Top Ten List

SELFOSS, Iceland
A few years ago Bryant and I spent a weekend together in Iceland. We were enchanted, and promised to return when we could, with the children. When we arrived at the airport in Reykjavik last summer, with four children in tow, we were supposed to have been met by a car service. Not sure where …

NORMANDY, France
Bryant and I have taken the children to Normandy, France before. Baguettes and carousels, aside, Normandy and its WWII beaches, is sacred ground. Our first visit, years ago, we were careful how we introduced our young children to the atrocities of war. We prepared appropriately for that visit. But our children have matured in the past few years. …

NEW YORK, New York BUCKET LIST
For “Family Home Evening”, we made a NYC bucket-list. And, with two weeks left in the city, and Aunt Amelia with us for the duration, we set to work! ROCKAWAY BEACH is a long bus ride from home, but body-boarding on the waves made it worth the trek. Though visiting this beach was not a …

WASHINGTON, dc
Guest Blogger: E Blanchard is an accomplished author, violinist, artist, runner, and an award winning scientist – first place in the 4th Grade science fair. And she is currently working on her portfolio as a photographer. Enjoy this, and future excerpts from her travel journal, via guest appearances on Livingandtravelingwithkids.com. Our family …

MADRID, Spain
While in the car, nearing Madrid, L called from the backseat, “Is this our destiny?” I do not know that Madrid’s our “destiny”, but it was our destination that evening, and where we spent just a short time as a family. Our Spanish flat was located above a city bakery. Score! TOP TEN in MADRID: Teleferico de Madrid. …

SCOTLAND, United Kingdom
First, let it be known: The UK is short for The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Quite a mouthful! It is a sovereign state (in the same way as France or the USA) but is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A country of countries. And today …

CORNWALL, England
SUNDAY. After church, we hiked up to an English Heritage site, Tintagel Castle. This 800 year old castle (800!), built on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic, is where, legend has it, King Arthur was born. MONDAY. Before our trek to Land’s End (not the popular chain store, but the southern most tip of England), we took a scenic …

WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER, England
The White Cliffs of Dover are said to be one of England’s “most recognizable landmarks”. 300 feet in height, and nearly 10 miles long. And majestically white. They are the closest point in England, across the English Channel, to mainland Europe. In fact, on a clear day, you can see France from these cliffs. Over our …

ATHENS, Greece
It is one thing to travel about a foreign country in which they use a foreign language, but share the familiar Latin alphabet. It is an entirely different thing to travel in and around a foreign city, on foot or via public transportation, where both the language and runes are alien. It was all Greek to me! (And …

YORKSHIRE DALES, England
To prepare the family for the Yorkshire Dales we listened to James Herriot’s novel, All Creatures Great and Small, en route. The children got lost in the anatomically correct terms appropriately used in Dr Herriot’s short stories, and slept most the drive. But Bry and I were taken – both by the book and by the Yorkshire Dales, itself. We stayed two weeks in a cottage found …