The (Extra) Long Road Home

Ahh, the long trip back.  Made longer but a quarantine stop again.  It had gone up to 10 days and there was talk of 14 days, so when it went back down to 7 days, we had to be pretty excited.  Originally, Matt was going to travel separately and go through the UK for meetings, but Omicron cancelled all of that and we added him into our quarantine hotel.

All 12 bags were carefully packed and filled based on whether they were going to the hotel with us or straight to the house. We were thankful that the email visa verification had dropped so check-in went from 1 hour + to just over 30 minutes.

Our favorite photo changed so this will have to do for our farewell picture in Houston!

Our friends the Pavlas family were on the same flights and headed to the same hotel with us...it was fun having travel buddies!

It was our first time getting a family suite and pretty cool that we could open all the dividers and hang out together. Or close them when we needed some time away!

A nice little breakfast together before landing.  Pretty sure Ben didn't eat a bite and went right back to sleep.

With only a 3-hour layover in Doha and some great tail winds, this trip was a lot quicker and we were back in Jakarta before we knew it.

The airport was a breeze! We did all of our paperwork checks, PCR tests, immigration, and customs with almost no problem.  It was the last step that got us.  We couldn't actually leave the airport with a QR code for each person to enter quarantine.  There was a glitch with the hotel and they never issued Matt's and somehow lost two from the Pavlas family.  We were tired, hot, and grumpy, and really not in the mood to sort this out at the arrivals point outdoors.  It took about an hour and a half but we finally got everything working and they allowed all of us to continue to the Raffles.

Once we finally arrived and got settled in our home for the week, it was a great place.  Our connecting rooms each had sliding doors so they could turn into two small rooms, which was great for school and work.  But first - lots of relaxing and sleeping.

Ben had a nice, professional setup.

Alex got a setup in the bedroom which wasn't quite as comfortable but it worked really well.

I hid in my area and kept myself entertained.

No room for an exercise bike or treadmill this time, but at least I had youtube and hand weights.

We had friends recommend this hotel for the food and I'm so glad we listened.  Quarantine is pretty boring and the highlights of the day are the 3 times you open the door to a hot meal! The menu was awesome.  We did most of the set meals and they included things like duck breast and steak. We could order ala carte from the menu as well so the kids had lots of choices and we were really happy with every meal.

We got carts at each meal like this.  Fresh salads and pretty desserts!

Still a little cramped to eat all together, but it was great.  Breakfast had lots of fresh fruit as well.  Such a nice change from our last experience and disappointing boxed meals every day.

We spent a lot of time just watching life outside the window!

Finally, on day 7 we had our negative PCR tests in hand and we were ready to bust out of there!

Naturally, nothing can be that easy.  The hall monitor spent 15 minutes trying to get the elevators unlocked for us. And interesting to note - we had laughed about what an earthquake would feel like from the 17th floor and there was a 6.5 just a few hours later! Our friends still in quarantine in other high rises said it was pretty scary.  Maybe I don't want to experience that...

Back at home, we did PCR testing to get ready for school and the big reopening - the first day with every grade attending in almost 2 years!

We went straight to the McCullough's house that weekend to catch up with the friends we'd missed over the past month.

Reunited!

Make your own pizza night was a big hit!

And on Monday morning, 687 days from the last real day of school, ALL of the kids went back!  The moms celebrated together and had a great time....because we also knew it couldn't last. Omicron was just starting to gain a foothold in Jakarta so we made some bets on how long in-person school would last.  We can be excited and realistic at the same time!

Christmas together

We had a really wonderful time with our families at Christmas.  So good, in fact, that I barely took any pictures!  I didn't realize what a terrible job I did until we'd already returned and it was too late.  But we had full hearts and so many happy memories instead of photos.

We recreated a picture of all the grandsons for Grammy and Grumpy, but they're all so much bigger that it wasn't easy to get it the same.

Alex and Tommy spent some quality time together throughout the weeks.

Alex wanted to recreate the mysterious gift from Christmas Vacation and we have a new decoration to pull out year after year now!

The weather was warm and really pleasant for December and we spent lots of time at the park with the dozens of whistling ducks that are spending the winter around there.

Some girl time together!

The boys spent plenty of time throwing their poppers in the backyard (and on each other)

Alex got an early gift to the Escape Room and we had so much fun doing the Christmas Story room that we stayed and did a second one right then.  We made it out of both!

The Christmas eve candlelight service at church did all our hearts good.  It was the only time we attended church in person because we were still doing our best to avoid Omicron, but I'm so thankful we were able to go and to stay well!

Pastor Gregg's sermon included a story about this tree and we decided to pop by the Houstonian and see it for ourselves.  It was magical!

Everything is bigger in Texas!

Christmas morning was full of goodies and surprises!

Alex asked Aunt Amanda for a cookie cake and she delivered! He was thrilled.

The guys spent some time hunting, I spent more time with Stacey and her family, and we were reunited for New Years Eve.  I was feeling a little crummy from my booster (but hooray for boosters!) so it was a low key evening from the couch.

We did finally get a blast of cold weather and enjoyed a quick walk to the park with Grumpy.  He was getting prepped for a big back surgery and we sure hope when we see him next time he's enjoying walking a lot more.

It always seems like the time passes too quickly, but suddenly we're wrapping things up and packing suitcases again.  We fit in a little time to see friends, did a lot of medical appointments, got the kids booster shots, and still managed to find a PCR test for travel during the big Omicron spike.  And best of all - we managed to avoid catching it before flying and going into quarantine.

Our flights left in the evening on our last day, so we had some time to stretch our legs and enjoy some sunshine...

...and our traditional Mama Juanita's meal with our nearest and dearest.

Thanks for a wonderful visit!  The last hugs are always bittersweet but we're so thankful for the time we got to enjoy together.