I know you were all waiting with baited breath to hear that we did indeed, by the grace of God, endure our first (and second) trans-continental flight as a family of 5. There were fits, sleep fighting, and tears (only a little from adults). The only saving grace of these flights is that it’s doesn’t have to be pretty, we just have to survive. And then there is jet lag…
…and since we are clearly idiots or experts, a traveling with kids post is coming soon.
We spent the summer around some of our favorite people in the whole world, eating good food, playing outside, and not remembering what day it was. Hello, eternal Saturday.
With Isaac’s family we took a little trip to Atlanta to see the Braves play in the new stadium. Naturally, after driving 6 hours with 3 kids, as we pulled into our parking spot at the stadium it started raining. After a 2 hour rain delay, the game finally began at 9pm. Anyone know what it’s like to try and contain un-napped children in public after they should be in bed? Cue snacks…The boys are getting old enough that things are holding their attention more (HALLELUJAH movies on the plane), so it was fun to see them excited for baseball. We finally made it to our hotel around 11:30pm. I’m pretty sure our summer motto was “What bedtime?”.
We also found time to squeeze in two trips to The Varsity between baseball games and a trip to the aquarium. If you are ever in Atlanta and haven’t eaten there, go. Also see: why our pants our snug.
After our time with Isaac’s family we swung through our old college town to see our best friends for a few days on our way to Texas. And as if we didn’t know we were best friends before, who in their right mind invites your family of 5 with 3 three and under to stay at their house?
The boys thought they were in heaven between the ducks, geese, chickens, horses, lake, bikes, trampoline, and rope swings. I still have no clue how we got them in the car when it was time to leave.
Then it was on to Texas to see my family. We took a little trip to Austin, TX for a long weekend. We went to an awesome indoor play place (hello A/C) and children’s museum, and swam at the hotel in the evenings. The boys slept well those nights.
We also made it out to The Oasis on Lake Travis for dinner with friends. The view never disappoints.
On the way home from Austin we took the long (out of the way) route, to take Isaac on a little tour of Texas. We toured the Shiner brewery in Shiner, TX, stopped by the Blue Bell creamery in Brenham for some ice cream and a quick hello to a cousin who lives there (hey, Stephanie!), and then headed on to College Station just so we could drive through enemy country.
Have I mentioned the best part of both family road trips was that our kids were in the other car with their grandparents??? We didn’t want to deprive them of quality bonding time, after all…
It was the best summer we have had in a long time. The kids traveled so well and we got to see so many people we love. Now that Nana (my mom) and Nino (Isaac’s mom) have summers off, we just need to find a way to get Grandad (my dad) and Poppy (Isaac’s dad) off work and it will be PERFECT! We survived one more trip over the Pacific and it’s right back into work. School started for teachers last week and kids came this week, varsity tennis starts today, and our schedule is full of catching up with people we have missed all summer long.
What a gift we have to have family all over the world.
P.S. Here are some new pictures of our school! They worked all summer redoing the entrance.
Our Southern Seoul 