not for this unexpected bonus trip, I honestly don't know the next time I would be able to see them all. I feel so lucky that this all worked out as it did.

I've mentioned the yoga mums before, but I really can't say enough about these girls. A group of eight of us have been friends since our kids were in utero. I have literally watched their kids--who are mere days apart from Zahara--grow up. Thanks to the power of technology, we've been able to keep in nearly-daily contact. Because of that, from the moment I arrived it was like nothing had changed. Except for the two new babies and three new bumps, of course!


The second I mentioned my plans to come to Harrogate, I felt an outpouring of love that literally brought me to tears. People were fighting over who would host me! Can you imagine? We mapped out the days so that I would get to spend the most time with the most people. Basically, it involved talking, eating, and watching the kids play. It was heaven. Here are some of the highlights:

The Kids
These kids! I cannot believe how big they are. I realize that my own daughter is exactly the same age, but my last in-person memory of these kids is from before they could walk or talk. Now they are little people with amazing personalities and imaginations.


Betty's
Betty's is one of my all-time favorite spots in the world. There is just something about their tea that can make everything right. I crave their scones, and I've never seen Welsh rarebit done anywhere like it's done at Betty's. I love this place so much that I went there four times in my six days!


Cream Tea!



Welsh Rarebit

Friends
The real highlight of the trip was spending time with my friends.

Ripley with yoga mums

Royal Bath Chinese

Betty's with Becky and Chloe

The yoga mums put together a little "mummy shower" for me on my last night. We had virgin mojitos, had a fantastic dinner, and played fun games.



In addition to my yoga mum friends, I also saw some good friends from other circles. I spent a wonderful Sabbath dinner in Leeds and got to see my friends and their one-week-old baby! 


I have several American friends who still live in England (though many are moving back this summer, yay!). Tom offered to make his world-famous cinnamon buns and have the whole group over. Sadly I was having too good of a time to take many pictures.



Well,this turned in to a novel. I think it's clear though that I have the best friends in the world. I can't wait until our next reunion!

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