Safely Home

We spent our last evening with Grandma and Grandpa K on Monday and reluctantly said our goodbyes.

One last day with Grammy and Grumpy on Tuesday, eating chocolate cake on the porch while enjoying some rain. I had a panicky morning when I found out our 747 from Chicago to Singapore (19 hours total) had no personal TVs and I rushed around trying to find portable DVD players with super long battery life. I didn't bring the kids' old player because the battery is only good for a few hours so I put all my faith in two new players that advertised 13-hour batteries.

Once that crisis was averted, we spent our afternoon playing at Chuck-E-cheese.

The guys played and enjoyed every single ride.

Wednesday morning we hit the airport bright and early and left Houston at 8am to catch our big flight in Chicago. We made a short stop in Hong Kong and saw a bit of scenery out the window.

Shortly afterward, I got paged several times as the flight was boarding and went to the counter to see what they needed. Turns out a baggage screen had shown a gun (toy, of course) in my checked luggage and I was escorted into a police vehicle on the tarmac so they could search my bag. A little freaky considering I had to leave my kids crying in the jetway with an airline employee while I followed men who barely spoke English and carried weapons. They carefully examined the toy gun, measured it, took pictures, then let me pack my bag up and be on my merry way. Much ado over nothing.

Back on the plane we were doing everything to keep ourselves entertained. The boys both slept well but not much at the same time, which was good because I didn't always have to deal with both of them at the same time often but bad because I didn't get much sleep myself. We splurged and upgraded to economy plus for the extra legroom and even got the bulkhead for the 4-hour leg so Alex had some play space. It was our first time on United internationally and I will never fly them again....the food was cheap and watching bad movies on the main cabin screen for 19 hours was torture. Thank goodness the new DVD players were advertised correctly and the batteries lasted forever for the kids. Had I known I would have brought some movies for myself.

Our last 5-hour flight was on Singapore Airlines and I'll show you why they're so much better, aside from the fact that they have the best cabin service worldwide. More legroom standard, personal screens, Ipod docks and connections, drink holders, eyeglass storage, and a place to hang things. All little things but so helpful on long haul flights.

We arrived in Perth about 36 hours later with all of our bags and cleared quarantine with no problems...I was a little nervous about that too since we brought back lots of food. We were all excited to be reunited with Daddy at the airport and packed everyone in the car to get home. Think these guys were tired?
All in all, the boys were great during the entire trip. It's stressful on them to be out of their own beds and normal routines for weeks and they handled everything like champs. We're happy to be home now but have terrible jetlag so the kids and I are watching TV at 2am. Bags are unpacked and we're taking it easy over the weekend, then Monday we'll pick back up with our normal lives including school and gymnastics and such.

To answer a questions I get asked a lot:
How to I go to the bathroom on the plane? Typically, we all go together. It's crowded and not exactly private for me, but it kills a lot of time and I don't have to worry about anyone crying alone in his seat. We wash our hands a lot, brush our teeth, and generally find entertainment with the faucet. Occasionally I sneak off alone if Alex is sleeping.

Blessings

If you read my last post, you know I'm taking a ton (well, 300lbs to be exact) of stuff back to Perth with me, but that isn't the most important part of this trip. The absolute best experiences of our visit have been spending time with our loved ones here and seeing friends, old and new. Living overseas has made me value my relationships much more than in the past and I feel so blessed to have some wonderful life-long friends from different stages in my life and fortunately many live in the Houston area.

My number one priority of this trip was to see my sister as a new mom and meet my precious little nephew, Reid. Since they live in the Dallas area I didn't get to see them as much as I would have liked but we had two wonderful visits together. I really appreciate Stacey making her first road trip with a newborn to visit us because I know it was a ton of work, as if having a newborn isn't enough work. I'm going to miss that little guy because he'll probably be walking before I get to see him again.

Our next priority was spending time with all the grandparents and we're very fortunate that they live about half an hour apart so we were able to get a lot of quality time with everyone. The boys have absolutely blossomed with all the love and attention they've gotten from their grandparents. It always makes me a little sad knowing the kids could be seeing them regularly if we lived here, but then I don't think the visits would have the same sweet value as a long-awaited trip from across the world. I can't thank all the grandparents enough for their patience, love, attention, food!, and time and for letting us take over their houses for weeks at a time. We're past excersaucers and cribs but we still manage to fill up a living room quickly with toys. Grandpa K generously let me drive his truck the entire time we've been here and that was an absolute lifesaver....a 6-week rental would have been astronomical. We all love Grandma, Grandpa, Grammy, and Grumpy and have enjoyed each and every minute we've had together. Hearing Alex yell "Gampa!" or "Gumpy!" when we pull up at either house pretty much sums up all our excitement.

The added bonus for me was spending time with old friends and meeting some new ones as well. There is nothing better than seeing a friend for the first time in a year or more and feeling like we just talked yesterday. I'm so thankful for those relationships and grateful for the friends that made time to hang out together. I really enjoyed feeling like myself here again...not that I'm a different person anywhere else but to sit with a friend I've known for over a decade and laugh about our old adventures and reminisce about the hard times is irreplaceable.

So now our trip is nearly over, the bags are packed, and I can hear Ben singing "Daddy misses me" during rest time so it's time to get back to the most important member of our immediate family! Matt has bravely held down the fort in Perth and will be picking us up at the airport on Friday morning. I imagine there will be some big smiles on our tired faces when we get to see him at the other end of this trip.

Overall, this has been such a happy, satisfying trip. I feel blessed and loved and content to go back home to Perth.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
-I Corinthians 13:13

Stuff

Ugh...it's that time already! Our wonderful trip to Texas will come to an end Wednesday morning when we get back on the dreaded airplane and fly back across the world, this time through Chicago, Hong Kong, and Singapore to Perth. The kids have spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa while I finished up all our shopping, met up with friends for the last time, and Packed with a capital P. Here is the before shot of just our stateside purchases (lots of books, a huge pile of clothes, shoes, toys, bags, purses, car parts, pounds of food, wii accessories, medicine, one tent, and 80 bags of hot chocolate). All are precious because we either can't buy them in Australia or would have to pay twice as much so I loaded up to the max.

About four hours later, here is the result:
Six perfectly packed bags, each weighing exactly 50lbs. I had to jettison several cans of rotel, some salsa, one heavy wooden puzzle, and the wii fit, but we should make it to Perth with exactly our 300lbs of goodies. As long as all of our bags make it intact and nothing spills, breaks, or leaks, it will be a very successful shopping trip and I can hang up the credit card for another 12 months.

Cousins

We finally got a few pictures with all 3 boys together but unfortunately this was the best I could do. Ben was really sweet holding little Reid up and Alex just didn't care at all...he was ready for the pool.

Any idea where these boys might be headed for college? Not that we're trying to convince them that A&M is the best school in the world or anything...

Proud Grammy and Grumpy with all their grandsons.

We really took it easy at the condo but one little guy was more kicked back than all the others while watching TV.

We had LOTS of duck friends. They must have quickly figured out which units had willing kids with food in their hands!

Ben's last bubble bath was an exciting one. He sang this song to his reflection in the mirror so I got the video through the doorway because I didn't want to ruin the authenticity. This boy really likes bubbles!

More Adventures

These boys have been busy, busy busy! There is no end to the entertainment possibilities here, including a variation of the game "stairs" with Grumpy.

A little quieter activity of dot painting with Grammy. I enjoyed this one too...makes me want to go play bingo in Vegas!

Ben's furry sidekick has her own chair at the table and has gotten pretty spoiled by handouts from little fingers.

Abby does return the favor by bestowing some of her precious attention on Ben occasionally.

We've all enjoyed getting to visit friends here and I've been terrible about taking pictures. I only seem to remember to get my camera out when there are kids involved which means I have few pictures of the adults I've gotten to see. Saturday we had a swim date with Beth and her two sweet boys who currently live in our old house in Singapore (their dad works for the same company as Matt)...such a small world! Even crazier, back before any of us had kids it turns out we all lived in the same apartment complex in Houston for two years. That evening after the kids were in bed I got my own playdate with some old girlfriends from work. We laughed for hours like the good old days....a lot has changed since we all met, like twelve kids between all of us, and now all of us have gone on to new jobs or full-time motherhood. L to R: Mindy, Vivian, Kristi, me, Holly, and Gretchen

On Sunday the boys spent the morning with Grandma and Grandpa and after naptime we dropped in to see our old neighbors, the Varas, at their new house. It was reallly beautiful and I was scoping out the street for potential vacancies so that one day we might be neighbors again. Jackson kindly shared all of his toys with Alex.

Haley and Ben got reacquainted with a big hug.

All four kiddos doing anything but smiling or looking at the camera. It's hard to believe we first met the Varas 6 years ago and none of us were even thinking about kids.

Monday started our stay-cation on Lake Conroe. We're using Grammy and Grumpy's timeshare condo here and enjoying a little R&R on the lake. Aunt Stacey and Reid came Monday as well and I was interested to see how the kids would react to their new cousin. Ben has been interested and asked tons of questions (naturally) but has otherwise only complained about Reid "whining too much". In Reid's defense, he's a really good baby but of course cries when he's hungry or he knows mom is trying to eat.

Alex has barely given Reid a glance but has been more than happy to try out all of his toys. I have to keep an eye on him to make sure he's not plopping down in the bouncy seat while Reid is in it.

Reid seems more excited about the whole meeting than his older cousins.

Interestingly, Ben hasn't cared if I hold Reid (which I haven't gotten to do much since my hands are usually full anyway) but was pretty jealous when Grumpy cuddled him. He was glued to Grumpy's side the entire time.

Grumpy and all his boys.

The condo has been fun! We've been swimming a lot, watching movies, and feeding the ducks from the balcony. It's right over the water so we'll start fishing this afternoon as well.

The kids love a good hotel visit and have had a ball just being somewhere new again.

We even caught a nice rainbow one evening.

Their favorite thing by far has been the pool and they're so cute in their new swimsuits. Think this guy is excited to go?

Since Ben hated his swim lessons last year I put off re-enrolling him until Alex could go as well. We don't have regular access to a pool anymore and the water in Perth was almost always freezing, so the kids are not swimmers by any means. They're comfortable in the water but both require flotation (especially Mr. Skin and Bones Ben without an ounce of fat to keep him afloat) so these floaties have been great for me to take them both in the water by myself.

After getting chilled at the pool yesterday, Ben came home and enjoyed his biggest bubble bath yet in the jacuzzi tub. Alex still hates bubble baths and wouldn't get near it.

We were all excited to get the chance to visit with my Uncle Lindy and Aunt Nell. Lindy was always so much fun we were kids and still keeps us laughing. Here he's teaching Ben the cut-the-cheese song.

Good fun with the family :)

All good things have to come to an end and unfortunately tomorrow all the out of towners will be heading home. The kids and I will probably stay here until Friday then they'll spend their last weekend with Grandma and Grandpa while I get started on the (*gulp*) packing. We have less than a week left now so the countdown to the Longest Trip Ever Part 2 has begun....

More Fun in the Sun

We're still living it up in the good ole Texas summer. The kids don't complain about the heat but their faces show the effects. (Ben is obviously a little big for this swing but I had to laugh at how long his legs look hanging out the bottom)

Poor little Alex can sweat through his thin hair in minutes but it's never slowed down his playing.

The best way to keep cool? Strip it all off, of course.

Au natural in Grumpy's backyard.

We still haven't made it to a big pool yet but the splash pool has been plenty of fun so far. Our plans for the next week include a pool every day so I know the kids will love it.

My boys haven't been the only wild animals roaming around in the backyard. We've seen this momma and her twin fawns almost daily and I finally got a great picture of the family. Turns out they love drinking from the bird bath almost as much as the gourmet buffet of landscaping.

We did clean up last weekend for a birthday party and managed a quick picture before we all started sweating. I can't possibly hope for three smiles toward the camera but I'll accept all the faces in the right direction.

And my favorite of the week: Ben staring at the countdown clock waiting for his turn with the car in Alex's hands. I've never caught him cutting any time off it but he's been known to add several minutes to it before bedtime.

We're all still having a great time and have been busy this week with vacation Bible school at Grumpy and Grammy's church. Ben is attending the preschool class and Alex is in the nursery while Grammy and I herd our group of almost 2nd-grade boys through the morning and Grumpy heads up all the games. I have been taking the boys into the opening and closing in the sanctuary so they can sing and dance with all the big kids and they've been in top form. Ben even performed a solo tonight during dinner at a mexican restaurant, just in case all the other diners needed to hear a song about Jesus.

We've also been fitting in lots of doctor appointments (well-visits, vaccinations, Ben's eyes) and playdates, so the time is really flying by. We've got less than two weeks left here and I'm already getting sad about leaving even though we're all excited to get home and see Daddy. More than anything, my stomach is tensing up thinking about getting back on the airplane and repeating the trip we made over here. I wish there was some other way to do it!

Whatever Works

The entire dinner went down this way!

New Adventures

The boys were lucky enough to attend Grandma's storytelling event at the public library and had a wonderful time watching her perform. What great fun! Especially on a rainy morning when we needed to get two restless boys out of the house.

After the rain let up the boys played outside again but the humidity definitely kept things hot. Can you tell?

Finally we coaxed them inside for some birthday gifts. I told Grammy and Grumpy to save their gifts for a rainy day and it was the perfect time to share them with the boys.

Ben couldn't wait to tear into his package.

Alex was sidetracked by his card and his dancing cracked us all up. Ben was already into his gift (his first fishing pole) and trying to get it loose. Alex got a fun car to push that has somehow already seen more action from Ben, but that's how things go with brothers.

Grumpy taught Ben the finer points of fishing before trying the real thing.

This morning we headed to the pond first thing for Ben to catch his first fish and it didn't take long! My camera locked up so I missed the genuine smile but this cheesy one will have to do. This was one proud boy and his first perch.

Grumpy showed him the fish and let Ben touch it.

At last count it was 5 fish for Ben and 2 for Grumpy. Alex and I had to take off because I had an important meeting at Mel's. (for those of you not familiar with the place, it's only the best, greasiest, home-cooked food in Texas and Friday's special is fried catfish)

Alex got his first checkup in the US and passed everything with flying colors. We're missing a few vaccinations for Texas but 3 jabs later he was pretty caught up. The nurse was amazed at how loud this boy can scream and also how quickly he forgot the shots when I pulled out the magic lollipop.
What really surprised me were Alex's 2-year stats:
height: 36 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
weight: 29lbs (50-75th percentile)
head: 20 3/4 inches (off the chart)

Somehow our little man has managed to grow up a lot and slim down everywhere else. Maybe he won't be a linebacker after all. The doctor gently asked me if we had concerns about the size of Alex's head but I laughed and told her we'd had it scanned and already know it's just holding lots of brains. We expect him to be very smart.