Hi-ho! Hi-ho!

K with Josh in the hot tub

B riding our transit boat to the Magic Kingdom

We've spent the last week (or 4 days plus travel) at Disney World with Josh's parents - and had an amazing time.  Our drive down was uneventful except for a rather singular experience at Chick-Fil-A.  Perhaps I should explain.  Long days of travel require stops - this much every parent knows.  And when we travel, we prefer to stop somewhere that the kids can run around and play (even if it means we pack up their lunch to eat later in the car).  So we're generally on the hunt for Chick-Fil-A or a McDonald's playplace.  As it happens, there was a Chick-Fil-A in Gainesville which was right around the right place for a lunch break - and it didn't hurt that it was the same exit as the Starbucks that my father-in-law likes to stop at.  Normally Chick-Fil-A is a good bet for the kids, but for some reason, the play place at this one was designed to be virtually unnavigable by children under the age of 4.  There was no toddler area, so essentially, unless one of the adults was there to boost up the kids all the way to the top level, they couldn't play.  Definite fail for us.  Is it wrong to be so disappointed by this??  Perhaps.  It's just unfortunate when things don't meet your expectations.  Chick-Fil-A playplace means the kids get their energy out and settle in for an afternoon of driving, except here - not so much.  Luckily, on the way home, we stopped in Ocala instead and they had the standard setup which was much appreciated (by kids and adults alike).

K on the teacups

Disney was a great experience.  We rode all the rides we wanted, met all the characters we wanted, and had a genuinely good time.  We stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness (which was a new location for us) and thought they were perfect.  The cabins had a double bed and a set of bunkbeds in the bedroom as well as a full size murphy bed in the living room - so plenty of sleeping space without everyone having to go to bed at the same time.  We also had a full kitchen and an eating area.  An all-around great value that allowed us to cook for ourselves for breakfast and dinner, but still enjoy snacking while we were in the park.  B seems to have gotten over his fear of mascots (perhaps) and while he didn't love Mickey at first site, he actually asked to visit him again and enjoyed it.  K on the other hand loved them the first time she saw them, but wanted nothing to do with them the second time.  Fickle children?  Yes.

B with Baba and Deda

Hi, Minnie!

Our cabin was right next to a pool and hot tub, so the kids also got plenty of relaxation time when we were ready to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the parks.  Josh and I were fortunate enough to get some grown-up alone time as well - Thanks Baba and Deda! - to get a nice dinner at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and meander around Downtown Disney on Friday night.  We had amazing weather the entire week and only had rain one afternoon.  Sunshine, glorious sunshine!  After over a year in Monterey, I feel like we were definitely due :)

How every great day at Disney should end

B is thinking about riding Star Tours again the next time we go

Mickey!!!

A great end to a great week!!

Florida - Take 1

We spent 5 days (very long days) driving cross country with the kids and cats in 2 cars from CA to FL.  We kept the kids separated and that honestly seemed to be a pretty smart move on our part.  We also made sure to stop for lunch at restaurants with playgrounds as often as possible.  That seemed to help keep them entertained.  Upon arrival, one of our cats went into hiding (likely out of protest over her traveling conditions), but reappeared a day later inside a linen closet much to everyone's relief (well, mostly everyone).

K with her "war wounds"

After a day spent hanging out at the house yesterday, we decided to load the kids up and head across town to the San Luis Mission so everyone could get out, run around, and take advantage of this gorgeous weather.  All was fine and good until K got pecked in both eyes by a chicken.  Admittedly, we were warned that this particular chicken was a bit on the ... restless side.  In fact, the chickens had apparently just been attacked by a hawk that morning, and one of the roosters had been eaten by a fox a short time ago.  Clearly chickens lead a rough life here.  But I have learned my parenting lesson of the week, and we're now ready to move on to other things.

Funnily enough, when the lady who wrote the incident report about the chicken asked if K was up to date on shots, I could without a second thought say that she definitely was.  I suppose that's one benefit of this new lifestyle :)

Seriously.  Chickens...

Almost There!

Well, not almost to Dhaka, but almost to the end of Monterey.  More specifically, almost to the end of the "moving process".  Sure, we have to wait a while to get our stuff on the other end, but the stress associated with that is really minimal compared to the stress of packing it all up.  It's been a long time since we've done an international move, and the last time we did it, we were newly married and had no furniture.  This has definitely been a different sort of experience.

A new set of packers came on Friday and took away all of our Household Good items - that is our main shipment of stuff to Dhaka.  This shipment will go by boat, so it will take a while to get there.  There are many places where this is the case, but the shipping company will not authorize the release of our items here in the US until we are physically living in our permanent house in Dhaka.  So everybody keep your fingers crossed that we get into a permanent house right away, and they can coordinate shipping shortly after that.  While our items could be received in as few as 5-6 weeks, it could also take up to 4 months.  I've heard of cases of each.

We're living in lodging on post right now, but it's not too bad.  The family quarters actually have 2 bedrooms, a sitting room, a dining room, full kitchen, pack and play, high chair, etc.  Other than trying to keep ourselves fed while not overbuying, our challenges are few here.  Of course, we're still trying to clear out the old house, so each day involves some amount of time over there packing things up, throwing things away, and gathering items to donate.  I've found someone locally to take all of our food and toiletry items that we could not pack, and the part of me that dislikes wasting anything (mostly because I'm cheap) is pretty happy to be able to pass along the things we can't take.  Every box we bring back to lodging though makes me wonder how we're really going to fit it all in the cars to bring with us on our cross-country trek.

One last set of packers is due in later this week to pick up our Un-Accompanied Baggage and then we'll really be all set.  Can't wait to finally have all that stuff out of the house.  We're working now on getting boxes put together to ship our "essentials" in advance.  As long as we don't go over our UAB authorization, the government should reimburse us for this.  Here's hoping the numbers work in our favor!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I can't help buy wonder about all the new and exciting things 2012 holds for our family.