Despite the fact that we had already had breakfast, we received another breakfast on the plane. I chose stuffed pancakes. Logan got the steak and eggs. The awesome thing about this breakfast is that it came with an appetizer AND dessert! I had asked for a small sundae but they assured me the calories didn’t count at 30,000 feet. I mean, he wouldn’t have lied to me right?

Logan took full advantage of the in flight snacks. This kid must be going through a major growth spurt as he is hungry all the time. He had two bags of chips, three small bags of pretzels and some chocolate.

And yes, we all had lunch too. I went for the hamburger Wellington and Logan chose the Mac and cheese. He was not thrilled with his choice. Why no dessert with lunch?

We have arrived safe and sound in Newark! Our journey is almost over.

Guess that means it going to be back to the gym and diet for me. 😦

Brooks and Logan headed up to the flight deck upon entering the aircraft. As usual, the pilots were super nice and accommodating to them both. Brooks was asking both of them about their career path. Maybe I can find a way to keep him in the states.

Meanwhile in our seats Greg and Maddie were going through the amenity kits. Maddie was super stoked to see that United has a partnership with Spider-Man. If only Tom Holland was our flight attendant she’d be set.

The partnership continued in the safety video where they had added Spider-Man throughout.

Despite Greg saying we shouldn’t sleep on this plane he didn’t heed his own advice.

Just kidding, he’s faking just for the pic. What a guy!

We made our way to the airport via walking vs the hotel shuttle because why would we bother with door to door service when we could walk?

We crossed a street to try to head to terminal 2 only to see it was back the other way. So back across the street we went.

I had to grab a pic of these two black cabs as we won’t be seeing anything this cute for a while.

I think we must be late. There was absolutely no line at the United desk and as we were checking our bag they were cleaning up the rope area behind us.

The security was tight here. Many officers with automatic rifles. Also the security process was tighter than any of the other airports we went through on this trip. They were so particular about what you took out from your bag and where it went. So crazy.

Last selfie before we get this 18 hour day started!

We will take a 7 hour flight to Newark followed by a long layover. Our flight to Cincy leaves at 3:45. From there we will rent a car to hopefully make it home around 8pm.

I woke up just before my 6am alarm was to go off. This is not the way I wanted to wake up.

We all met to head down for a quick breakfast before heading to the airport. They had a nice spread but I of course went straight for the bread and fresh honey.

After we ate it was time to grab our bags and head to the airport. But not before embarrassing my kids by posing in the insta frame before we left.

Sidebar…the honey bee is significant to the City of Manchester. Maybe I should spend more time here since I’m into bees myself.

Just about the only thing this hotel has to offer is a kids play room and proximity to the airport. Beyond that the rooms were not great. I had considered working out but when we checked out the gym the smell and condition of the equipment made me not feel bad about having my workout stuff go completely unused the entire trip.

I was the overall ping pong champion in beating Greg and Logan. So glad I agreed to go down since I claimed bragging rights.

Greg and Logan then played some ring toss game while I just basked in my win.

I’m not sure who exactly won that game. Once Logan thought he had won he did a trick shot and scored. Greg did no trick shot but technically ended up with a higher score. I will let them duke this one out.

Early flight tomorrow. Time to call it a night.

Unfortunately we made it to Manchester around 5pm which was too late to really do anything in Manchester (museum, LegoLand, etc.) We ended up driving past the Trafford Centre which is the stadium where Manchester United plays. Unfortunately they were playing in Perth, Australia so there wasn’t a game to catch.

We had passed a giant mall so we decided to make a pit stop there to find dinner before we headed to the hotel and returned our rental car. The shopping center was insane in size and design.

We had to park literally a mile away.

Pics from the inside…

Anyone need to visit the prayer room?

Giant Turkish Airplane model?

Fortune? Tarot cards?

We finally made our way to the food court and it looked like a mall from Vegas.

Thankfully everyone found something for dinner. Subway for Greg, Maddie and Brooks and Mexican for Logan and I.

Logan had to stop an hour away from Manchester to go to the bathroom. We pulled off at a random exit and hoped we would find someplace he could go.

What do you know…I found a super nice soccer field. It’s the one thing Logan has been searching for this entire trip.

I think Greg is done with the car….

Too bad it’s not Wednesday! We could stay to learn the modern jive. Is that even a thing??

We stopped for a quick lunch on our way to Manchester at the exit for Lockerbie. I mentioned to Greg that I felt like I should know why Lockerbie was significant. He reminded me of the bombing that brought down a Pan Am flight there. A quick search revealed we were close to the memorial site for the crash so we detoured.

It was in a small cemetery in town.

As we were leaving a youngish couple was walking up to the Garden of Remembrance. They were driving a Rolls Royce Ghost.

After we left Greg was reading the facts on the air disaster. Libya settled by paying each family $10M. I have to wonder if by chance that couple was somehow impacted by the disaster. Regardless, it was sobering to see how many families lost multiple family members.

All around Scotland there were these crazy kid statues that people had decorated. I think it’s the same concept of the horses that Louisville did, or the cows that Chicago and New York did but on a larger scale. These were a little scary though.

I don’t think these other statues were part of the same thing but I’m including them just for completeness.

After eating breakfast at the hotel we ventured out (in the rain yet again) to our favorite Starbucks ever. It’s a huge bright Starbucks with the most amazing windows that overlook Edinburgh Castle.

I think I may be upset that we didn’t try Tasty Buns.

I thought I was happy with my big cup of coffee that Greg delivered until the kids pointed out Greg’s cup was bigger than mine.

The bathroom sink was confusing. There was a warning about having extremely hot water there were separate faucets for hot and cold.

We made a couple stops in some stores before making our way back to the car through the park that is between the castle and the Starbucks. See all the rain they have had?? Just a sidebar…the bus stop shelters are built backwards in my opinion. The part nearest the street is closed and the back is open. I’m sure this is protect waiting passengers against all the rainwater that would be splashed up from passing cars.

We walked past the cute house in the park that we have named “Nana’s house.” It’s actually called Lizzie’s Cottage. I have no idea if anyone lives here…if someone does they are lucky as heck to call this cute place home.

Our trip is coming to an end. We are flying out of Manchester tomorrow morning so we are making the four hour drive to a Hilton closer to the airport.