Passport Scare - Traveling With Kids in Kenya

So we had a little passport scare today.  Dr. J had put this pouch in his pocket that had his passport, debit card, and the last of our 2000 shillings before he headed back up to work after lunch.  We think he was planning on getting some more money from the bank because friends let me tell you, shillings go pretty fast here, but when he got back from the hospital he realized he didn't have the pouch on him.  We looked around the house and then he headed back up to the hospital to see if by chance it had fallen out there or along the way.  I think both of us were feeling a little frantic about the whole thing.  The shilling thing was not so bad, I mean after all we are talking about less than $30.  The bank card wasn't great, but we knew we could cancel it, and it actually expires at the end of this month so we were already going to be down to just my debit card anyway.  The real stress point was the passport.  I have no idea how you get a new passport if you lose yours and the internet has been down for two days so it wasn't like I could even check.  Do you have to go to a US embassy? (Just in case anyone is interested, here is what you have to do.)  If so that would be in Nairobi, and how do you get to Nairobi without your passport?  Dr. J was praying on his way up to the hospital.  I went into our room with the kids and had a prayer after he left.  Then I walked down to Michael's guard shack to wait for Dr. J.  I haven't set up a phone here, we totally have two with us but I just haven't bothered to get a card or money on mine because so for there hasn't been any reason to.  While for the most part I don't mind, I mean after all this is a choice I made, at this moment I wanted prompt news on what was or wasn't found.  He was gone for a long time and when he finally got back he had no passport.  We hugged each other, both said we were sorry, and walked off hand in hand to get the bank number to tell them to cancel the card.  It was at this moment that Dr. J was putting some stuff down on the table and I was looking into our downstairs bathroom, and then I shrieked, because there on the window seal of the bathroom was the pouch with the passport, money, and card.  We both did a little happy dance and then went upstairs with the kids to say a prayer of thanks.  Maybe this was just poor planning, bad memories, messy housekeeping, or maybe it was the will of God.  Dr. J told me after our prayer that when he went to his ward to see if by chance he'd dropped the pouch there that one of his patients was having a seizure and there was no one around to help him.  Dr. J was able to stay and get him stabilized before he returned home.  As I'm sitting here typing this Dr. J said to me, "While I was walking and praying I said to God, I don't know if I'm going to find my passport or not, but if there is some reason that I need to go back to hospital right now please let me know what it is."  Originally today we'd planned on using that time to go to the mall and pick out some birthday presents for the kids.  I think it was OK that that got pushed off a little and I'm really glad that Dr. J was able to be there for his patient when he needed him.  I'm also glad I don't have to find out first hand how to get a new passport when out of the country.

Giraffe Hike - Traveling With Kids in Kenya

Eldoret, Kenya to Krugar Farms

Time: 25-30 minute tax ride

Cost: 2000 Kenyan Shillings for the ride, 500 shillings per adult to get into the park, this included the guided hike.  Kids under eighteen free.  

Last Sunday some friends asked if we wanted to tag along for a hike with giraffes.  We were like, why the heck not so we left an hour early to be at our compound gate sharply at noon.  I'll have you know that Captain E complained bitterly about this.  "We are leaving church early to go see giraffes?"  "Yes, sweetie."  "We've seen giraffes a million times.  This seriously seems excessive."  Regardless we headed off on our way.  While we were in the taxi we mentioned to the driver that we'd had a lot of trouble earlier that morning finding the LDS church (oh and by the way that taxi ride cost us $12...one of the most expensive we've had in country if you don't count traveling from the airport a half hour which only cost us 2 more dollars).  He said, "oh no problem and drove us past not one, but two more LDS chapels.  I'm not sure if we will trade churches.  The first one he showed us was definitely closer meaning the taxi ride would probably be cheaper but it goes through downtown which is crazy...the potholes rival any I've ever seen anywhere...that includes Indianapolis this winter, it is two lanes only, there are no traffic lights, signs, and while there are a few places where a shoulder or sidewalk are present they are often filled with vendors and the occasional bus van or motorcycle taxi trying to get around traffic.  Speaking of motorcycle taxis, yesterday I was walking in the compound with three of the kids and one stopped asking if I needed a ride anywhere.  I laughed and told him we were already home.  He said no problem and drove off.  Later I asked Josie about it.  "Oh," she says, "I've seen families of four on one, driver, mother, father, two kids."  So there you go.  Perfectly reasonable right. 

 Anyway back to the hike.  We took a half hour taxi ride that took us through the city, out into the country, and finally down a long dirt road skirting a small mountain top on one side and corn fields on the other.  We were in one taxi, four friends were in other.  When we got to the gates of the "Giraffe farm" as everyone here calls it we were stopped by two rangers as one of them knocked something out of a tree and then seriously jumped about ten feet back in one leap.  "What were they knocking out of the tree?" Dr. J asked our driver.  A quick conversation of Swahili, "Green snake," the driver replies.  "Green snake like green mamba?" Dr. J ask.  "Yes," the driver responds, "but no worries I've lived here my whole life and I've never seen one."  A statement that is much more comforting in the city then it is in the nature preserve where we just saw the guy knock a snake out of the tree.  You should know that this was my biggest fear about Kenya but I have to stay once we started hiking I completely forgot that snake or any brothers or sisters that might have been lurking in the bushes.   

It was definitely difficult, not so much the hike itself but the fact that we were seriously struggling with altitude sickness, hello huffing and puffing.  Someone tell me why I've been going to the gym for the last seven years because I'm seriously so out of shape.  Also Peach and Cheetah.  Cheetah just need to be restrained.  Peach seriously started to complain about 400 feet into the hike.  We tried to switch off who was carrying her or getting her to walk for parts of it but it was not fun when she was walking.  Gigi also fell into a honey badger hole, which was just nuts.  Right in the middle of the trail was this giant hole and I remember thinking as I passed it, I should call out a warning, but I didn't.  Next thing I knew Gigi had one leg in, one leg out and was in tears.  I mean the thing was seriously so deep.  Luckily we had a friend Nathaniel with us and he carried her for half a mile until she was happy again.  All she has left is a giant bruise now for her troubles.  Before we found giraffes we saw giraffe poop, giraffe footprints, porcupine quills, impala poops, and impala tracks.  We knew eventually we'd see something.  Our first giraffe encounter was pretty far off but as we honed in on one on the hillside our guide took us much closer.  We spent quit a bit of time photographing ourselves in front of this lovely guy, feeling really great that we got to see him so close.  When we finally left I thought, "Man what a fun experience.  Then we looked out and saw a huge group of impalas running across a field far below us.  "Neat."  At this point I was totally happy with our hike and even though we were now moving through some pretty prickly underbrush I thought it was worth our siting.  Truth be told I didn't even think of Mambas, except once when I thought, "Man, it's so weird I'm not freaked out about mambas."  I was just that happy.  They we came around a corner and there were seven giraffes just eating leaves on a hillside, including some babies and juveniles.  It was a great feeling to watch them.  Even though you maybe couldn't get as close as you would have at a traditional zoo there was something about just being on the same setting, walking in their footsteps, knowing that they could move and travel very freely in this park that was just awesome.  I've gotten to the point at the zoo where I'm just not sure how I feel anymore.  I watch the animals pace around in these tiny enclosures and I think, "Are they happy?"  They have food and they are free from predators?  Is that all they need?  It is hard for me to know but I definitely think that when animals are given the opportunity to stay in their family groups and to roam where they safely can it probably adds something to their lives.  It was a great experience!  I felt really lucky to have the opportunity to be out there enjoying nature with these beautiful bizarre animals and was super thankful to the ladies in our group who organized the expedition and invited us along!

Oh hey there is a giraffe.  

"Be cool" girls while he stands behind you.

Corine is a surgery resident out here while we are.  She was along for the ride.  She helped lead kids, shared water, and slowed the pace down for us.  A great friend to have on an adventure like this.  

You know, just standing in front of seven giraffes.  No biggie.

Cheetah someone manged to get carried by almost every man on our trip.  This particular friend is Nathaniel the one who carried Gigi after she fell in the hole.  He is from some French speaking country (I'm sorry I'm terrible about remember names) and after completing medical school in France came to Kenya for six months to learn English.  I'm pretty sure he is taking some Swahili.  He is seriously such a nice guy and my girls all adore him! Also I wish I could do justice to the view here

Some Impala from far away.  We actually had some up on the mountain a little closer to us but these babies can run and leap so fast they were gone before anyone could snap a picture.  

Pretty much where Peach wanted to be the whole time, on Dr. J's back.  It was a little exhausting but it was nice we had friends who were willing to share the burden with us.  \

This little guy was so adorable none of my kids could stay away from him.  When we first drove up the farm we heard this really insistent barking, then like a bullet from around a building this little guy came flying.  Everyone had to laugh because he had such a tough guy attitude in this adorable little body.  He was really resistant to the kids charms but after one of the caretakers sat down with him he let the girls come over and sat for awhile while they petted him.  Of course it wasn't a minute or two after that moment that Cheetah leaned a little too far over and did a somersault right over him.  After that he was like, no thanks, and never let them get close again.  

Re-crisp wilted lettuce

This happens to me probably once every two months...wilted lettuce.  Sometimes it is because no one bothered to put it away overnight and sometimes it is just because this is the nature of lettuce.  My friend Nancy mentioned this super amazing trick of keeping lettuce fresh by wrapping it in foil.  It actually works great, as does wrapping the bottom in a damp paper towel and then placing the whole thing in a gallon zip lock bag.  In fact I would stay that works just a smidgen better.  A little tip, just in case you are like me and like to buy the huge bag of romaine heads at Costco.  But what can you do if your chopped lettuce is already wilted.  For years I just used to toss the stuff, but a few years ago I realized that I could re-hydrate the lettuce pretty easily.  Here in the silver bowl is some chopped lettuce doctor J left on the counter overnight.  Thanks Dr. J.  I came downstairs and saw this but decided I wanted to  re-hydrate it for dinner that night.  In the morning I just threw the wilted lettuce into my salad spinner and covered it with cool water.  I put the salad spinner in the fridge.  That night I pulled the basket out of the salad spinner, dumped the water out, put the basket back in and spun off the water.  Hurrah, crisp lettuce!  

So We Live in a Compound - Traveling With Kids

When we first started doing our travel plans we found out that we would need to live in the IU Health Compound.  At first we were a little shocked by this.  The sticker price was rather high and we had to pay upfront before we got here.  We also had this moment where we worried that this would prevent us from really being able to enjoy living out of the US, but it was the rules, live here or in the student hostel which did not have room for us and four kids, so we signed our check and showed up.  I have to say that it has been a lovely development.  We live in a three bedroom house.  We have two rooms and another physician lives in the third.  When we got here towels were set up, toilet paper was available, drinking water was on our night stands, the beds were already covered with mosquito nets.  We have internet...it might be spotty, we might only get it in one room in our house, but we have internet.  International compatible power surge chords were set up for us.  A housekeeper comes five times a week.  She tidies up, cleans our bathrooms, sweeps, and mops our floors and replaces our towels and sheets when they are dirty. We have cooks that make the majority of our meals, breakfast every day, lunch Mon-Fri, dinner Sun-Thur.  At first I worried about this.  Does this sound silly?  You would think I would enjoy the break, but I had figured most of my time would be spent doing what I do at home, shopping, cooking, cleaning.  Now it turns out most of my time is done doing what I'd like to spend doing at home....playing with my children.  We will have to see if the children can stand a whole summer of me.  Living in the compound also had another unexpected gift.  Turns out Kenya is exceptional expensive.  What we original thought was really high rates we now realize we are getting a huge deal.  IU rents out the ten houses on this block, one across the street, and a couple up the street at over a 1000 a piece.  When we go out to eat we easily spend $20 to feed our family.  When we go to the grocery store food is about the equivalent of what we spend in the US sometimes more.  I like to do quick conversions while I'm walking down the aisles.  Bread is 84 shillings or a dollar a loaf.  Cold cereal will run you almost 300 shillings or about $3.50.  Same for peanut butter.  Butter is ridiculously expensive, somewhere over four dollars a container about half of what you'd get in the states and don't get me started on cheese.  I haven't even seen meat available.  You have to go to a butcher to get it and it is not cheap.  About the only thing cheap here is physical labor.  Since 2006 when the unemployment rate was hovering somewhere around 11% it has jumped steeply and now lies well over 40%.  At dinner I heard one of the physicians say that in the region we are in it hovers around 60%, but I have no way to confirm this.  This results in lots of people looking for work and they are willing to do it cheaply.  Since our arrival I've had two of the woman in the compound ask if I'm looking for someone to care for the kids.  There are a couple of other physicians and pharmacist who stay here full time with two year olds and they have nanny/house cleaners.  One is quite friendly and I hang out with her nearly every morning.  Dr. J and I decided we'd probably take one of the girls up on the offer.  I'd like to do some volunteer work once a week and the program takes us out to eat every Wednesday night and it would be nice to have a sitter.  Today I asked Josie how much I should expect to pay for the service.  "Oh," she says, "it depends on the rate you guys work out, but I would think for the four kids for all day you shouldn't pay any more than 500 shillings."  500 shillings people!  That is almost six dollars a day to tend four children all day.  It is insanity.  Have you meet my children.  The idea that anyone would want to watch all four of them for just enough money to buy a jar of peanut butter and a box of cereal is insanity.  It is a major problem in the country.  Imagine you had to live the life you live now with the prices you have now but you were only bringing back less than a tenth of what you bring home now.  They talk about how inflation is just grinding down the people.  At the hospital where Dr. J works they have seen a huge increase in the last few years of suicide attempts.  Many because parents become despondent trying to figure out how they will care for their families.  It is a seriously humbling feeling.  It makes me feel like maybe I should never complain about inflation again.

Man after that sort of downer of a start, here is a picture of Peach to cheer you up.  We spend a lot of time outside.  Our neighbors have a two year old son and our kids take full advantage of playing with all of his outside toys.  We also spend a lot of time walking and exploring in our compound, talking with everyone who lives or works here, and looking at new birds, bugs, and lizards.  A cricket that had made it's way into the dining hall today kept Peach and Cheetah entertained for an entire lunch period.  These giant slugs she found also kept her amused.  Who is this child?  I can tell you right now that there is no way I'd be walking around with giant slugs on my arms.  I have some more pictures of the compound I'll probably post some time later this week but for now feast your eyes on the deliciousness down below.  It is a good thing this girl is cute because she is taking advantage of all the nooks and crannies of the place to hide and run away from mom.  So far no great disasters have struck but I also have several people keeping eyes open looking for this streak of pink, or blue, or purple.  The guard down at the first gate Michael adores Cheetah but after he saw her trying to balance on the edge of the canal he told me with all seriousness, "That girl is not going to make it to four."  

Heathrow Airport, Nairobi, and We Are Finally Here - Traveling with kids

Bridget asked me today where we are now, so here goes, after a week of bone wearied jet lag I am finally ready to start communicating with the outside world again.  Oh and yes I like my children again.  This may sound a little harsh but when you can't sleep at night and then you finally fall asleep, being woken up by a child who doesn't want to sleep and then another child who doesn't, and then the one who doesn't but is just going to scream for two hours, well that is torture.  Didn't you tell me this was going to happen Bridget?  Jet lag with kids is terrible!  There was a point this week where I could just barely stand to look at Cheetah any more.  Today after two good nights of sleep I'm happy to report that is no longer a problem.  I was able to hug my daughter without gritting my teeth but it was touch and go there for a bit.  Has anyone found anything that helps with jet lag?  Melatonine? Sleeping Pills?  A kick in the head?  On more than one occasion we resorted to putting on Frozen while we tried to sleep and Cheetah ran around our room screaming.  Judge me if you must, but man, that first week here was ROUGH!

Here is sort of what happened besides lack of sleep.  We flew from Chicago to Heathrow and then Heathrow to Nairobi.  Note to the world at the International terminal in Heathrow they make you go through security again, and here they took some liquid based item that was deemed ok in Chicago from us and pretty much every plane friend we'd made who was flying on somewhere else.  For us it was the half empty 4 ounce bottle of Benedryl we were carrying to drug Cheetah.  True story, they took the half filled bottle saying that we could repurchase it upstairs and they left a half full 8 ounce water bottle full of laced with Benedryl juice.  I'm not even entirely sure they saw it.  Another note on Heathrow.  The airport is huge and has these long empty hallways with really long escalators and not bathroom.  You get off your plane, go through security, and then you sort of feel like you are in no mans land, trying to find concourse C and following these really small random little signs until you come to a little underground train.  You get on, a few more long hallways with nothing and then suddenly you are at a real terminal with real food and stations, and oh yeah the store they mentioned, where I didn't check for Benedryl but I happened to notice that these small boxes of candy were going 2 for 7 pounds. Two for seven pounds people!  I mean airports are always expensive but this just seemed like insult to injury.  Oh and by the way while we were up here I shared my airplane toothpaste with a friend from the plane because airport security threw hers away.  I'm seriously thinking it is a racket.  

We didn't really have set plans for what to do once we arrived in Nairobi.  We had a flight leaving at 7:30 in the morning that closed at 6:40 so we knew we needed to be back quickly and our flight from Heathrow didn't arrive until after nine.  We looked at some hotels online but they were so expensive, pretty much the most expensive hotels we've ever seen.  I'm not joking about this.  They were more expensive then what you'd see in San Francisco, Washington DC, or Boston.  They for sure rivaled prices in Europe and were much steeper then in the middle east.  We also felt really nervous about just booking one room.    We've sort of gotten to the point where showing up with six people to fit into one room just doesn't look so great, but on the other hand do you really want to just stick four kids in a room alone in some random hotel.  Plus the idea of paying all this money and then possibly missing our flight, well we just didn't want to do it.  So we didn't end up scheduling anything.  We sort of in the back of our mind thought maybe we'd just hang out at the airport for a few hours and then get on our flight.  Then we got to Nairobi.  The thing you have to understand about the Nairobi airport is that it is old, like probably it was made in the 60's or 70's .  The closest thing I can equate it to in the US is a really old bus station.  The second thing you need to understand is that half of it burned down a year ago.  So now when you arrive in country your plane lands in sort of the cargo area.  You pull your sleeping kids off the plane and down a metal stair case, all very Jackie O', except it is 9 o'clock, you are exhausted, and the kids are screaming, and you stink.  You board a fleet of buses, jam pack yourselves on with all your carry-ons and they drive you over to where you get the Visas.  There are some dividers set up and you find a line that looks like it might lead you to the right immigration officer.  At this point my kids started pushing each other, fighting, and crying.  I do not appreciate the three American business men and one business woman who used this moment to push in front of us in line.  Seriously people?  That is going down in the log of deeds of your life.  We got up to the officer, they checked passports, and our visa paperwork, took our $50 dollars a piece (just so you know that was my weight loss and Christmas money, so thanks everyone who contributed to that fund).  Then we were through and to the luggage consoles .  They are old as well.  I always get anxious when my kids play around the luggage thing but here there was no guard rails, no bumpers, and the metal edges were gaping and sharp looking.  Somehow we managed to get all our luggage without anyone losing a finger.  Then we started looking around the airport.  There is literally nothing in the international arrival section.  There are the three luggage racks, a row a chairs, a place to exchange money and that is it.  We exchanged $120 and tried to decide what to do.  As we were discussing our predicament we happened upon a table set up to schedule people with taxi drivers.  It was just a folding table as you left the airport, two folding chairs, three people, and a sign telling how much taxi rides to each place would be.  "Do you need a taxi?"  the man asked us as we walked by.  "Well maybe, but we don't have a hotel yet."  "Oh, no problem," so he pulls out all these hotel fliers, and there we saw the outrageous prices again.  The Hilton, $400, The Fairfield $300.  "This is insane," Dr. J and I mumble to each other.  "How much do you want to pay?" the guy ask.  "Well Dr. J says, considering we are going to be there probably five hours less I want to pay no more than between $150-$200.  The guy got to work immediately.  He started calling around and after calling four hotels found one that would give us two rooms and breakfast for $200.  The catch is you pay the guy at the airport and he fills out your paperwork.  Dr. J was a little freaked out we were going to be robbed, but I was pretty sure this was actually a legitimate airport service.  In desperation we took a chance.  We had to really scrounge to come up with that $200 bucks.  It was Wednesday night, Dr. J wasn't going to be paid until Friday and we'd pretty much emptied out our bank account prepaying for all our summer accommodations.  I pulled out the last few dollars I had.  Dr. J pulled out the money he was carrying and we borrowed, that's right borrowed, $70 from our kid.  For your information we had no idea he'd brought that much money with him but it sure came in handy.  Dr. J said as E was emptying his wallet, "This feels really sketchy?"  "You mean paying the guy here for the hotel?"  "No, taking money from our nine year old."  So there you go.  We are sketchy parents.

Then the taxi whisked us away to the hotel.  I really can't tell you much about Nairobi.  It was long after dark when we got there and all I saw was images from a window but there is definitely a lot of growth happening there.  All along the highway new stores and business are being built.  It is also obvious that there is a lot of crime.  Almost everywhere I looked had at least one if not more degrees of security.  There was always a fence, usually it had barb wire, broken glass, or electric wires on top.  There may or may not have been a dog and there was usually a security guard at the fence gate.  Our hotel was not different.  Down a tiny little street lined with full of customer tin huts housing restaurants, barbers, phone card sellers, and charging station docks we came to our hotel.  The staff quickly got us back to our rooms and we were relieved to see our payment at the airport was good.  The taxi driver agreed to pick us up again at five the next morning and like that we found ourselves trying to sleep in Nairobi some time after ten.

We split up me and the girls in the two double bed room and Dr. J and E in the single double bed room.  Everyone took a shower and if for nothing else it was worth that $200 to be clean again.  Then we tried to sleep, and tried is the operative word here.  We were all bone tired but also totally unable to close our eyes.  Cheetah screamed and went between our rooms probably four times before Dr. J absolutely refused to take her back and I was forced to placate her with pop tarts, CNN, and Kenyan soaps (the only two channels we got on the TV).  Before you knew it, it was 4:30 and we were sitting in the hotel cafe eating cornflakes (everyone serves cornflakes here but they are made without added sugar and to be honest I haven't had them a single time where they didn't taste a little stale) and delicious sausages.  Then we headed back to the airport.  This time we were headed out the domestic travel side.  It is much more comfortable than the international side.  The only complaint I have is that you have to stand on the sidewalk outside the airport to go to security, then you go to your ticket window to drop off you luggage, then you go through security again before you are at the terminal waiting for the plane.  I shouldn't complain though.  We are talking about a country that has had far more episodes of domestic terrorism and in recent years has seen an upswing as militant extremist come from Somalia and try to disrupt everyday life and tourism.  So two security screenings are ok.  After an hour our Jambojet flight was ready to go.  We just walked out onto the tarmac and then climbed up the white metal steps to board.  I wish I would have taken a picture but I was distracted by the man trying to take a picture of his wife with his iPad.  Our flight to Eldoret was nice and short.  They let me belt Cheetah onto my lap rather then forcing her into her own seat which helped.  My only other observation from the flight, those stewardess really knew how to wear their makeup.  I've always been hesitant about putting too much color on my face because of my darker skin, but these woman with some of the most beautiful dark skin I've ever seen were sporting purples, pinks, and blues and they looked gorgeous.  Seriously if you want to see some of the prettiest stewardess in the skies you should check out the ladies on Jambojet.  When our plane arrived a half hour later we were finally here.  Welcome to Eldoret.  

Traveling With Kids - International Flights

I knew the travel part of this trip was going to be the worst part of the whole thing.  I was having major anxiety about it.  I even went to the ER.  I thought I was having a heart attack.  It was actually a panic attack.  Think of my everyday life with Cheetah.  Then imagine Cheetah on a three hour drive, on three plane rides, hanging out in airports.  You get the picture right.  The drive actually ended up OK.  We rented a car to get us to Chicago at the cost of $200.  The one home is $300.  I was feeling a little frustrated about the whole thing but then I remembered that by flying out of Chicago we actually saved ourselves $500 per ticket so it was WORTH IT!  The van was a new Dodge Caravan and it came with all the perks.  We've been driving for years with our little portable DVD players.  They get unplugged or run out of battery.  They fall off the seat.  They are a pain to start or change the movie.  The caravan came with a drop down screen.  The controls were at the front seat.  I put the DVD in behind the radio.  There were wireless headphones.  The kids were like, "This is like our van only better."  Yes it was!  

We got to Chicago with plenty of time for out flight.  The kids liked the shuttle ride to the terminal and Cheetah got super excited about the fact that she was going to be ditching her car seat for the summer.  We did a lot of airport exploration.  It was that or have to spend time begging the kids to stay off the spa chairs.  Do people actually use the airport spa?  No one did in the three hours we were sitting there.  Then it was finally time to board the plane.  

Let's talk about international flying with kids:

1st) Every child four and older was amazing!  I mean really.  They watched videos, picked through the plane food offerings, and played DS.  My only complaint, Peach had to go to the bathroom a ton.  Like maybe twenty times on our second flight.  It was annoying!  She couldn't figure out how to get the door opened or closed so one of us always had to be with her.  One time she managed to sneak in during a seat belt on moment.  When it came time to leave the bathroom I could hear her asking for my help and then when I didn't respond she started to scream.  The stewardess still won't let me up though and so Peach was stuck until I finally convinced the stewardess that there was a screaming child in the bathroom.

2nd)  British airways what is with your food choices?  Look I loved them.  Curry, asparagus rice, spinach lasagna, chicken salad.  Those things are all super young to me, but would it kill you to offer one really boring choice as well.  The alternative to the chicken salad a cheese sandwich, but not just plain cheese, no cheese with peppers and pickle relish.  Really?  I mean I know we are flying overseas but my kids couldn't have been the only ones who would have preferred just ham and cheese.  

3rd) Flying with Cheetah was a nightmare!  A nightmare.  You know when other people are done eating and turn their movies on and then fall asleep.  Well at that moment Dr. J and I were begging Cheetah to stop climbing over the chairs, we were trying to get her screaming withering body into the seat belt, we were being hit and bit, and yelled at, and then I was standing in the back of the airplane walking back and forth, back and forth while the girl slept.  Somehow she could stay sleeping while I was standing but she just could not manage it while I was sitting.  People that is it.  This is my second time travelling with a two year old.  Two year olds are not meant for international travel.  There will either be no more babies for this family or no more international travel until they are all grown up because I never want to be on a plane with a two year old again.  Don't ask me how I'm going to survive the trip home.  

Visiting Dad at Work?

Sometimes our dad forgets to bring his stuff with him.  It is hard to the blame the guy.  Sometimes he's sleeping at the hospital every fourth night, that means he's working from 7 to Noon the next day.  He's only getting four days off in the whole month.  Oh and he's getting up at five thirty.  I guess the deal is during hospital months sometimes Dr. Daddy gets exhausted and when Dr. Daddy gets exhausted sometimes he forgets his stuff.  A few weeks ago he forgot his pager and his wallet, I don't know how, but it did.  When you are going to be on call at the hospital for 28 hours there is just no way you can't have your pager.  So Mommy and Cheetah to the rescue.  After we dropped Peach off at school we headed off to the hospital.  This was actually the first time I'd ever seen the new Country Hospital they just built.  Oh my goodness, IT IS HUGE!  The hospital is ten stories tall, the parking garage is six.  Everything is clean and new and perfect, but the best part of the hospital is the views, they are amazing!  We got to spend a lot of time looking at those views.  When I walked into the hospital I heard a code being called.  "How much do you want to bet that is one of daddy's patients," I asked Cheetah and we walked down the hall.  Guess what, it was!  We saw him running down the hall as we got off the elevator.  Forty-five minutes later another doctor came out the waiting room to where we were waiting.  "So (Dr. Daddy) is with a coding patient.  I can take his pager and wallet if you'd like."  So that's what we did.  I handed off the wallet and pager and we headed off back to go pick Peach up from preschool.  We were five minutes from downtown when I got a call from Dr. J.  "Are you still here?"  "Nope, sweetie, I'm long gone."  Sometimes I don't get to see my husband because he is literally saving peoples lives or at least trying to save their lives.

This actually came to head for me a couple Sunday's ago.  I don't know what happened but we just do not have enough benches in our ward.  Maybe it is the three sets of missionaries we have.  Maybe it is the one less active family that has started coming again, maybe it is just the fact that our building is pretty much the smallest non branch meeting house they make.  Whatever it is the last few weeks I haven't been able to get on a bench.  It is so frustrating.  Most Sunday's I'm on my own so it is a balancing act trying to figure out what time to come to church early enough to get a bench but late enough that I'm not adding to much extra time sitting alone with my kids.  It used to be that ten minutes was time enough.  Now fifteen minutes is not enough.  I walked into church fifteen minutes to go and even though only 1/4 of the chapel was full every empty bench was being saved with spread out scriptures and books.  Am I the only person in the world who finds this habit totally annoying?  It is seriously so embarrassing to walk down both rows dragging four kids behind and every bench I come to, SAVED, frustrating as well.  The perpetrators of this, everyone coming to early morning meetings.  I guess I get that they are trying to save a seat for their spouse and children that are going to be coming later because those wives are going to straggle in because they are getting kids ready by themselves but this woman who also has to get kids ready all by herself because her husband is busy trying to keep people from dying, well she finds it super annoying.  Throw on the fact that our ward refuses to pass sacrament in the foyer and the truth is there are many Sunday's when I start church already a little annoyed, then I get to sit with four crazy kids for an hour.  Good times, good times.