The trip back to the States

We just got back to Kansas City at 10:15 pm Tuesday night.  I am sitting in my bed right now trying to relax and eventually fall asleep.  It is now 2:00 am Wednesday morning.  However, my body thinks it is 5:00 pm Wednesday night.  I am very sleep deprived, but my mind will not shut off.  So, I thought I would try to clear my head by writing about our journey home.

Our plane left Sydney airport about 1:00 pm Tuesday.  The trip started pretty smoothly.  I gave Carter 2 new books by an Australian author, Andy Griffiths, on the morning of the trip.  He was super excited to read them.  We were all excited about the movie/tv show options that we got on the airplane.  This time I had anti-nausea medicine for the kids and I since we get a little queasy on the  plane.  And, we couldn't think of anything major we left at our home in Sydney.  We all kind of looked forward to sitting on the plane and being entertained for awhile.  

The odd thing about traveling from Sydney towards the US is that you gain a day since you go over the date line.  So, even though we left on 1:00 pm Tuesday, we arrived at 10:15 Tuesday night after just over 24 hours of travel.  The trip went pretty well, but it has been a long, long day.  Especially since I only slept a few hours of it and only about 2 of those being good, solid hours.  By the time the big leg of the trip was over, we were getting off the plane in LA at what our bodies told us was 3:00 am Wednesday morning.  However, it was really 9:00 am Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.

The 5 hour layover in LA was the worst part of the trip.  It took 2 hours to get our bags, get through customs, and drop our bags off again, and then get through U.S. security for the next leg.  There was one nice moment to note though.  We were fighting exhaustion and we had very little patience when going through all the lines and making sure we had all the bags and the correct paperwork.  Then, the customs agent was a really nice man that asked us a few questions about our travels.  After he looked at our passports he said "Welcome home" and I instantly teared up.   

Another nice thing I can say about LA airport was that it had a Starbucks in the terminal.  The caramel macchiato hit the spot.  And I think it does taste different in the US than in Australia.  In my opinion, the espresso tastes much stronger in Australian coffee drinks.  The American version is not so strong and the caramel tastes sweeter.  We also got some Baja California chicken nachos for lunch.  Sean and I have really been craving Mexican food, so we were in heaven.  However, I was basically worthless the rest of the time in LA; my mind felt like it was working through a fog. It is really hard to feel so tired, but yet, so anxious at the same time. 

Finally, at 3:00 pm LA time, we got to board our flight to Denver.  The kids and I cat-napped during the short flight.  We landed in Denver, got a quick bite to eat for dinner, and then got on our final flight home to Kansas City.  So, after LA, we gained 3 more hours due to time changes and a total of 4 more hours of flying before making it to KC.

It was great to see Sean's parents at the airport.  They drove 2 cars and let us load our bags in the Explorer we used to own (before we sold it back to them), and we drove ourselves home.  (Sean did fine driving on the right side of the road.)  It is so weird to be back in our old house.  It feels as though we have just been gone a few weeks instead of 6 months.  Yet, so much has happened to us in that period of 6 months.  Time is such a funny, funny thing.

Thoe family on the plane

Day at the Beach

It is the eve of our return back to the US for a visit.  We are all anxious and more than ready to go.  But, it does feel a little odd to be leaving just as the weather is really starting to be perfect.  The kind of weather that makes you find any excuse to be out in it.  It is even getting warm enough to start taking advantage of the beaches that are around us.  Saturday was a gorgeous day that we spent celebrating a friend's 30th birthday at Clontarf Reserve (about 3 miles away from our apartment).  It was a nice last day at the beach before our trip back home where we will be hundreds of miles from an ocean.

Some serious engineering work was going on.

Sean was overseeing the "workers".

Aubrey even took a dip in the water.
The water was still pretty chilly, but she didn't seem to mind.

Even though Sydney has a lot of perks, we are looking forward to spending some time enjoying the autumn weather with our family and friends back in Missouri.  Autumn is my favorite time of year in the Midwest.  This time we get to enjoy it without worrying about how cold the upcoming winter is going to be.  We get to come back to Spring.  

Whew......

Sorry for the lack of a blog update last week.  I was running short on time and then I ended up getting Aubrey's cold mid-week.  At least, I guess it was a cold.  I never had a fever, but I felt miserable and had no endurance Wednesday through Friday.  Every evening ended with me crashing in bed by around 8:00 and Sean putting the kids to bed.  On Friday I began taking olive leaf extract based on the advice of several people.  It does not taste very good, but I just took a shot of it several times a day (quickly followed by a chaser of water).  I was willing to try anything; I knew I had a big weekend ahead.  Luckily, I did start to feel better on Saturday, so maybe it helped!

Saturday we volunteered at the Manly Relay for Life with our neighbors.  In the past year I have had some friends diagnosed with cancer.  When it happens you feel so helpless. It feels good to try to do SOMETHING when you can't directly help your loved ones.  Plus, it was a really fun environment.  The kids had a great time.  Our neighbor, Tori, put together a great team.  Our Team name was "Friends for a Cause" and it had a circus theme.  

Aubrey getting her face painted

Carter getting his face painted

Carter showing off his face painting

Aubrey waiting in line for the bounce house

Aubrey was taking notes while watching some older girls dancing.  

Aubrey dressed up as a clown

Sunday was the day of the big race for me, the Blackmore's Running Festival.  I did the 9km Body and Soul Harbour Bridge Run.  This was the very first race that I have ever entered.  I thought my first race would be a 5K.  However, my friend, Emma, talked me into doing this race.  I mainly entered the race because I had made a promise to myself when we moved to Sydney:  to take advantage of every opportunity for new experiences granted to me.  As it turned out, Emma got sick and had to have surgery a couple of weeks ago.  She was going to run the race for a charity very dear to her heart, Tay-Sachs Disease.  I remember learning about Tay-Sachs Disease when going through physical therapy school.  It is a horrible genetic disease where a child begins a neurological decline starting around the age of 6 months until the child passes away usually by the age of 4 to 6 years old.  I remember thinking how unfair and awful the disease was when I was a young college student with no children.  Now, as a parent, I could not even fathom how unbearable it would be to watch it destroy your beautiful child.  Anyway, Emma asked me to wear the vest for her charity for the run since she was unable to run the race herself.  Needless to say, I was honored to do so.

On Sunday morning I got up ready to go.  Then, I missed my bus down to the race.  (The bus had been early!)  I then had to swallow my pride and ask Sean to drive me down there.  Once I got to the starting point of the race, the mood was amazing.  Over 16,000 people were signed up for the 9km race.  Everywhere you looked, there was a sea of people.  The day was absolutely perfect for running.  The overall high of the day was about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  So, when we started at 9:00 am, it was probably about 60 degrees and sunny.

There were so many people in the race that I did not even get to the actual start line until 9:10 and then there were still thousands of people behind me.  There was such an adrenaline rush at first and I was just trying to avoid getting tripped up with so many people moving at such different speeds around me.  I was looking mainly at the people in front of me and not so much at my feet.  That was a mistake.  As I was descending from the bridge, my right foot went down into a crack of the asphalt.  It was like slow motion that I fell down to the ground.  I am so thankful that I just scraped up my hands and did not twist my ankle or worse.  A really nice lady stopped and asked me if I was okay.  I was so shaken up that I just kind of brushed it off and started running again.  I'm not even sure if I said thank you to her.  She was so incredibly kind; I regretted that later.  

I took this photo while walking to the race after Sean dropped me off.   This is the main road leading to the bridge.  It was odd to see the roads that are normally so busy with no cars on them.  

View of the park at Milsons Point while waiting for the race to start

Another view from Milsons Point before the race

I took this photo as we were walking to the start line.  If you look over the people's heads there is a bar where the start line was.  People were so tightly packed up to that point that it was hard to move.

Coming up to the bridge in the run

Here we are on the bridge!

The rest of the race went great.  I tried to push myself just hard enough to do well, but also to pay attention to views around me and enjoy the experience.  I cannot really put into words how awesome it felt.  I tried to take some pictures as I ran. My favorite sign of the day from a bystander was "Go Random Stranger, GO!"  The race wound through downtown streets and then through the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens.    

This was the view after crossing the bridge and heading towards downtown.

Headed back towards the harbour after running downtown; almost to the finish line!

 I met up with Sean and the kids when the race was over (after I had gotten some bandaids from the medic station).  Since we were down in the city, we headed over to a Starbucks for a post-run coffee.  The city is usually a busy place and it was overly saturated due to the running festival, so we decided to hop on a ferry to Manly to eat lunch and relax for a little bit.  

War wounds

Post-race photo of me

Carter modeling his free bucket hat he got at a stand by the recovery village

Ahhh.......Post-run caramel macchiato at Starbucks.  I bought the tumbler to commemorate the day.

We had some yummy Thai food (it has become a staple for us).  For dessert, we visited the Manly Adriano Zumbo shop for some macarons.  Once we got our tummies full, we realized we were all exhausted from our busy weekend.  So, we headed home to rest the remainder of the day.  

Carter and Aubrey on the ferry to Manly

I got a text later in the day to let me know my official time for the race.  I was pretty pleased considering it was my first race.

Now, we are trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we are going home to visit Kansas City in less than a week.  Even as I am writing those words, it does not seem real to me.  Preparing for the trip to KC is completely opposite of any other trip I have taken.  Instead of shopping for things to take with me on vacation, I am making lists of everything I am going to shop for at home.  I am dreaming of shoes and clothing items that are a quarter of the price they are here.  I am craving such simple things as Panera Bread, Chipotle, Five Guys, Jimmy John's, even Taco Bell.  I am wondering how I will like the coffee since it really is quite different here.  I am trying to picture myself back at our house.  I love my bed at home; I think I'm just going to collapse in it and not want to get up for days.  Will it seem weird to be driving back on the right side of the road?  The flight seems endless; will the kids travel well this time?  So many things are going around in my head right now......    

The zoo.....again

It is Wednesday night here in Sydney.  I usually sit down mid-week and write about our previous weekend.  Hopefully, I have a few awesome pictures to share.  A lot of times I pour myself a glass of some Australian red wine as I relax and try to make the words flow.  The job is made a lot easier when we have done something absolutely fantastic the weekend before.  As we have established our life here though, I've noticed less weekends of the exciting outings/adventures.  

When we first arrived to Sydney, our weekends were completely free.  We had no obligations other than making sure the needs of our kids were met (of course) and that we stayed within budget (unfortunately).  Sydney was our oyster; we loved heading out to see what pearls awaited us.  

Lately, we have been sticking a little closer to home.  We are still having a great time, but no matter where you are, real life starts creeping in.  Mostly, we are settling in and just enjoying what is around us.  We are spending more of our weekend time with the new friends we have made here in Sydney.  We are choosing to walk to the zoo or beach in our suburb with a picnic instead of heading out on a new adventure.  Our adventuresome spirit is still there, but it is just taking a little break.   

Term 3 of the school year is winding down.  There is just 2 1/2 weeks left and then we have planned a trip back to visit our home in the United States.  I know that all of us has that trip in the back of our minds.  We are wondering how it will feel to be back in our house and have the opportunity to see family and friends.  Will it feel normal or will we feel different and changed?  Maybe a combination of both?

Anyway, I'm sure when that trip is over and we are back in Australia, we will get the itch to get back out there and explore more.  It may clear our minds a little to conclude our first visit home.  We can then come back to fully enjoy in our first spring/summer in Australia.

Enough of my rambling though.....We had a good time last weekend.  Saturday we headed to Taronga Zoo with a picnic lunch, per Aubrey's choice.  (Carter had his day the previous weekend when he chose to go the the Big W and buy the Lego trash truck.)  We did something we had not experienced at the zoo yet, the seal show.  It was really entertaining.  And with views like this, can you really blame us for going to the zoo once again?

Lunch with a view.....

Looking at the seal show stage with the harbour in the background

Sean took this pic while the kids and I watched the show.  We are on the 2nd row to the left of the shot (Aubrey has her pink hat on).

A seal posing on the edge of the pool

The famous seal trick; balancing a ball on his nose

If you can make it out in the photo, there are goats on the rock cliffs with the bridge in the background.  It was so cool to see in real life.  We will have to take the picture with a better camera than my iPhone next time.

Aubrey posing on an elephant.  She was so happy with the day she had chosen.

Sunday was Father's Day in Australia.  I find that odd since Mother's Day is in May on the same date as the US, UK, and Canada.  Plus, the UK, Canada, and US all have the same Father's Day.  But, for some reason, Australia and New Zealand have Father's Day on the first Sunday in September.  To celebrate, we went to Sean's favorite restaurant in Sydney, Outback Steakhouse.  We went at noon and the restaurant was packed full.  It may taste more like American food than Aussie food, but it was really good.  I think we have now found a new tradition for Father's Day no matter which country we are in.