Monday, November 15, 2010
We're home...
and it's 2:30 AM as I sit here and type this. The kids have each gotten up 2-3 times in the past few hours and now I can't go back to sleep. So, what better to do at 2:30 AM then catch up on our blog. First, I will fill in about our trip home, then back track to our last few weeks in Australia. Overall, our trip home went well. The kids did AMAZING...Delta on the other hand, not so much.
Our fight home was suppose to leave at 12pm on Friday 12th (Sydney time) which would be Thursday evening NC time. We get to the airport with our 7 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, 1 stroller, and 2 kids. As soon as we get there, there is a huge line for Delta (and our flight is there only flight for the day) and it only takes a couple minutes before we start hearing words like "delay" and "10 hr delay". WHAT? According to Delta to pilot for the flight leaving LA was sick so the plane wasn't even here yet. We still don't understand why it would take 10 hrs to find a sub-pilot but it did. Now we know we should have checked the flight, but it didn't cross our minds. So, after waiting in line for 3 hrs to check in we get checked in, get some vouchers for food, and get a hotel to kill time. We were pretty unhappy about the delay but the day got worst when we were trying to fix a double charge from when we left.
To keep a long and frustrating story short, we had to pay about $150 for a ticket for Lydia (even though she didn't have a seat). When we got to the airport to leave, we found out that they had charged us for here ticket and mailed us a ticket for her but we didn't know this or get it. We were told we would pay for her at the airport. At the airport they made us buy here another seat and said we could get a refund when get the the other ticket in the mail. So, we tried to get our refund time and time again online and through Delta customer service and Everyone said you had to do it at a ticket counter. After being frustrated about this for months, we finally try to do it at the ticket counter in Sydney and they would not do it. Our blood (especially Caleb's) was boiling at this point. (To fast forward, we were told it could be resolved in LA but they would only give a partial refund so Caleb didn't do that. We still don't have our money and we really are not happy with Delta).
But, back to our trip home. After a 10 hr delay and spending a few hours in a hotel (in which Aaron napped and Lydia refused to nap) we headed back to the airport. We were still a little later leaving but sometime around 10 PM we started our flight home. We thankfully had buckhead seats, which gave us more room. But we also had a very not nice or happy flight attendant to deal with. Thankfully Lydia fell asleep really quick (I guess because of no nap and a little help from Benadryl!). After getting lectured by the fight attendant on how we shouldn't use to bassinet (even though Lydia is still under the weight limit) we finally get it but Lydia cried EVERY time we tried to put her in it. Thankfully she slept 6-7 hours in our arms. Aaron was took excited about getting to watch movies that he waited a couple hours to sleep, but he slept 5-6 hours. The last half of the flight they were up but it went AMAZINGLY smooth. Honestly, I can not express how thankful I am the kids did so well.
Once we got to LA we did customs/immigration/rechecked bags and got new flights. Our rescheduled flight gave us a 6 hr layover in LA then a 4 hr layover in Detroit before getting home to Greensboro. As we were checking in we saw there was a direct flight from LA to RDU (Raleigh) that left about the time our flight was suppose to leave for Detroit. So, thankfully we found a nice Delta representative (which are few and far between) who switched us. This red eye flight was 4 hours and the kids slept 3 of the 4 hrs (probably do to Benadryl again...don't judge). We were also about to spread out and had 2 rows which helped the kids sleep. Caleb's dad came and picked us up in Raleigh at 6 AM and we got home a couple hours later.
Our 24 hours of traveling got extended to 36 but that is better than the 42 hours we thought we were going to have to deal with.
It was sooo nice to get home. Caleb's mom had candle's burning, food in the crock-pot, food in the fridge and pantry for us which was so nice. My parents earlier in the week had gotten the house ready for us to by freshening/cleaning things and planting some flowers outside. We also had a very generous and thoughtful welcome home gifts and food from some good friends at home. It was so nice to come home to a house ready for us. Thanks again everyone!
We got home Saturday morning and are still trying to recover from 48 hrs of not sleeping (Caleb and I) and 16 hour time change. But we are so glad to be home. We LOVED Sydney and Australia but there is no place like home.
Our fight home was suppose to leave at 12pm on Friday 12th (Sydney time) which would be Thursday evening NC time. We get to the airport with our 7 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, 1 stroller, and 2 kids. As soon as we get there, there is a huge line for Delta (and our flight is there only flight for the day) and it only takes a couple minutes before we start hearing words like "delay" and "10 hr delay". WHAT? According to Delta to pilot for the flight leaving LA was sick so the plane wasn't even here yet. We still don't understand why it would take 10 hrs to find a sub-pilot but it did. Now we know we should have checked the flight, but it didn't cross our minds. So, after waiting in line for 3 hrs to check in we get checked in, get some vouchers for food, and get a hotel to kill time. We were pretty unhappy about the delay but the day got worst when we were trying to fix a double charge from when we left.
To keep a long and frustrating story short, we had to pay about $150 for a ticket for Lydia (even though she didn't have a seat). When we got to the airport to leave, we found out that they had charged us for here ticket and mailed us a ticket for her but we didn't know this or get it. We were told we would pay for her at the airport. At the airport they made us buy here another seat and said we could get a refund when get the the other ticket in the mail. So, we tried to get our refund time and time again online and through Delta customer service and Everyone said you had to do it at a ticket counter. After being frustrated about this for months, we finally try to do it at the ticket counter in Sydney and they would not do it. Our blood (especially Caleb's) was boiling at this point. (To fast forward, we were told it could be resolved in LA but they would only give a partial refund so Caleb didn't do that. We still don't have our money and we really are not happy with Delta).
But, back to our trip home. After a 10 hr delay and spending a few hours in a hotel (in which Aaron napped and Lydia refused to nap) we headed back to the airport. We were still a little later leaving but sometime around 10 PM we started our flight home. We thankfully had buckhead seats, which gave us more room. But we also had a very not nice or happy flight attendant to deal with. Thankfully Lydia fell asleep really quick (I guess because of no nap and a little help from Benadryl!). After getting lectured by the fight attendant on how we shouldn't use to bassinet (even though Lydia is still under the weight limit) we finally get it but Lydia cried EVERY time we tried to put her in it. Thankfully she slept 6-7 hours in our arms. Aaron was took excited about getting to watch movies that he waited a couple hours to sleep, but he slept 5-6 hours. The last half of the flight they were up but it went AMAZINGLY smooth. Honestly, I can not express how thankful I am the kids did so well.
Once we got to LA we did customs/immigration/rechecked bags and got new flights. Our rescheduled flight gave us a 6 hr layover in LA then a 4 hr layover in Detroit before getting home to Greensboro. As we were checking in we saw there was a direct flight from LA to RDU (Raleigh) that left about the time our flight was suppose to leave for Detroit. So, thankfully we found a nice Delta representative (which are few and far between) who switched us. This red eye flight was 4 hours and the kids slept 3 of the 4 hrs (probably do to Benadryl again...don't judge). We were also about to spread out and had 2 rows which helped the kids sleep. Caleb's dad came and picked us up in Raleigh at 6 AM and we got home a couple hours later.
Our 24 hours of traveling got extended to 36 but that is better than the 42 hours we thought we were going to have to deal with.
It was sooo nice to get home. Caleb's mom had candle's burning, food in the crock-pot, food in the fridge and pantry for us which was so nice. My parents earlier in the week had gotten the house ready for us to by freshening/cleaning things and planting some flowers outside. We also had a very generous and thoughtful welcome home gifts and food from some good friends at home. It was so nice to come home to a house ready for us. Thanks again everyone!
We got home Saturday morning and are still trying to recover from 48 hrs of not sleeping (Caleb and I) and 16 hour time change. But we are so glad to be home. We LOVED Sydney and Australia but there is no place like home.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
traveling...
This is probably all you will hear from us until we get back home on November 12. Well, I should say until we get home and settled. We left Sydney on October 31. We have all our stuff packed, half in storage at our apt building in Sydney and the other half we are lugging with us as we travel around Australia before heading home. From Sydney, we went to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days. They are just a couple hours from Sydney. We had a pretty low key, relaxing time, mainly due to some rain. After that we flew down to Tasmania. We spent 3 days there and LOVED Tasmania. It was cold, but such a historical area. The scenery is also very pretty...it seems like mini NZ. Yesterday we flew up to the Whitsunday Islands. We are staying in Airlie beach, on the mainland since its about 1/2 the cost of an actual island stay. we have a beautiful 2 br apt and are LOVING not being in one hotel room!!! It is absolutely beautiful here. Google it if you want...one of the beaches is in the top 10 of the world. We will go there in a couple days. We are enjoying the beautiful warm weather for a few more days before coming home of Friday. We can't wait to see everyone but will miss Australia.
I will post details on our last few weeks after we get home, so its not all done yet!
I will post details on our last few weeks after we get home, so its not all done yet!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Caught in the act...
Lydia loves to climb, even after repeatedly being instructed not to. I caught her in the act the other day.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Noodle Night Markets
During October Sydney host its International Food Festival. We have had fun doing a few new things during this month. Our favorite was Noodle Night. It was set up in a park that is a few minutes from our apartment. There were 30 or so different Asian restaurants that has stalls selling food. The noodle nights were for 2 weeks (weekdays) and we went 3 times. I tried to talk Caleb into going a fourth time, but he wasn't interested. We enjoyed some yummy Malaysian noodles, Japanese pancakes, variety of Thai dishes and dumplings. We have had a lot of variety of foods while here and I have to admit, I am loving the variety. We even got food from our favorite Thai place, Chat Thai. Soooo, yummy and reasonably priced (which is huge deal here). The third time we went, we met a few families from the church we have been attending. We love the church and have been very welcomed by them. We really enjoyed the evenings out in the city.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Happy Birthday Grandmama!!!
Grandmama,
We love you so much and thank the Lord for you. We had such a fun time with you while you visited us in Australia. We look forward to seeing you in less than a month! We hope that you have a great birthday...and that we can catch you on Skype.
Happy Birthday Grandmama! We all love you so much!
We love you so much and thank the Lord for you. We had such a fun time with you while you visited us in Australia. We look forward to seeing you in less than a month! We hope that you have a great birthday...and that we can catch you on Skype.
Happy Birthday Grandmama! We all love you so much!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Paddy's Market
I've mentioned before the market that I have come to love and frequent weekly. The more I go the more I realize how good it is. A lot of the things are about half the cost of the grocery store. But the cost does change every week (daily I think). This week red peppers were $8kg and they were $2kg about a month ago. When they were $2kg I got a red pepper for about $.50. And now with the HORRIBLE exchange rate, it cost pretty much the same as US dollars. Side note, when we found out we were coming to Australia an Australian dollar got you about $0.83. Caleb tried to go ahead and exchange some money but had trouble so we didn't worry about it. When we got here the rate was $0.89US to AU$1.00. As I type this the rate is $.991 and the worst it got was $.997. So, instead of being about to take about 10% off the price of items to make us feel better about the prices it is now equal. What also stinks is we have been waiting to get our souvenirs until closer to time to come home and now that is going to cost us at least 10% more. Oh well, it stinks but nothing we can do about it. Back to the market...I really just like going for the fresh food, but they have about everything you could want or need. We finally took Caleb this past weekend. We got a few souvenirs and finally some pictures.
A little workout
Caleb was trying to do a little workout but had some company.
ignore the mess in the background...it was a tent that got destroyed
Brian also has some company during one of his workouts
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
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