Home Sweet Home

Ten minutes from departure time, and I am trying to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  There have been a few fairly minor skirmishes among the cousins, but overall they have had a glorious time together.  My mom won't admit to it of course, but I think she must be ready for a break from her post of head chef for up to eighteen people per meal, three meals per day.  At one point we briefly considered going out to a restaurant, but with nine children ages twelve and under, we quickly came to our senses and ordered pizza.

Here is Sophie saying goodbye to the cousin who frequently confesses that he loves her dearly, all of the time, but especially when she is playing with him.  He didn't want to say good-bye, but my brother encouraged him to put on a happy face until we were out the door, and he came through admirably.

Eleven suitcases waiting to be loaded into two vehicles:

I have no pictures of the Cleveland airport due to the confusion we experienced from the time we arrived in what we assumed would be plenty of time to the moment of boarding with very few minutes to spare.  The havoc wreaked by the blizzard on the eastern coast contributed to the chaos, and we witnessed plenty of disconsolate faces from flights that had taken off intending to land in Newark or other eastern cities but found themselves unexpectedly, and unhappily, in Cleveland.  We counted our blessings that we were heading west, and with the exception of one exceptionally rude fellow passenger, our flight to Los Angeles was uneventful. Cameron had become increasingly unwell during the flight, but thankfully was able to stagger off the plane toward a rubbish bin before the airsickness (or stomach flu?) overcame him.

The Los Angeles airport seems especially designed to rob travelers of whatever enthusiasm they retain when arriving, and while it was less frustrating for us than our previous two layovers there, the hours from 9:30pm to midnight EST passed very slowly indeed. The children have become used to the idea that they will have no idea what time it is, so when Cameron inquired the time as we arrived, and we responded 9:30, he wondered if it was in the morning or the evening.  We had a laugh over that (we had left Cleveland around 5pm). The older three children had been quite confident in their plans to remain awake enough to eat the dinner served after our 1am departure from L.A., but only Katie succeeded, in spite of the temporary excitement generated when they realized we would be sitting in the upper level of a 747.  James fell asleep upon boarding, and Cameron minutes after take-off with Sophie close behind him.  We wouldn't have allowed Cameron to eat in any case.

The highlight of our trip was being invited into the cockpit just before the flight from Sydney to Melbourne (about 24 hours after we left Cleveland).  We were surprised due to the extra precautions now taken in flight---every time the cockpit door is opened, for example, the surrounding area is blocked off and guarded by an attendant.  After our photo session, the pilot walked through the plane looking for other children who might like the same experience, and the entire flight crew proved to be exceptionally friendly, more than making up for our Cleveland to Los Angeles experience.

In spite of our fears to the contrary, James remained excited at the prospect of returning to Australia.  He was popular with the flight attendants who kept his juice and water glasses full, somewhat to Ross's dismay.  During one of their frequent trips to the loo, James asked his daddy "Why do they make us drink so much?!"

Melbourne greeted us with clear skies and near perfect temperatures.  We have been reveling in the sunshine and warmth, and are not at all sorry to put away our winter things for a while.  In fact that may be the only bright spot of unpacking, the one thing I detest more than packing.  Mercifully, the blog is providing a refuge from the ten suitcases still awaiting me, and I am sure that when I finish, bed will be the next item on the list. (The eleventh suitcase is empty only because I transferred the remainder of its contents to the suitcase sitting nearby.)

The concept of home has been on our minds lately.  One of the children, having heard me refer to multiple places as "home" in the preceding weeks, wondered exactly which one I meant.  Was it our house in Seven Fields, my parents' house in Ohio, or our house in Melbourne?  I think I once even referred to our hotel room in Singapore as home.  I pondered for some time, and replied that home is the place where we are together as a family.  That seemed to satisfy her, for which I was grateful.

Comments

[Nikki]

Christie, I am so glad to hear that you had a wonderful time back home (in Pittsburgh).LOL I had to crack up with Cameron asking if it was AM or PM. How cool to sit up in the front of the plane! I'm sure that made the kids day (or night)???? Now I'm confused!

Honestly, it was great to see you and I look forward to your next visit!

[janetjames]

Christie - thanks once again for your wonderful blog, though how you had the energy to do this I haven't quite figured out. The pictures in the cockpit show you all looking surprisingly bright eyed and happy, in spite of a very long flight. Glad to hear you're "back home" safely. (Thanks, too, for that great picture of all the cousins. Sweet !)

[Shanda]

Another great post, my friend. I loved that pic of you all in the cockpit. With all the traveling you do, you'll have to add airplanes to your list of homes!
You have a beautiful family. love ya!