Monday 15 August 2011

catchup

well, i won't lie to you, the flight was pretty horrendous - mae was good as gold until the last four or five hours when we were all pretty shattered, sophie slept for a rough total of 6 hours out of the 24 we were in transit and was hard to handle in my lap whether sleeping or not. we didn't end up using half of the snacks and toys i brought, the batteries on the digital picture frame were dead when i pulled it out, mae's headphones wouldn't work on the plane (i meant to buy an adapter but forgot), our inseat tvs didn't work for the first couple of hours of our first flight, our gate checked umbrella stroller wasn't waiting for us in auckland for our four hour layover, prompting a mini meltdown from me, prompting air new zealand to organise a stroller for us and send us up to their lounge (so nice!), i don't sleep well on planes except with earplugs which wasn't really an option this time so i dozed for about 2 hours total.

but we made it. we're here! it's summer! we've been hanging out with tons of family and friends and enjoying the sunshine (and the bevy of toys that grandma has provided) to the fullest.

sand + water table

bike

water park

water park

bubbles with grandpa

wading pool

train ride

carousel

we actually flew on mae's birthday and we had a small party for her the sunday before with our closest friends and family. she had been talking about her birthday party for MONTHS and was so happy to finally be able to blow out those candles.

birthday girl

and we finally gave mae her new camera, complete with a new neck strap and padded case made by moi. (we've played with her kidizoom plus for a couple of weeks now and i can't recommend it enough to anyone looking at kid's cameras. it's 2 megapixel (unlike many that are .3 megapixel), uses an sd card, has a decent flash, shoots video, includes a bunch of cute frames and accents you can add to the photos. i totally love playing with it and, more importantly (i guess), so does mae.)

birthday camera

birthday girl

we did simple activities with the kids, party hat decorating with stickers (foam stars were a hit) and i bought a cardboard playhouse for them to colour on and play with. it was the first birthday party we've actually had and it turned out perfectly, lots of fun, yummy party food, pretty balloons, perfect company. i'm actually looking forward to next year's : )

balloons

13 comments:

  1. I was wondering how the flight went - glad to hear you all survived!! Mae's birthday looked like loads of fun. I love the little strap for her camera!

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  2. you are one brave woman. enjoy your stay and I hope that the return flight won't be so tiring.photos are great. phenergon!

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  3. So good to hear you made it safe. You are one brave woman to travel to the other side of the globe with two little ones!! Enjoy the family and sun, I bet the grandparents are loving it. Go and get some ME time too!!! :)

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  4. I've was hoping you had a decent flight (maybe to give me hope of traveling by myself w 2 kids too!). Though in the end I guess it's just a really long, somewhat awful day that probably is worth it w lots of family/fun times ahead.

    I'm definitely going to check out the camera - I love the idea of not having to share mine anymore ;o)

    Enjoy your vacation!!
    Devon

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  5. what gorgeous birthday photos, the dress is killer and she looks so happy. enjoy your time over there.... you have done so well to get there. it's just such a long way to go there is no way all the travel can be trouble free! (p.s the stroller not ready for you @ gate is shocking and i had similiar problem.)

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  6. omg im so dreading my trip to and from argentina with emma we have 2 stop overs ov 6 hrs each on the way there. Its going to be hell. glad you survived, rest up for the trip home

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  7. daisy, thanks for noticing mae's birthday dress! i forgot to mention that i made it for the flight, wanted to have something comfy for her to wear with leggings for easy potty access but it turned out so cute that she wore it for her party, too : )

    cinti, seriously, with emma you will probably be fine. she's old enough to at least play with some stuff and watch a bit of tv. soph was the real problem, especially with her in my lap. she is huge and it was impossible for me to even move while she was asleep (the seats were a bit too narrow to have her sleep in the ergo, legs kept getting stuck under the arm rest) and when she was awake it was like wrestling a six legged labrador puppy in my lap. the only thing that kept her still was a steady stream of sultanas and cheerios!

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  8. Well done for surviving! No wonder you had a meltdown about the stroller - I'd have done exactly the same in that situation.
    Mae's birthday sounds fantastic and her dress is lovely.
    Have a wonderful time on holiday and enjoy all your family and friends.

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  9. That flight sounds awful! It is such a long journey. I did it pre kids about 8 years ago and it was hard then, let alone with 2 little ones! Sounds like you are having a lovely time though!

    I just wanted to thank you again for the little giveaway I won for the baby oobee pattern a little while ago. I finally made a couple and have now finally blogged them if you want to take a look.

    Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip!

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  10. I'm glad you survived the flight, but that sucks about not having the stroller for the layover... seriously, what are you meant to do with 2 kids and no stroller?
    Where did you get the camera from? I was just looking online and it seems much more expensive in Australia than in the US or UK. But would be the perfect birthday or Christmas present for Ali...

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  11. hey suzy, i ended up getting it on ebay, i think from ireland of all places, new in package for $60 including shipping to aus. there were quite a few around the same price on ebay.co.uk and ebay.com at that time so hopefully there is a blue one just waiting for ali. he will love it!

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  12. Heather8:14 pm

    Hi Leslie,

    Loving the strap on the camera. My son has just the same model camera and I'm thinking that he needs a neck strap too, but for the life of me but cannot problem solve how to attach it to those tiny fixings. Can I ask how did you do it?

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  13. heather, i just sewed little loops of braided embroidery thread into each ends and then fed it through just like you would the wrist strap that the camera came with (the strap has snaps so it can open into two separate pieces). does that make any sense?

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