(There's our hometown! Bye, house!!!)
(Lil Sis, the intrepid baby, ready for traveling from Spokane)
Spokane to Salt Lake City to San Francisco took ALL morning. Luckily, we got a hotel room near the airport for our 9 hour stop in San Francisco. That was definitely worth the hotel points. Baths, naps, meals and quiet outside the terminals...it was the perfect way to break things up for the kids.
(Staying distracted and non raging during our domestic flights)
To be completely honest, there were so many times en route to NZ where I was thinking "This is insane." "Never again." "We should have stayed home!" It's not that the trip down went badly; it actually went extremely well. The girls were slightly antsy on our domestic flights, but the 13 hour flight across the pacific, the one I was dreading, turned out to be just fine. Big Sis ended up sleeping 6-7 hours and Lil Sis slept about 8 hours in her bassinet they provided. But from 6:30am Friday to 11:00pm Sunday, I only slept maybe 2-3 hours. THAT is why the journey was hard at times! Otherwise, our kids proved to be fantastic little globe trekkers. But, books, toys, food and a charged iPad helped immensely!!! (No, I never really slept in San Fran. Too much adrenaline pumping in my veins!)
(Happy on the long flight.)
Once we arrived in Auckland, we went through customs, baggage claim and biosecurity in less than 20 mins. It was amazing and probably an all time record for getting through international customs. It was 6:30am and we were ready to take on the day...but unfortunately, we had to wait around the airport until 8:30 to catch a bus to the camper van rental agency. We roamed the halls of the Auckland airport, keeping the kids happy with snacks and little videos of themselves on our iphones (Big Sis loved watching videos of herself taken at our neighborhood park and our backyard. Familiarity helps!)
When we made it to the camper van agency, they got us situated as fast as they could. (The staff were so great and accommodating!) We spent a couple of hours in the parking lot unpacking our stuff, getting the car seats set up and making it all as comfy as possible. The girls were tired and getting a little impatient, but again, food, toys, books, ipad, saved us!
(Lil Sis inspects one of the camper van beds)
We spent the rest of the day grocery shopping, getting situated at our campsite and waiting for Melanie's arrival at midnight. After playing at the playground, dinner and baths, I crashed with the kids at about 7pm. It felt WONDERFUL to sleep!
(After nearly 60 hours non stop, this was a must)
It was so surreal and yet also normal feeling to be back in New Zealand. It holds a special place in my heart, and I couldn't wait to head out of Auckland and onto to fresh adventures with my family...but first, Melanie had to catch up! More on that next time!
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