Thursday, October 29, 2009

America the Beautiful, Land that I love

A few weeks ago my husband got approved to go to a training back home.  That was on Wed.  On Thursday, I bought a ticket, and we flew on Friday.  Nothing like a spur of the moment trip across the Atlantic!   It was LOADS of fun!  Unfortunately we could not take the same flight as his company paid for his and we had to pay for mine.  I wasn't as nervous to make the 15 hour venture as the only adult with Anna this time, as I was last time.  It went really smoothly.  In fact, on the long flight over we were given a seat in the bulkhead (which they normally do for families with infants).  The flight attendant said that since the flight was not very full I could move to one of the seats with two seats available if I wanted to.  That sounded great (two seats for the price of one!).  Well, we moved after take off, and once we moved, I offered our seat in the bulkhead to the lady sitting next to us.  She was actually traveling with the woman who was sitting next to us in the bulkhead and readily accepted.  That is right we ended up with 3 seats to ourselves!  When I put the arm rests down I could stretch out all the way with Anna!  She only took a 45 minute nap during the entire (which was much longer than she slept traveling at 6 months) She timed it perfectly.  It was during meal time so I even was able to eat my own food!    We stayed with my parents for a week.  We were able to do all kinds of fun things!  Going home really reminds you of how much you miss everything.  It was wonderful for Anna to get to spend so much time with my parents.  We were able to go and see Drew's grandparents which was wonderful.  We also were able to spend a lot of time with our good friends the wheelers.  They have a daughter 6 months older than Anna and it was as though they had played with each other all the time.  They became instant BFF's.  It was adorable.  They were making each other giggle in the car rides.  They were playing hide a seek, chasing each other around, so cute!  We thought it was wonderful.  Drew and Joe have been best friends for a long time, its great that his wife and I get  along swimmingly, and now the girls do too!  Drew has nicknamed Anna "Boca" for a long time.  That is the name we use most often when we call her.  Emmeline (Joe and Alissa's daughter) kept saying Bokey after she left Anna on the first day.  Alissa was wondering what she was trying to say, then it dawned on her.  She asked if she was talking about Boca, indeed she was.  She reportedly walked around saying "Bokey, bokey, bokey"  On our last night there my parents took Anna and I (Drew had to fly back home the day before)  out to dinner at a place called "Hanks" it was great food and cool that they had a "Hyattsville burger"  I didn't get one but I had a bite and it was great!

After we left my parents we traveled to Detroit to see my sister Denise and her family.  It was great to be able to meet baby Grant and spend time with all the boys as well.  I have really missed seeing them grow.  Anna loved spending time with her cousins.  I think she loved waking up in the morning and having a house full of kids to play with!  Jackson would spin her around, which she thought was hilarious!   We were able to go to the pool, watch Jackson play soccer, and do a little shopping while we were there.  Denise showed us around her neighborhood and took us to her old old.  I got pretty emotional as I was leaving (also a bit stressed with the upcoming journey).  I think what did me in was the extra long hug Jackson gave me.  It is really hard not to see all the little milestones in the kids lives.  A few days later Denise called me to tell me that even though she didn't realize Luke even knew my name, he kept walking around the house saying "Kimmy gone"  how sweet!  Don't get me wrong we do love the opportunity we have to live in England.  But parting truly is such sweet sorry.

6 comments:

  1. I am lucky to be the first to comment on this entry. We miss you and Drew and Anna. It was great having you here. Anna is so special. It was amazing watching here at the DMV with people not in the best mood after all they were waiting for their turn. Even the guard seemed to have a bad disposition. But Anna put a stop to that. She would just walk up and smile at them and wait for a reaction and no one could resist smiling back at her-such a flirt- Luke told me about there great visit but Anna, Kim And drew left. They and we miss you. Looking forward to our cruise. 2 months away.

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  2. Aw what wonderful visit you had. And how great that you have this opportunity to come home. The story about Luke was so touching as well as the others. Your little family touches so many others. And soon you will be back. I can hardly wait to see you again. In the meantime enjoy each other and keep us all posted on the milestones.... I check this site almost daily. I love you all so much. Aunt Sue

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  3. Kim, I'm so glad that you guys were able to come to visit. I'm sorry we couldn't see you more while you were here and sorry we couldn't make it to your house that night after conference. Chasing a kid around can be kind of distracting, cause we never got to catch up more! Well, I'm glad I had the chance to see you, at least! Anna only slept for 45 minutes out of 15 hours? Well, I don't know why I sound shocked, Evi fights sleep when we travel too, I would just wish for your sake that she slept for a few hours :).

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  4. We LOVED having you guys here and miss you and Anna SO much. Luke wanted to call Kimmy today but it was too late. I'm glad that you guys made it back safe and sound but I so wish we lived closer...

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  5. I am totally confused by the last comment - is that from Denise AKA Kim? We loved having you visit as well. It was so fun to see you, Drew and Anna and we can't wait to be with you all on the cruise. Getting ready for the Treat or Treaters tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

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  6. Kim it is strange post you put above. LY, Dad

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