Memorial Day Weekend

This was our first time to celebrate Memorial Day in the US since 2006 and we made it a big one. Matt and I kicked off the long weekend by signing on the dotted line for a new house. Actually, lots of dotted lines and we ended up signing most of the papers twice since we used middle initials instead of names on the first go round. No matter what, we're all super excited about our new home!

It's a pretty new neighborhood and the neighbors we've met so far are all oilfield, so we should fit right in. As long as these faces don't scare the kids on the street! There will be a new kindergartener on each side of us so Ben ought to have some friends at school.

On Saturday we spent the day with our old neighbors in their new house and had a wonderful time catching up. Our little fish loved their pool and made us wish we'd found a house with a pool!

Cannonball!

They were both crazy about the diving board, too. We've missed the Varas for years and were so excited to hang out with them like the old days, only now with four extra little people in the gang.

Ben got a late birthday gift from Haley and Jackson that included a bug vacuum/catcher. He's had lots of fun with it but quit hunting after he fell in love with this grasshopper and named him Bubbles.

Bubbles comes to breakfast in his new habitat...

...and he even made a trip to the mall in his travel carrier to take a spin on the carousel.

Alex didn't have any insect friends tagging along but enjoyed it just the same.

Unfortunately, Bubbles is not indestructible! Ben told me he had an emergency and showed me how Bubbles seemed to have lost a leg. He then asked me to tape it back on. And continued to ask me for tape until I finally showed him that tape doesn't stick to grasshoppers. Good thing he's got 5 other legs to keep him kicking.

Our other milestone for the weekend was that Alex started wearing undies. He's not completely trained yet and I'd never trust him out of the house without a diaper, but the end is in sight! (and not just literally!) Since we're just hanging out at the apartment with not much else going on, it's a good time to train and I'm hoping this box of diapers will be the last this family ever buys.

Alex has also mastered a new method of eating his yogurt. As long as it's getting in his mouth I won't complain!

Ben is FIVE!!

I cannot believe that it has been five years now since Ben scared us all to death and arrived at just 1lb 9oz. I'm grateful that the day of drama was May 21st and he was born after midnight, so I can reminisce about the trauma on one day and then celebrate my miracle on the 22nd. What an amazing boy God has given us!

Ben was lucky enough to stretch out the birthday celebration over an entire week because my parents were at a reunion on his real birthday, so he got his gift from them a bit early. First a cap, which was nice but not quite as exciting as he had hoped.

Then outside he found a tractor that goes along with the hat! What a happy, busy boy!

Midweek, he got a very exciting box from the sweet Dulaneys and he could barely wait to open it.

Whoa!! A HUGE digger!

And packing peanuts! I'm not sure which was more thrilling.


Once Alex realized there was fun to be had in the living room he couldn't wait to jump in himself.

My kids proved the point that gifts are lots of fun but boxes are just amazing. The next morning they were each sitting in their boxes watching cartoons.

On the day of his birthday, both Ben and Alex were awake and celebrating at 4:30am at Grandma and Grandpa's...a little early for the rest of the house! Alex never really did go back to sleep but Ben crashed and we finally had to wake him up.

Let the celebration begin! With a little love tap, of course.

Ben was happy to get some fun gifts but he was beside himself to find a Jeep that he and Alex could ride together. (and no, our kids are not really that spoiled - both cars were secondhand!)

Had to do a little offroading, with Alex following behind on garbage truck duty.

Inside later for some wonderful cookie cake. This was Ben's first time to eat it and I think he polished off about half of the cake on his own.

Later on we had some pinata fun and enjoyed even more treats. What a wonderful day and week for him! I know Ben missed celebrating with his friends in Perth but hopefully by the next time his birthday rolls around he'll have lots of local friends to invite over.

I can't believe how big my sweet boy has grown. He's still only about 32lbs (at last weigh-in, which was several weeks ago...the scale is in a box in a container somewhere in the Pacific at the moment) but growing like a weed.

Happy birthday, Ben!

Nomads

Thank goodness Ben and Alex are comfortable living out of their suitcases because we're going to be doing it for a while! We are settled into a furnished apartment for the moment but we don't have a whole lot of stuff (or space) to keep them entertained. We'll stay until our shipment arrives and is unpacked, which is probably about 6 weeks away. In the meantime, the boys are finding lots of fun things to do at home. Pizza parties occur regularly and all fuzzy friends are invited.

These boys really do love one another. They're really their own best entertainment. And occasional worst enemy, but those moments are quickly forgotten.

Sweet boys are growing so fast! Maybe the next time we move these little feet will be big enough to help.

And I have to wonder about whoever furnished this apartment. He or she took the time to hang several paintings (nice, sure, but necessary?) yet didn't bother with things like toilet paper or even a pair of scissors in the kitchen. The broom is child sized and had to have come from the dollar store. We're the first people to live in this unit so I'm going to have to make a few suggestions when we leave.

Being Back

We've been back in the US for 7 weeks now and it's beginning to sink in that we're actually staying. I just started sleeping really well a few weeks ago because I don't think my body trusted that we were going to stay in this time zone long enough to relax.

Already we miss a lot of things about Perth, like our dear friends, the beach, and the best coffee. Definitely miss the wine and Tim Tams (best cookies EVER...why didn't I pack a carton in our shipment?). Even miss the drains in the bathroom floors because the kids seem to love getting water all over the place. I miss how exciting every day things could be, like driving down a new road and finding a cool park or getting stuck in a line of cars because swans were busy eating in the middle of the road.

What DON'T we miss? Paying $4-5 dollars a cup for that wonderful coffee, flying 29 hours just to see our parents and then carrying back hundreds of pounds of loot we "couldn't live without", planning our mornings around catching said parents on Skype and hoping the kids would cooperate. I don't miss deciphering accents and foreign lingo over the phone, making insurance claims and following up with all the paperwork, constantly converting currencies and time zones in my head. I won't miss reading maps "backwards" because you have to consider the traffic is on the other side of the road.

The list of what we're excited to have in our everyday lives again could go on forever: Cheetos, Dr. Pepper (in every store and less than $2/can), Chick-fila, REAL Target and even Super-Targets(!), Wal-mart, barbeque, gas stations with pay at the pump technology (although the kids keep asking me to go inside and come back with M&Ms). The grocery store is almost overwhelming with all its choices and variety, and we can buy things in bulk again! Even better, the kids can sit in a cart and watch Disney TV shows while I shop. Doesn't mean they're perfectly behaved but I don't have to buy them a bribe at the bakery and run through the store before it's gone anymore. And you can buy wine right inside the store. We're excited to see the pediatrician again and have him chart our childrens' growth and not look at me funny for bringing my kids in while they're healthy. It's nice to be back in the Bible belt and see churches on every corner WITH kids programs and several options on service times. And connected to most of these churches is a cute little preschool, one of which Alex will start attending in August (yahoo!!!). We get to call people during the middle of the day and I can send my sister text messages any time the mood strikes. The best part is that we get to visit our parents any time we want!

It's still an adjustment and we're enjoying a new side of Houston, but until we see all our furniture and have the comforts of home the adjustment won't be complete. Our shipment has finally arrived in Houston and we should be unpacking sometime this week and finally living in our house. We're really looking forward to the last move!

The Final Trip HOME

Our flight departed from Perth at 6am, so we were all up by 2:45am to get the car loaded and get to the airport in time. These two boys popped out of bed and were so excited to get back on the plane! They're such great travelers.

Good thing we were checking in at 4am because we got a brand spanking new agent and threw just about every challenge his way. I think he paled a little when he saw all our bags, carseats, surfboards, and stroller. But he must have done his job well because we made it to Houston, along with all 16 pieces of baggage.

This was a rare treat for us - we got to fly business class for the first time since our relocation trip to Singapore four years ago. The timing was funny because just two weeks ago Ben noticed that part of the cabin had bigger seats and asked to sit there. Lucky for him, it worked out on our last trip and this boy was thrilled!

Alex was a teensy bit excited, too.

We flew Emirates for the first time and it was a much easier trip because it was only two flights. Since we've always wanted to see Dubai, we scheduled the longest layover of 13 hours to relax a little in the complimentary hotel rooms, shower (whew! always a luxury on a long trip), and explore the amazing city.

There are skyscrapers all over the place but the Burj Dubai dwarfs everything. It's currently the tallest building in the world by a long shot.

It's over 2,000 feet tall! In comparison, Taipei 101 is 1,670 ft and the Empire State Building is 1,250 ft.

Even from a distance, the Burj is amazingly tall.

We also got to see the Burj Al Arab, the world's first 7-star hotel. Rooms start at over $1,000 USD per night but they include use of the Rolls Royce fleet. Still couldn't talk Matt into staying there! It's on a man-made island and I've heard you have to pay just to drive out to see the lobby (we didn't).

Next stop was another series of man-made islands called Palm Jumeirah. We saw a show about its creation on Discovery years ago and it was really an amazing feat, so Matt and I were both excited to see it in person.

We drove straight up the trunk, which ends in an underwater tunnel to connect it to the outer ring where the massive Atlantis resort stands.

I don't think they do anything small in Dubai...this resort was bigger than anything Las Vegas could possibly dream up!

Beyond the Palm was another slew of skyscrapers and if you look closely nearly every one still has a crane on top, so these things must be going up like crazy.

The crew in the taxi did well but weren't all quite as interested in the sights. Alex totally passed out in the back seat but Ben never did go to sleep. He held out until we were back at the hotel and then crashed. We woke everyone up later in the evening, had some dinner, then headed back to the airport for our 16-hour flight to Houston.

These seats were awesome. We all had room to stretch out and sleep and I didn't have little people touching me for two days straight. I love cuddling and having the boys sleep on me, but after 10-20 hours of it my need for personal space gets extreme! This trip was over 44 hours because of our long layover so the extra space was greatly appreciated. Alex learned how to use all the buttons for his seat and would raise and lower it frequently. Hey, why not?

The kids watched Mary Poppins about a hundred times, along with a bunch of other movies and shows. Ben even tried out his cute little sleep shades.

Can you believe this is how we left the US four years ago?

It's hard to believe we're done living overseas. Everything happened so quickly that I haven't had time to process anything yet but it's exciting to think about living in our own house again and putting down some roots. This will be Alex's first time to live in the US in his life!

Our Last Weekend Down Under

Once all the moving craziness was done, we handed over the keys to the house and had two final days to enjoy Perth. We started off with one last $60 brekkie on Napoleon Street in Cottesloe. We would have loved more leisurely breakfasts at outdoor cafes but at that price (very average for Perth) it would have broken the Kirkham bank!

Of course we had to make one last trip to visit our favorite marsupials. I was probably just as excited as the kids!


We didn't get there until the end of the day but it was great because we just about had the kangaroo enclosure all to ourselves.

We quickly made lots of furry friends.



Ben loved this momma and joey!



On Sunday, we packed up and then made our final trip to the beach on a picture perfect day. Later the kids had their last evening with our sweet babysitter and Matt and I enjoyed one last dinner overlooking the Indian Ocean.

We will miss these beautiful sunsets!



What an amazing experience we had in Australia! It's hard to believe it's over but we'll have wonderful memories to take with us forever.