UK Day 23 and 24: Chilling and Reflecting

Day 23 was a chill day, Cailey and I left really early to check out Foyle's. It's a super large five story book store that had a lot, but sadly not the one thing we were looking for lol (a Christmas present requested by Mom for Emersyn), but Cailey got some cool oil pastels to finally try! We walked around nearby shops shortly and walked home. It was a brisk rain so it was nice to walk through that. The rest of the day was spent packing and playing games, I lost to Cailey in Wingspan by one and the only reason she won is cause she remembered her "round end" birds which gave her enough points to pull ahead, a very sad loss but a fun game!

Day 24 was spent all at home. We started the day doing oil pastels! I do really like my animals but Cailey's looked like she was experienced lol. Cailey journaled and I played Slay the Spire. We then had lunch then did a Pool tournament, Cailey and I vs Kristin and Matt, and we ended up losing barely lol. Cailey and I then watched my favorite Studio Ghibli movie, Grave of the Fireflies, an easy 5/5 for me any day, Cailey gave it 4.5/5, the same as Beck. It's a rather sad film but very moving, part of the reason it was different for Cailey than other Ghibli is this one was by Isao Takahata, but her favorite Ghibli animator is easily Hayao Miyazaki, which I agree but I love Isao's film too much. We also were playing Scrabble and I lost by quite a bit. Ate and made Swedish Meatballs, an amazing final dinner to end on. Chilled and watched stuff the rest of the night with the fam.

This trip was really fun, and overall I enjoyed most of it. Public transit is not my mojo, I found it long, warm and inconvenient, but maybe that's cause I like how fast Eagle is and my crash PTSD makes the buses the worst lol, but I did enjoy train rides home with Cailey napping on me as I read, played sudoku or looked out the window. It's gorgeous being out in such an old place with a lot of history and architecture, whilst it's not my main period of interest I enjoyed all the fun facts Kristin had to tell me. I'm a bit of a gift giver so searching for these perfect gifts for my family was super fun, and I'm excited to show them tomorrow (technically, based on Idaho time lol). We easily spent the most time with Kristin and Matt, which was really fun and offered lots of bonding time! The week with Colin and Abby off school was tons of fun and had a lot of larger events. And obviously the best person of all, my very soon to be wife and I got a ton of fun dates around London with Cailey. Overall a really great trip with tons of funny speaking people, 5/5, can't wait for next Summer!

I'm super duper ready to be home, I'm very much a home body and enjoy my home, so I'm ready to be back. I have been super missing my family, especially since it's Summer and I'm excited to bond more with my family through board games or finishing the movie list Beck and I got. And obviously but probably saddest, I very much miss fat and sugary food, clearly an American who enjoys soda lol. Being home will be nice! I'm excited and ready to be back finally with my fam, and to finally marry the love of my life!