We flew out of Salt Lake yesterday, and the kids loved the airplane ride! There’s a video of Bluebird and Penguin during take-off that I’ll have to post later because they were so stinking cute. Everything went really smooth in regards to our travels.
Highlights include:
1. Monkeyboy flirting with his Japanese female seat neighbor for the duration of the flight.
2. Junebug asking her Latino seat neighbor why he wasn’t speaking English…when he actually was.
3. Junebug watching “Toy Story” with the aforementioned middle-aged Latino man, and the two of them laughing at the same places together.
4. Bluebird watching “Frozen” with headphones on, and belting out “Let It Go” for a few bars before Michael and I could catch her attention and remind her that she was sitting in a crowded airplane.
5. Penguin’s smile throughout the entire trip. Goodness, she enjoyed everything.
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| Waiting for our shuttle at LAX. |
We spent today exploring the area around our hotel. We’re taking a few days to enjoy the Los Angeles area before our departure from the northern hemisphere.
The kids’ one big wish: swim in the hotel swimming pool. I’m happy to report that Michael and I fulfilled their great wish this afternoon.
Highlights include:
1. Monkeyboy flinging himself into the deep end of the pool, trying to get Michael’s attention. Me yelling Michael’s name across the pool so that he’d turn around and see his drowning son.
2. Penguin has the beginnings of some diving skills–she can do flips and spins off the side of the pool. I have no idea when/where she learned to do any of it.
3. Michael can throw Monkeyboy halfway across the pool. I insist upon being in the vicinity of the boy’s landing spot so I can pluck him off the bottom of the pool. Michael says it’s not needed, as he gets to Monkeyboy before he runs out of air.
4. Bluebird jumped into the pool towards me, but then decided she didn’t want to be by me, so she kicked me in the gut as she swam away. Nice to see you too, daughter.
5. After yelling, “Don’t run!” numerous times to the kids, I pulled off a spectacular slip-and-fall while simply STANDING next to the pool. Some days I find it questionable that I ever possessed athletic ability.
6. The kids are SO TIRED that Monkeyboy asked if he could sit in my lap during dinner at the restaurant, and after he situated himself he laid his head against my shoulder and fell asleep. We had to carry him back to the hotel, and he didn’t wake up when we changed him into his pajamas.
7. Michael is so sunburned, but only where he wasn’t under water, so he’s got this hilarious sunburn “capelet” going on. He’s currently responding to work emails without his shirt on, and had informed me that, in Australia, minivans are called “people movers.”
And, even though it never occurred to our children to ask for it, tomorrow we’re going to Disneyland. The kids have never been, and Michael and I have only been once each. The kids are SO EXCITED that they put themselves to bed at seven.
Which leads us up to now, with me lounging on my super comfy hotel bed, just being tired and content. The power of the family vacation, especially after packing up six people to move halfway around the world. I’m very grateful for this little “hiccup” in our journey that’s allowing us some “just us” time. It’s been a busy couple of months leading up to this.
Disneyland tomorrow, and THE BIG FLIGHT the next day. We party hard and travel harder, yo.
That Crafty Cara 