Part 1
Before I begin, let me introduce the principal characters in this adventure. First of all there's me. You all know me. Glynis, 41 year old pregnant lady
Other characters:
Katie - DD 11 years old. First time internationally traveling.
Marina - Dniece 16 years old. First time internationally traveling.
Dorcas (yes that's her name. My parent's named her after one of Shakespeare's lesser known characters) - 42 years old.
Shelley: our cousin
Adam: her oldest son, who stuck with us quite a bit.
Back story:
My cousin, Shelley and her family moved to London 3 years ago for her husband's work. She has been incredibly homesick, and has been begging for family to come visit. My father travels A LOT, and when he saw her home, realized that this would be a golden opportunity for our little group to visit London. My sister and I used to travel with dad, but since marriage and kids, we haven't been able to. At the time we started talking about this trip, it looked like we would be able to travel with the girls, without too much trouble. I had no idea I would end up pregnant!
Dad offered to pay for our airplane tickets as incentive for us to go, but my DH wouldn't hear of it! He's accumulated so many frequent flier miles, he decided to use those for the 4 of us to go. There were some comedies of errors with the tickets, but eventually we got things straightened out, and we were set. Passports were in hand, and we waited for school to get out so we could go. Dad decided that since he wasn't able to buy the plane tickets, he would spring for some shows in London. My dad is a theater man, so this was what he really wanted us to do while there, along with sightsee all day long. He got us tickets to see "Gone With the Wind," "The Lord of the Rings," "Billy Elliot," "The Lion King," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Wicked." Quite a list!
So, on to the trip itself!
Our plane was scheduled to leave SLC at 12:32 a.m. on June 2nd. So, at 8:30 p.m. on June 1st, we all met up at my house so that Alan could drive us up to the airport. It takes about an hour to get there, and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time (no worry there!). My sister also wanted Alan to be with us since he had purchased the tickets, and she was paranoid that something would go wrong. She wanted him there to deal with ticket problems that might arise. Before we left we defined our responsibilities for this trip: I would be in charge of airports, and getting us all up and going in the morning, and Dorcas would be in charge of reading all maps, and getting us where we need to be in London. With that in mind, we headed out for the airport. I've never seen 2 girls more excited than Marina and Katie! They talked a mile a minute about what they expected London to be like. I think Dorcas and I were a bit nervous about being alone without Dad in a foreign country. Never happened before, so we were anxious.
We got to the airport, and Alan helped us get all our luggage situated and we went in to the ticket line. The airport was EMPTY! There was no one in line, and we had ticket agents fighting over who got to help us out. We showed all the documents, and our passports, and we started to fill out the baggage labels. While we did that, Alan worked some magic, and managed to get us upgraded to first class on the leg from SLC to JFK, as well as JFK to Heathrow. We were all so excited! We had to say goodbye to Alan at that point. Katie and I both shed a few tears at that point. I'm blaming mine on the pregnancy.
We all made it through security with no problem, and found our gate. By the time we got there, it was only 10:30, so we had a couple of hours to wait. The girls pulled out their travel journals and began them, I called Alan and the kids to say goodnight, and Dorcas called her family as well. Then we read and people watched until it was time to board.
Marina
Dorcas
Katie
Finally, at about 11:45, they started boarding the plane. We found our seats quickly, given that we were rows 1 and 2. This was a smaller plane, so first class really wasn't that wonderful, other than the individual television monitors and our choice of things to watch. We got settled, and I told Katie that she needed to try to sleep during this leg of the journey, since I wasn't going to let her sleep on the next leg. I really wanted her tired when we landed in London, so we could get jet lag over and done with. She had brought her teddy bear, Taffy, with her, and it was cute to see her holding the bear up to the window, and just being a little girl!
The plane took off on time, and we watched a bit of tv, and then slept until landing at JFK. We actually landed about 45 minutes early, so we felt good about that. We made our way off the plane and located our gate. We had about a 3 hour layover, so we just relaxed. Katie mentioned that her stomach hurt. This worried me! She gets motion sick really easily. So, I gave her a children's Bonine and kept my fingers crossed. Our gate got changed, so we picked up our stuff and trudged through JFK until we found our gate. The Bonine was making Katie sleepy, so I let her sleep while we waited to board the plane. Once on board, we saw what first class really was! Full recliners, fluffy pillows and comforters, lots of leg room! It was really nice. We got settled, and Katie promptly went to sleep. I decided (foolishly, it would turn out) to let her sleep until takeoff. Finally, the plane was boarded, and we were ready for takeoff. I woke Katie up, and we got ourselves ready. We started to takeoff, and I turned to smile at Katie and saw her with her hands over her mouth, and absolutely no color in her face at all!
I frantically looked for an airsick bag in the pouches in front of our seats, but there were none! Apparently, first class patrons don't get airsick! My sister saw what was going on, and handed me an empty baggie. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it open in time, and Katie lost all the contents of her stomach all over herself. I caught the worst of it in her shirt, but she was mortified! She was crying quietly, and I felt so horrible! I got her unbuckled, grabbed the extra shirt out of her backpack, and got her to the bathroom. The stewardesses were upset that we were out of our seats, until they got a good look at Katie. Then they just told us to be careful in the bathroom. They handed me a large plastic bag to put her shirt in, and off we went to clean up. I got Katie out of her shirt, her face, hands, arms, and hair washed as best as I could, and into her new shirt. By the time we got back to our seats the flight personnel had cleaned things up and gotten her a new pillow.
I do have to say, it was a blessing we were in first class with all the room! If we'd been in coach, so many other people would have been affected. Katie was still really embarrassed, though. She just wanted to hide away, but the people sitting around us were so nice. Several stopped by to let her know that there was nothing to be upset about, since it happens to everyone. They gave her mints, gum, pepto bismol, etc. Very nice people!!!
We were served some gingerale, and I cancelled Katie's breakfast. I know her and her vomiting is rarely contained to just one episode. I didn't want anything new in her stomach. She was so upset about that since it was FIRST CLASS! My breakfast was served in real style: cloth draped over the tray table, real silverware, glassware, etc. Very nice! I had ordered steak and eggs, but I felt so badly about Katie not getting to eat, that I couldn't enjoy my food. I ate a couple of bites, and then had them take it away.
Katie and I distracted ourselves by watching some movies. Katie watched "The Water Horse", and I watched "Becoming Jane." Katie had one other sick episode, but this time I was prepared. I had been given a handful of airsick bags, and I just kept them with me (for the rest of the trip!). We both settled in to watch "National Treasure 2" and really enjoyed that! Katie got out her sketchbook and worked on some drawings. I could really tell that she was feeling much better. The airline people kept her supplied with crackers and gingerale, so that was a good thing.
After the second movie ended, they offered us a snack: our choice of a smothered chicken sandwich or a shrimp salad. I decided that Katie and I could share the salad. Good choice. It was HUGE! It also came with some fresh fruit and cheese, and a slice of chocolate cake. Katie ate most of the fruit and a couple of bites of cheese. I devoured the salad, and we both had one bite of the cake and that was it. We both felt better after that! Next, Katie settled in to watch "Hannah Montana", while I read some and listened to music. I didn't figure there was enough time to watch another movie, so that was the best choice for us.
As we descended into Heathrow, I worried about Katie, but she was fine! She was excited to look out the window, even though it was rainy and she really couldn't see anything. We landed without incident, and made our way to the bathroom. Then it was off to passport control. A few questions later and we were through. We picked up our luggage easily, as all 4 suitcases came out together. Our next stop was the Heathrow Connect train station. I was so happy it was easy to find. We purchased 4 round trip tickets so we were set for when we had to leave. At this point, Dorcas and I were very proud of ourselves. We hadn't gotten us or the kids lost once, and we were almost at our destination! We got on the train, and were off to Paddington Station.
As we got off at Paddington, we took a minute to look around, and were thrilled to see Shelley, and her son Adam there to meet us! They helped us with the luggage, and got us to the car. It was a short drive to their home in Maida Vale, where they made us right at home. Katie took a quick shower, and we were all off to bed.
I was really looking for a new idea to bring, but I just can't get my family away from requesting these, flattering I guess but so boring.
Sorry, peanut butter chips! I went back and fixed it. I usually double check to make sure I didn't miss anything or spell anything wrong and I totally missed that. 
