Sometimes life hands you something so wonderful, you just hardly know how to react. It happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I decided about a year-and-a-half ago that I was going to take my two oldest grandkids on a trip to Europe this summer. Lily is seventeen, Jack is sixteen. I told them about it and the expectations I would have for them to pay for their own meals and any shopping or additional excursions we might want to go on. They got to help chose where we would go. This way they would have time to work and save and plan for this great adventure.

We were on a guided tour, I’m beyond daring to venture out on my own for such a big trip. We started in London, where I may or may not have lost the kids at the airport within 15 minutes of arriving! We spent the remainder of the trip blaming each other for that. From London we went to Wales, then Ireland, Scotland and back to England.

While I knew the kids were excited to go, I had my doubts about how it would all play out. These tours operate on strict time schedules, there would be no sleeping in for teens who like to stay up after midnight watching YouTube videos and acting silly. Each morning they gave themselves fifteen minutes to be ready and they were ready, every single time. Our bags were by the door and we ate breakfast on time.

They both thanked me, early on in the trip and several more times during it. It warmed my heart to know they really did appreciate it. We have memories that will last a lifetime of the places we saw and things we did. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!