Sisters

Sisters

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Motel and our first day in Chicago

After getting our bags and getting into the truck (on the wrong side!) we were off to our Motel. Our house that we were moving into wasn't quite ready yet and so they put us into a motel for the night. This worked out very well as the motel had internet and so we were able to skype our parents. The motel also had a pool which the girls really enjoyed. The change of temperature was a big shock but we're getting used to it now. 

We didn't take advantage of the motel's free breakfast as it was too early and slept in, instead! We had a late check-out and after a swim and a shower, we re-packed. We were hungry and so our first American meal was Taco Bell which Albert went and got. We all very much enjoyed it!

Lifeguard

Spa Pool

Michaela the swimming instructor

Our life
Waiting for lunch
Our first American meal
Very nice Taco's
Our evening dinner at a different Taco's place
Icecreams for dessert -
We ordered a small which was HUGE!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Our back yard!

WOW, can't believe that God has blessed us with a playground in our backyard! The landlords build this in their backyard for their children. The play equipment is in a giant sandpit which is very nice for the kids. Unfortunately it has been too hot during the middle of the day to play out side but the girls make the most of it, early morning or late afternoon, early evening. 
Girls on the swings


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Murray with the VdH Family

The girls have embraced the "Murray" project and he is now having scheduled time with each of the girls as they were fighting over him. Here is a post in pictures of what we got up to in the weekend with Murray as our guide!


Having afternoon tea with the cousins
Sisters at the pool with Murray
Having a Gourmet, very yummy, thanks Mama!
The table all set and ready to go with lots of very yummy meats!
I hope he bought his togs? 
Going to the pool
Papa caught us while taking a Murray photo!
Miriam
Mama
Albert and ?
Does it need a caption?
Kate with Nemo!
We had a very nice weekend with our VDH family! It is always nice for the girls to play with their cousins. We had a lovely Gourmet dinner and swim at the pool. Thanks heaps Papa and Mama for the family weekend. It is sad to leave family behind and friends but we know that it is for the right reasons! 

Flying!

Grab a cup of tea, it's a long blog post (sorry for those on dial-up)

Finally I'm back :), it has taken a while to get the Internet up and running and the house organised. In this blog post I'm sharing with our journey on the plane. I've got plenty more photo's and stories to tell.........

At Palmerston North airport
Watching 'our' plane land
Grace and Murray
Kate and Murray
Cousins at the airport. (sorry didn't get a photo of the other cousins :( )
There go our suitcases.
'Our' plane
No seat for Murray
Zara! She LOVED it and chatted the whole way
Michaela and Grace. Grace was still a bit sad :(
Kate and Albert
Mt Taranaki
Mt Rahapehu
I wonder who?
(on the bus from domestic to international in Auckland)
In Auckland international terminal
Zara chatting to Murray
and Kate
Me and Brydie (my AWESOME friend!)
The H family met us at the Auckland airport
Zara and Blanket on the BIG plane!
Kate, and Murray in my seat.
Albert and M & G were sitting in front of us. 
'Our' plane from SanF to Chicago
Michaela - I wonder what she is saying?
Our hand luggage 
Michaela in the seat across the isle 
Albert and girls at the front of the plane. 


The whole journey went very well. The girls adapted very quickly to flying. It helped that everything was 'new' to them and so that kept them occupied for quite a while. 


Palmerston North to Auckland - I'm very grateful that we had this 'little' flight as it gave the girls an idea of what was to come. The views were amazing and some nice photo's of the mountains were taken. In Auckland the H family were waiting to meet us. It was very nice to see them before we went and we ate our lovely wraps (thanks Mama) before we got on the plane. I'm glad we had food before we got on as it was a long wait before we got dinner on the plane. Brydie and family are very good friends of ours and Brydie is my 'mad' running buddy. I will miss you :(. They took the bus with us to the international terminal and saw us off. Thanks so much for coming, we really appreciated it!


Auckland to SanF - We went through international terminal which went without a glitch. We ended up running to the boarding gate as we didn't realise that our plane was boarding. It wasn't a big deal, just nerves probably, not wanting to miss the plane. I filled my drinkbottle up as we went to the toilets in the shopping area, bad idea. When we got to customs, I got out my plastic bags with all our toiletries etc. Once it went through the x-ray machine, the custom officer pulled me over. "You've got some liquids in your drinkbottle" "Please drink it all in front of me". I asked him whether he was serious, he replied that he was VERY serious. Remember I had just filled it up. Ah well just a very minor glitch in the whole process. 
The girls did very well on the flight, they didn't eat much and so instead of wasting very nice vanilla Kapiti icecream I ate four helpings! Our family had a bit of a tummy bug just before we flew out and so Kate wasn't feeling very well and threw up on the plane, as they were serving breakfast. Nothing spare clothes and babywipes can't fix! After Albert and I cleaned Kate up, we continued with our breakfast, we weren't let good food going to waste! 
Sleeping was no problem for the girls and they managed to get a good amount of sleep. The plane was very full. Albert and I managed to sleep some too and watch a few movies. I watched 'The Help' which I really enjoyed. (thanks for the recommendation Monique!). 


SanF to Chicago - Once we got off the plane there was a LONG wait to go through customs. We probably waited about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. The girls again were absolutely excellent. There was another girl there which they played with. Once we cleared customs and picked up our suitcases (phew they were all there!) we tried to get our seats rearranged for the next flight. They had us in 6 different seats, not that great when you are a family with little kids. Albert managed to get a row of three seats in the front and 2 seats in the back, Michaela was going to sit by herself but ended up sitting across the isle from me. God again looked after us! The wait at the airport at San Francisco was very short, our bags went through x-rays again, this time we needed to take off our shoes. This flight didn't have in-flight in-seat entertainment and so the colouring in books came out, and so did our NZ muesli bars. It's a four hour flight but again girls did well. They got a free drink and chose Coke which was a huge treat in it self. 
We flew over Chicago area as the sun went down, very beautiful, I was unable to take a photo as I didn't have a window seat. :(. Once we got out of the security area, Florence and Grant from Mid America were waiting for us. It was very lovely to finally meet them after having a lot of correspondence with them. 


Chicago airport to our Motel - next post!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Zara's Pony's

This is a picture post, mostly for the grandparents, so feel free to skip this post :). 

Here are some facts about Zara's Little Pony's:
  • Did you know that Pony's get dirty often?
  • Did you know that Pony's need lots and lots and lots of baths?
  • Did you know that our new bathroom sink is the perfect bath/swimming pool for Pony's?
  • Pony's get tired after bathing.
  • Pony's like to sleep next to the washing machine
  • Pony's hair gets very very knotty and so needs lots and lots of brushing and combing.
Following is some photo proof of those facts presented above!

Zara and Michaela 'disinfecting' the pony stuff.
(this happened on a Saturday morning while the parents of Zara were fast asleep!)
 A disinfecting chain!
(I think the girls got the idea from mainly music as we disinfected all the toys in the holidays.)

Drying the Pony's
Grace helping dry
Perfect size for the pony's
Having a wash (can you see the soap?)
Camera smile
Pony having a swim 
Nice and clean 
Pony's are tired after a bath and need a sleep!
All the Pony's
PS These photo's were taking over several weeks, obviously Pony's get very dirty and need baths often! I'm hoping that we will be able to take most of the Pony stuff with us on the plane!