Counting down until we get to go HOME! Papers are all in order (I hope!!) the little kids clothes are pulled out and stacked, Alex and I will do ours tonight, Lyle when he feels like it (but before Friday for sure!) and the activity backpacks will get done later today. I have plenty of things in there that they won't get to peek at until we are on the plane to Sydney. Plenty of coloring and activity books, read aloud by mom and to mom books, plain drawing paper, you know the drill. They are thrilled that they will have their OWN TV to watch whatever they want on the trip over, so I think the flights are well handled. It's the 8 hours in LA that will be fun-NOT!
Luggage looks like it will be manageable at least. We're planning on 6 or 7 lightly packed suitcases plus 2 roll on carry-ons (for all to share) and a backpack each. We have a bunch of stuff we are bringing home to share, so will have lots of room if we decide to do some shopping and haul it back with us. The Costco list alone ought to fill them right back up! We are going to order a MaxiTaxi that holds up to 10 people, so it ought to handle the luggage just fine. Parking here is obscenely expensive-so an $80 cab ride both ways saves us about $200! Needless to say, our idea of expensive has been readjusted on many things.
The trip over looks like it will be the challenging one. We depart Sydney about 12:30 pm on Friday, and arrive in Boise at about 7:30 pm on Friday. Love going across the international date line! So, 14 hours from Sydney to LA, landing in LA about 9 am. That will be about 2 am according to our bodies, so I'm betting a nap in the status lounge will help to kill some time. Lyle has gold status with Qantas and extra passes come with that, so the family will at least be able to while away the time in a quieter location than the main concourse!
Our basic schedule at home-get into Boise Friday night, recover and sort the goodies out on Saturday, Boise family BBQ on Sunday (pretty much all day! Yay!). Leave for Oregon on Monday and be in Oakridge until Friday, leave Friday for Newberg and hang out with the Trantham family Friday and part of Saturday-we may even get to go to the Rose Parade! Saturday evening with the Hoobing side and back to Nampa on Sunday. Whew! The kids are dying to sleep in the pop up camper with Baba and have a shooting day out in the desert or at the gun range. Ian really wants to see "his" shotgun in action and they are all ready to plink with a BB gun. Alex may even get to shoot a .22 if she thinks she can. Darn kid is nearly as big as me, so she can certainly physically handle it. Hang with the Nampa/Boise crowd (Lyle and I are going to abandon the kids to the grandparents for a night off there somewhere-our first since before we moved here!), relax, and enjoy the family. Sarah will hopefully get to spend some extra time with her Nonny and cousins, and for sure the girls and I are going to get a haircut that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! Maybe we need to go to Razzle Dazzle school of Hair design and do a pedicure too? What say you sis and Mom? A little girl pampering??
In the meantime, life is swimming along here! Alex is finishing a social studies project that will be due while we are gone, both girls have aerobics (Alex will miss state competition, but if they do make it, will attend nationals in Sydney in August!), school fun day is tomorrow morning (not sure what that entails yet, but sounds like fun!), and I will be working on Wednesday. The laptop is finally back up and running, and will take the trip with us as well. And on another good note, my Utah teacher certification is now complete BEFORE the deadline, so all is well in my professional world, at least for now.
No pictures to post up from Alex's birthday party-I don't like to post pics of other kids without permission, and I only have some table group shots with all of them. Alex is thrilled with how the party turned out. 8 girls with laser guns, plenty of chocolate, and lots of giggles. The masses of 8 and 9 year old boys pretty much did me in! How dare she be 12 already! I think I'll be even more offended when she hits 16, so I better get used to it regardless.
So excited to be heading home! See you all soon!
Luggage looks like it will be manageable at least. We're planning on 6 or 7 lightly packed suitcases plus 2 roll on carry-ons (for all to share) and a backpack each. We have a bunch of stuff we are bringing home to share, so will have lots of room if we decide to do some shopping and haul it back with us. The Costco list alone ought to fill them right back up! We are going to order a MaxiTaxi that holds up to 10 people, so it ought to handle the luggage just fine. Parking here is obscenely expensive-so an $80 cab ride both ways saves us about $200! Needless to say, our idea of expensive has been readjusted on many things.
The trip over looks like it will be the challenging one. We depart Sydney about 12:30 pm on Friday, and arrive in Boise at about 7:30 pm on Friday. Love going across the international date line! So, 14 hours from Sydney to LA, landing in LA about 9 am. That will be about 2 am according to our bodies, so I'm betting a nap in the status lounge will help to kill some time. Lyle has gold status with Qantas and extra passes come with that, so the family will at least be able to while away the time in a quieter location than the main concourse!
Our basic schedule at home-get into Boise Friday night, recover and sort the goodies out on Saturday, Boise family BBQ on Sunday (pretty much all day! Yay!). Leave for Oregon on Monday and be in Oakridge until Friday, leave Friday for Newberg and hang out with the Trantham family Friday and part of Saturday-we may even get to go to the Rose Parade! Saturday evening with the Hoobing side and back to Nampa on Sunday. Whew! The kids are dying to sleep in the pop up camper with Baba and have a shooting day out in the desert or at the gun range. Ian really wants to see "his" shotgun in action and they are all ready to plink with a BB gun. Alex may even get to shoot a .22 if she thinks she can. Darn kid is nearly as big as me, so she can certainly physically handle it. Hang with the Nampa/Boise crowd (Lyle and I are going to abandon the kids to the grandparents for a night off there somewhere-our first since before we moved here!), relax, and enjoy the family. Sarah will hopefully get to spend some extra time with her Nonny and cousins, and for sure the girls and I are going to get a haircut that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! Maybe we need to go to Razzle Dazzle school of Hair design and do a pedicure too? What say you sis and Mom? A little girl pampering??
In the meantime, life is swimming along here! Alex is finishing a social studies project that will be due while we are gone, both girls have aerobics (Alex will miss state competition, but if they do make it, will attend nationals in Sydney in August!), school fun day is tomorrow morning (not sure what that entails yet, but sounds like fun!), and I will be working on Wednesday. The laptop is finally back up and running, and will take the trip with us as well. And on another good note, my Utah teacher certification is now complete BEFORE the deadline, so all is well in my professional world, at least for now.
No pictures to post up from Alex's birthday party-I don't like to post pics of other kids without permission, and I only have some table group shots with all of them. Alex is thrilled with how the party turned out. 8 girls with laser guns, plenty of chocolate, and lots of giggles. The masses of 8 and 9 year old boys pretty much did me in! How dare she be 12 already! I think I'll be even more offended when she hits 16, so I better get used to it regardless.
So excited to be heading home! See you all soon!
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