A New Home Exchange

Well, it seems like this blog has evolved from my tales of motherhood to tales of our family travels!  And in my mind, that's a great and hopeful thing, because we love travelling and hope to do plenty more of it as our children grow.  We're quite pleased that our two kids now think that it's totally normal to go live in someone else's house, and for someone to live in ours. They still remember and talk about David and Brenda, and living in their house in England (and those fearsome smoke detectors!) - and now they talk about Mommy and Daddy's friends Brucie and Billy, and going to Charleston.

As you probably know, our latest adventure is Charleston, South Carolina. For those of you who are a little hazy on the geography of the US:

Why Charleston, you ask? Well, I must confess that the international travel last year was a bit much for us; primarily the time change with two small kids. It took them about a week and a half to adjust, but it took me much longer. I was still waking up at 3am on the morning we were supposed to fly home!
So we decided to stay on the continent until they're a bit older. My sister was in the process of planning her wedding, so we thought we'd try something on the East coast of the US, and fly in a triangle, sweeping by Toronto on the way there or the way back so we could minimize the number of cross-continental trips this year. We considered lots of options, but this family seemed to be a great fit: they have a young boy who's just a touch older than our kids, and Billy is an avid cyclist who was keen to come to Vancouver for the mountain biking!
Ultimately, trying to coordinate with J's wedding plans didn't work out, but we found a time that worked with Brucie and Billy, and have spent the last 5 months or so planning this exchange. It's funny, you make plans all that time, but it doesn't feel like it's really real until you start packing your suitcase. Actually, I have a confession: for me, it's about dairy products. It doesn't feel real to me until I notice that I'm buying milk or yogurt that has an expiry date after we leave. Then it really seems real!

So this is day 3. We fly in on Sunday, a full day of travel that was surprisingly relaxed and easy despite a frighteningly turbulent landing, a delayed layover, one child with a fever, and all of our luggage being lost. I think we were well prepared and well rested, and that made us more relaxed and able to roll with the punches. The kids were great, and they have adapted quickly and easily to our new home. (And Aili is feeling much better, by the way!)

I'll give you a tour of our new home in my next post, but the kids are anxious to get moving. Johnny's working, and we're out to find out where the nearest Target is. Target, I love you.

The night before we flew we stayed overnight near Seatac airport. My cousin and her family drove up from their home in Tacoma to have supper with us. Cousins reunited! It was great to see them again.

 Finally! After months of promises, we are on the plane!

 Happy 3rd Birthday Tomio!  Poor dude didn't get much recognition of his birthday. 

In fact, we didn't even remember it was his birthday until halfway through the first flight. 

As much as the obsession with the green blanket and the dedicated thumb-sucking bother us, 

I must confess that in times like these, having a kid who can self-soothe and while away the hours 

so easily is very convenient indeed.

Oh my. I have been missing peanut butter toast for months if not years. 

You know, when the toast is hot and the peanut butter gets all melty, 

and you have a  nice cold glass of milk to wash it all down?  *drool*

Tomi has a severe peanut allergy so we don't bring any peanut products into the house. 

But after he was asleep and I found this in the pantry...   heaven. 

And with that, I'm off. More adventures and photos to come.