3 Days in London // the bargeron explorers.

 This summer, my family and I were able to embark on maybe the most unbelievable travel adventure of our lives up until this point: 2 weeks in the UK & Europe. Spoiler: it was even more incredible than I even imagined it would be. Our first stop for three glorious nights was...

London, England!

GETTING THERE
We flew direct from ATL to LHR on Virgin Atlantic, which was an 8-hour flight. This option was really appealing to us because it gave us a full day to explore after landing. Flying economy overnight with two young kids was 1) new for us and 2) a lot harder than our typical daytime flights, but it was really nice to arrive early and have more time to see this wonderful city.

THE FLIGHT
Our kids really did great given the complexities of an overnight flight, and we were quite proud of them (even while sleep deprived ourselves, LOL). They were so excited to have blankets, pillows, headphones, AND personal tvs waiting for them at their seats. This was their first non-Southwest flight, and they were amazed by all the "extras." We all loved how frequently we were served, too: a snack and drink shortly after boarding, dinner around an hour into the flight, breakfast around an hour before we landed, and frequent beverage cart visits throughout the flight.

The kids *maybe* got 2.5 hours of sleep, and TJ and I probably only got around 1.5 hours broken up into chunks. We hoped for more (and all took melatonin gummies to help), but it didn't work out that way for us this time. TJ sat across the aisle from us and the people around him were not shy in taking up as much space as they could, and our kids sat on either side of me and did the same.

The gist: redeye flights are hard but have lots of pros.

THE ARRIVAL
Upon arriving at LHR, we took a pre-booked taxi from the airport to our hotel that was about an hour drive. We were able to check into our hotel upon arrival thanks to my status with Hyatt, and we freshened up and quickly started our explorations.

I read from many people that staying awake on the first day after arriving is really important for jet lag, and it thankfully worked for us. We were all hit with exhaustion throughout the day, but we pressed on until an early bedtime. A 12-hour night of sleep followed and worked wonders for us, and we all felt mostly adjusted by the time we woke up on our second day.

OUR ITINERARY
We had three full days in London, and our days were filled with lots of wandering, wondering, and a few pre-booked activities.

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DAY ONE
-Arrive & drop bags off at hotel
-Walk to visit/see the following places: St. Paul's Cathedral, River Thames, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Borough Market, London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament Square, Victoria Embankment, Trafalgar Square
-Enjoy an afternoon tea aboard the Paddington Bus
-Back to the hotel for an early bedtime

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DAY TWO
-Breakfast at our hotel
-Harry Potter Studio Tour
-Ride the tube to The Black Dog for pictures (and singing in the street, of course)
-Play at a playground near The Black Dog
-Explore the Southbank area (carousel, shops, etc)
-The Blackfriar for dinner (fish and chips!!)
-Another early bedtime

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DAY THREE
-Sleep in again & enjoy another hotel breakfast
-Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
-Self-guided walking tour through/to St. James Park, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Oxford Street, Queen Mary's Park, The Regent's Park, Gloucester Gate Playground, Primrose Hill, Paddingon Bear/The Brown's house from the movies
-Back to Buckingham Palace for lesser crowds & up close viewing/pictures
-Train from Buckingham Palace to London Bridge
-Borough Market for dinner
-Walk back to hotel to pack up and prepare for our next destination

Three days was not enough to see everything that makes London so special, but we gratefully left with no regrets and a whole lot of memories. The three nights we spent in connecting rooms at Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars were incredible, too, and we would return to stay there again with zero hesitation.

We all agreed that London was the best starting point for these two weeks abroad, and we genuinely loved everything about our time there.

Next stop: Paris, France!

the bargeron explorers // spring break in & around Las Vegas.

 This year for spring break, we checked off three new-to-us states on our quest to visit all 50 states as a family:

Utah, Nevada, and Arizona!

We flew Southwest from our home airport to Las Vegas on the first day of spring break, and spent the next week having an amazing adventure. Once we landed, we picked up our rental car and drove two (gorgeous) hours north to St. George, UT, where we stayed the next three nights. We spent the next two days exploring in the following ways:

ZION NATIONAL PARK

Never have I ever witnessed so much beauty. WOW. There are really no words for how expansive and stunning this park was. We drove in before the sun came up, and we got to watch the park wake up from the inside. It was indescribable. Truly.

Angel's Landing and The Narrows are two popular, viral hikes within the park that we would love to do one day, but didn't do this time. The hikes we did do, however, were extraordinary, too, and I would recommend them to anyone who visits the park:

Lower, Middle, and Upper Emerald Pools Trail Loop via the Kayenta Trail

(~6 miles)

Riverside Walk (~2 miles)

We, also, spent time at the Visitor Center and stopped at the park sign on our way out. TJ and I had dreamed of experiencing this park for so long, and it felt pretty surreal to actually be there. Even better, to be there with our kids. The weather was a lot colder than we anticipated and were prepared for, but we lived to tell about it and really only remember the highlights. The other-wordly sights were worth every shiver, and I sincerely hope we get to spend another day here again in the future.

After a full day on the trails, we stopped at Oscar's Cafe for dinner and Deep Creek Coffee Company in Springdale, UT for a mid-day caffeine refuel. Both were divine and highly recommended by me and many others. If we ever have the chance to visit Zion again, I will try hard to stay in Springdale, which is right outside of the park entrance. It was an incredible place!

PIONEER PARK & DOWNTOWN ST. GEORGE

This park was so much fun! A hidden gem out in the open, really. It was a short drive from our hotel, and we spent our morning here hiking, climbing, and exploring for around 2.5 hours. I think our kids could have stayed here all day! We could see downtown St. George from the park, too, which was really cool.

After that, we drove into downtown and spent the next few hours walking and window shopping. We especially loved a particular bookstore (The Book Bungalow), coffee shop (Cafe FeelLove), and pizza place (The Pizza Factory) -- all of which were so wonderful. Another honorable food mention that was highly recommended to us: CafeRio. We ate that for dinner our last night in St. George, and it was delicious!

The next day, we woke up slowly, ate a buffet breakfast at our hotel, and began the trek back to Vegas. Before we officially hit the road, we had to do "the most Utah thing": drinks from Swig. We all got pink cookies and drinks ("Founder's Favorite" for me), and we were instantly big fans! It was such an easy, fun way to close wrap up our time in this stunning state.

From there, we headed back south to Vegas. We took a longer route so we could make an intentional pit stop at:

VALLEY OF FIRE STATE PARK

Oh my! I am not joking when I say that this is one of the most indescribable and fantastic places we have ever visited. We were in awe from start to finish! We drove through the park, taking in all the sights and wonders, and then hiked the most amazing 3.5 miles through the park. The terrain was genuinely magnificent; we had never seen anything like it! We hiked a big loop composed of three trails: Fire Wave, White Domes, and Seven Wonders. I will recommend this park and this particular trail to EVERYONE who asks!

Just look at this place...

After spending several hours in this unforgettable place, our journey continued on and we were back in Vegas in around an hour. We stopped for a late lunch at In-n-Out Burger (of course), and then checked into our hotel. We chose a hotel that was close to the strip but not on it, and it was fabulous. It had the Vegas "feel," but was in a quiet part of town. The kids were pumped about the pool, and we spent our evenings there for the remainder of our trip.

Las Vegas was our home-base for the next and final four nights of our trip, and we spent our days adventuring in the following ways:

LAS VEGAS STRIP

We walked over 20,000 steps while exploring this iconic street and its sights, and we lived our best Vegas lives without stepping foot into a casino. I had heard a lot of things about Vegas (I'm sure you have, too, LOL), but we had a really lovely day there. It reminded me of NYC's Time Square in many ways, and we all agreed that one day was plenty for us.

We loved walking through all the hotels and experiencing what makes them unique, and our favorite spots were NYC (we're all itching to go back to the real thing as a family!), The Observatory and Fountains (Bellagio), The Forum Shops (Ceasar's Palace), the Gondolas (Venetian), and the Paris hotel. We ate at BeerPark for a late lunch, and it gifted us with the best views of the Bellagio Fountain Show. I'm not sure we could handle the heat of this outdoor restaurant during summer, but it was perfect for March!

We went back to the hotel for more swimming and an early bedtime to prepare for the next day's epic adventure:

HOOVER DAM & GRAND CANYON WEST
Wow, wow, wow! What a total bucket list day!

We opted to do a self-guided tour of the outside of Hoover Dam, and it was perfect for us. It was, also, MASSIVE! We were all in awe of the structure and size of it, and we spent about 30 minutes walking and admiring and reading all the signage. Truly a unique work of art on top of the mind-blowing functionality of it. It was really cool introduce my kids to Lake Mead, as well, because I got to visit here while I was in college and it hold a special place in my heart and memories.

From there, we continued west for another two hours and crossed the border into Arizona to experience THIS for the first time...

Definitely a surreal and major "pinch me" moment!

I wasn't sure what to expect with Grand Canyon West, but it was ultimately our only option since Grand Canyon NP was a 4-hour drive from Vegas. It was pricey ($210 for the 4 of us), so we decided to only pay for General Admission tickets. They have add-ons for their famous SkyWalk, meal vouchers, zipline, etc., but we were happy with our basic tickets. We packed and ate snacks while there, and we did what we came to do: stand in awe of where we were.

We spent around 3 hours there, and it was absolutely incredible. we were bused from the parking lot to Eagle Point, Guano Point (the better view, in my opinion), and then back to our car. There was no one there when we first arrived, but it was pretty packed by the time we were leaving. The buses came often, though, and there was room to spread out. We hiked to the top of Guano Point (pictured here), which gave us less crowds and more amazing views!

After leaving the Grand Canyon and heading back to Vegas, we made one final stop for the day at:

SEVEN MAGIC MOUNTAINS
These were so fun and so BIG!

On our final day, we decided to make it a slow day and it was just what we all needed. After a packed week of adventure and nearly nonstop action, a morning at a local park, lunch at a local pizza place, and an afternoon in the pool was a perfect ending to a fabulous week.

This was truly a spring break like we’ve never had before. When we told people we were going to Vegas for spring break with our two young kids, we got plenty of surprised looks. Now having been, I understand. BUT this trip proved to be one of the most unforgettable and BEAUTIFUL trips that we’ve ever taken. I would absolutely do another week in & around Vegas just like this one again. What a week!

📌 SAVE this itinerary for your own family travels. Our itinerary was a good one:

With this adventure, we checked off numbers 22, 23, and 24 on our goal to visit all 50 states as a family! Almost halfway. So exciting!

Watch our spring break video here!