Week 200 and Week 112.5 - The ATL

We had a good few days with Sherry and Larry before we left to go to America. It is great to see them and we are lucky that we get to see them so frequently.

After a nice dim sum lunch (thanks guys!) Sherry witnessed my total loss of meatballs at trying to buy something from an ignorant manager at a Duty Free Store in Macau (called Esscents - avoid like the plague). I simply cannot stand customer service idiocy.

We took Imee and her son John Roi to Hard Rock Cafe before we left too. We took them to the Dragon show at City of Dreams - which Charlotte was super scared of and Sophia liked a lot. Sophia has begun potty training (and is doing pretty well).

We realized recently that Charlotte likes to wear her socks inside out.

We took Sophia to the doctor - she sort of fell on her scooter and was complaining about her privates hurting when she peed. The Kiang Wu Taipa clinic is as imcompetent as ever - luckily her pain subsided before our plane ride. This happened the day before the flight.

Two days prior Char was complaining of ear pain. I took her to the pharmacist where she got ear drops and then all was well within the night. When it rains it pours with these kids (calamityville prior to flying). Oh and Matt accidentally gave Sophia a shiner the morning we were flying! Argh!

We think crib sleeping is over for Sophia. She just prefers the bed (and even can sleep well with a proper blanket and a pillow).

We flew for 27 hours on Sunday - Sophia started being a tyrant on the plane (as car seats were her enemy - and subsequently everyone else was ours - inconsolable) - but that of course just meant she was overtired and she slept for 5 hours! I was too giddy with delight at her sleeping to sleep myself (I suppose the adage of the newborn - sleep when the baby sleeps applies to any long haul travel with toddlers as well). I even watched two movies - The Internship (a perfect flighty flight movie) and About Time (wonderful as I love all movies Richard Curtis). We were happy that there were screens in the seats - though Sophia still did not sort out the ear piece and screen combo - but at least she was distracted some.

Char was a champ on the flight - not fussy - watching movies on the screen and the iPad. I think we have passed the hurdle of idle flight time passing - at least with her.

We landed in Toronto - which is our new standard for flying! That airport is great - clean, cheerful, with family lines and Tim Horton's! The best part of all was the US Customs - you don't have to take your bags off and re-check them in. It was astounding how easy it was - and we did not have to go to customs again in Atlanta! We landed in Atlanta - and getting a car rental is a nightmare with a zillion bags and two toddlers and no car seats and minimal sleep and an international arrival. Sigh. We lived. And we slept at 3AM that night.

The week has been jet laggy for the girls - Charlotte has just begun to wake at a normal hour (meaning not 11 in the morning). The girls are sleeping through the night but are supertired (somewhat by design) as there has been nary any naps.

We got to spend an evening with the Briggs family! So nice to catch up with them in the ATL after our Singapore adventures...

The girls love their cousins! We have spent many days with Ava and Sabrina - and everyone plays together and it is very cute and I wish we lived closer. We found an indoor playground as the girls need to get good and tired (and are sort of homebound in this cold weather)... Matt had to go to Wisconsin for a family matter and Nicole is in town visiting this weekend. More on this next week...

Hard Rock:





Long hair:

iPad training for the plane:

Potty training:

En route to the doctor - so nicely dressed at least:



Dim Sum!













Shiner:

Char with Grandpa in the backyard:

The princesses with Ila and Little Charlotte!





Cousin jam session:





The Pringle Cousin train:



Cheap Mexican - Matt's favorite:









Jet lag!



Rev!

Winter hats:



The fast and the furious:



I think Grandpa would switch this potential southpaw:

Week 199 and Week 111.5 - Hike & Chinese New Year

Yet another uneventful week at Casa Drake.  I got a bit of a sickness last Friday and Saturday (but not nearly as bad as everyone else in the house).  I did redeem my sickness quotient by falling ill after drinking a dodgy red wine last night.  One!  I am an uber lightweight.  I think I am giving up drinking after this.

I have spent this week preparing for our trip next week - much of my time has been spent freaking out over the weather in America.  Earlier this week my FB friends posted that it took them 8+ hours to get home in the ATL.  If it is cold in Atlanta then of course it is arctic in Wisconsin.  Again Matt makes fun of my wussiness.  Fine!  Ridicule Me!  I am a warm weather girl!  I own it!

This week Sophia got to wear her Chinese New Year togs - which of course she was absolutely dead against doing.  She is in this indecisive stage where she says she wants to wear dress A, so you get her dress A, but then she says she wants dress B so you get her dress B, and then she says she wants dress A again... it is exhausting.  In the end Sophia did wear the cheongsam once she saw all the other kids wear theirs.  And again I have photos of her miserable at her school (I could not get a photo before leaving home as she was so against it).  She does like her school - she says "I like my teacher," then punctuated with an "I like my mommy, too."

We have heard from our friends the Birkwoods of a hike to a playground near our house - so we ventured last Sunday to find it.  We hiked which was great as there are these trails so close to our place.  I asked Matt why we have never been there before (say 5 years ago when we lived on the other side of this trail) and he said it was because he never exercised (and still does not).  I have deemed him to be of the metabolically gifted.  Although we did not find the mythical playground, we did take some nice photos as the girls were happily distracted coming down by the Cheetos bag lovingly sent from Grandma Kathy.

Charlotte had excruciating ear pain this week that luckily quickly alleviated with some ear drops.  Today Sophia fell off her scooter and had some pain down there while she peed.  Sherry (and Larry who are visiting by the way) came with Sophia and I to the local clinic today (which is also Chinese New Year - this is the equivalent of trying to go to the ER on Christmas Day) and were seen by 2 doctors after waiting for an hour and then was told that she needed to see a gynocologist - um, yea, she is 2.  These ER doctors are ridiculous here - they want to refer to specialists to absolve themselves of any responsibility.  So instead we are just going to keep it clean, give her some Ibuprofen, and keep an eye on it.  It is absolutely Murphy's Law that you will go to the doctor a zillion times before embarking on a major trip.

Tomorrow will be spent trying to figure out how to get Sofia the First on our iPad for our long haul flight.  And trying to get the earbuds to stay in Charlotte's ears.  From the time we leave our house we will be in transit for 24 hours to get to my parents' house - pretty good considering it got up to 30 hours from Singapore.

Hiking and taking in the view:

In search of a playground:

Cheeky Sophia:

Model Char likes to wear scarves when I wear scarves:

Sharing Cheetos on a rock that looks like a hippo:

Our miserable Sophia dressed in a cheongsam at school!