Brighton

When we moved, we intended to cram as much Europe into our lives as possible. Our first step was to learn our neighborhood. And we're old pros around here now. Then, we spent some time getting to know London in general - and while I wouldn't say we're pros, I think we've seen quite a bit of the city considering we're always weighed down by a huge stroller and diaper bag no matter where we go. And then we wanted to branch out to more of Europe, and we got ourselves to Paris. Yep, it was a crazy trip, but we're so proud of it.

So, I'm pleased to say that now, we've done a trip outside of the city, but still within England and man, did we have a good time.

On Saturday morning, we headed to Brighton. It took only one hour to get there on a rather empty and lovely train. We had waited until the very last minute (Friday night!) to make a hotel reservation so were a bit worried about what we would find, but were absolutely thrilled to enter a lovely hotel in the marina with a great lobby and friendly staff to our kids. We dropped our luggage at the front desk (after diaper changes, reorganizing the diaper bag and Chloe playing with strangers) and jumped on a bus to the beach. 

I had read that the beach was pebbles, not sand, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Or for Chloe and Rowan to love it either. But, it turns out, the beach was made of fist sized round rocks, which were actually soft and warm. And they didn't stuck all over us like sand would have. Rowan loved to pick up handfuls of the little ones and drop them, and Chloe loved taking the big ones and flinging them into the ocean. She has a wicked side arm.

I actually teared up sitting on the shore of the sea with Chloe, because out of nowhere, as the tide pulled away from the shore, and the rocks gently bumped into each other, I realized that our kids have an opportunity to see things they never could have without this move. Maybe they won't remember it, but perhaps it won't surprise them to know that rocks can whisper and that places like this exist.

After spending an hour on the beach, we walked down the very long boardwalk, watching the merry go rounds, peeking in little shops in search of Mike and my red car (what we get on each trip we go on) and stopping all along the way to see the amazing beach. 

After walking awhile, we came to a huge outdoor bar on the water with a live band - and there is nothing Chloe likes better than live music - so we settled in, ordered fish and chips and beer, and listened to the music in the sun. Did I mention that the weather was perfect? 74, sunny, puffy clouds that gave relief with a nice breeze in certain places. After lunch, Chloe wore...I mean ate, a chocolate ice lolly and we continued our walk.

A few minutes later we discovered a play area with giant trampolines - chloe jumped as long as they'd let her, which now that I write that, I feel lucky we didn't see her lunch again!

And then we walked back to where Chloe could ride a little merry go round, and after taking it all in a little longer, we got back on the bus and went back to the hotel to relax. Chloe fell asleep on the way there and stayed asleep as we settled in and Rowan played around her.

The room was great - big enough that two pack n plays they provided fit with plenty of playing room. A big white soft bed, and a large and effective fan - I love a good fan at night!

When everyone was awake and refreshed, we walked along the marina, which had a huge kids play area, and alas, another trampoline, which Chloe spent 20 minutes on. Then we checked out the restaurants and opted for a sweet little italian place across from the hotel in a huge courtyard. It was perfect - loud enough not to bother people, nice enough to have good food and the kids were so good that we had people from another table stop by to tell us that they were the best behaved kids they have seen at that age. While sometimes that isn't necessarily true, this time it was!

While Mike finished his dinner and paid the bill, I took both kids out into the courtyard where we played, had a puppet show and raced. A few people stopped to play with the kids and then a bunch of other kids came out to play tag/hide and seek. Chloe raced around the courtyard thrilled to be part of something with other kids, and it was 8 p.m. when we finally got back to the hotel.

We weren't sure how the one-room for all of four of us situation would go, but it was fine. We all went to bed at 9 p.m., and other than a brief interlude in the middle of the night when Chloe got in bed with us, it was a great night's sleep. In the morning, Rowan woke up before Chloe, so he and Mike played in the lobby for an hour, then we all got ready and had a great breakfast overlooking the marina.

We decided to walk from the marina to the pier (about 30 minutes) and along the way found a great playground where we spent an hour watching as some dark clouds rolled in. They held off as we finally got to the pier and roamed around watching some of the rides as they turned on for the day. We didn't really plan it, but being at the pier before everything was open and it was crowded proved to be a great idea. Then we decided to go to The Lanes (part of the town where they have cobble streets, litte alley ways with shops and great restaurants) for lunch. After buying a beautiful print from a little art store, we settled in a seat outside, ordered lunch, and then felt the first drops...

We had eaten most of our sandwiches when the rain began. It was a scurry then. I took Rowan in the little cafe to put him in the sling. Mike put the rain cover over Chloe in the stroller and then it really started to come down. The cafe was too small for us and the stroller, so we grabbed our umbrellas and started making our way back to the bus stop. It took some time, as we joined others huddled under cover from the complete downpour. When we finally got to the bus stop, it had been pouring for an hour and we were fairly wet (not the kids, just me and Mike). It was great timing though, because it was time to head home.

The hotel lobby proved to be perfect again for us, as we sat in a quiet little side area to play, used the lobby bathrooms for changing diapers and clothes, repacked our bags and just got ready to go.

The train was practically waiting for us when we arrived at the station, and the ride back was peaceful, with Rowan asleep on me and Chloe watching Elmo. And it was about the easiest trip back we could have conceived of...until we got off the train, began up the steps out of the station and I realized we didn't have our suitcase. Could have been worse - we could have left a kid on the train.

It actually proved to be rather simple to get the bag - Mike just followed it on the next train and caught it two stops later when the train stops to turn around. I, on the other hand, had quite an adventure getting the two kids and the stroller out of the train station (no lift), onto another train (no lift) and onto a bus to get us home. But, we got there happy and tired and thrilled to have made the trip.

Overall takeaway: We love Brighton.