A is for Airplanes, Airports and Ambroses OR Ground Hog Day

 At about 5:30am, Tony dropped us off at the Wellington airport and with my manageable carry on luggage, gluten-free goodies from Amanda and the prayers of saints around the globe the kids and I began our journey into 'ground hog day' - September 15, 2012...

 The first 15 September was spent on two airplanes - the first was a three hour stint on Air New Zealand with fully kitted out individual entertainment units and tasty treats from Wellington to Sydney... you better believe the kids were in paradise - who cared that it was not even 7:00 in the morning... in fact that made it even sweeter since they definitely don't get to watch TV in the morning - actually, we require them to stay in their beds until 7:00am!!! So yes... those are genuine  enthusiastic smiles!

One of my initial concerns was how to spend our five hour layover in the Sydney airport. I'd done a bit of research and saw there were "children's areas" in two parts of the international terminal, plus a children's lounge where they could watch TV. Appreciative of the effort made by the airport to offer anything for children, I was still left disappointed when we trekked to those designated areas - just not quite enough to hold my children's attention. So... what is a mama to do??? 

You guessed it - the Golden Arches to the rescue!!! HA! Thankfully Auntie Juanita had sent us some Aussie coins and I found some of Tony's leftover cash so we had enough local currency to feed us - twice! 

And if just eating McDonald's food isn't enough of a distraction, there was a full-on McD's playland... yep, we spent three hours (that's 1-2-3) in this vicinity!!!

TRAVEL TIP: Sydney Int'l Terminal has a McD's playland and a McCafe - I TOTALLY recommend it

Our long haul flight was on a United flight. We had the best seats - 1 row behind the emergency exit, which meant 1 row away from the toilets... and I could stretch across the aisle to fill up little cups of water!!! Praise God - it was ideal!!! And Praise God - the kids slept the majority of the flight - through til they woke up, had breakfast and re-lived Saturday, September 15...

Greeted at the airport by Grandpa and Grandma, we made a few important stops on the way home, but we spent the afternoon at the pool!!! Now this is the way to spend a day!

I was glad Grandpa was awake and alert because even though the kids slept about 9 hours on the plane, I didn't. 

My grandparents came over to watch and have dinner... 

I think I fell asleep on the chair next to dad for a little bit... but woke up when Jason turned up with Emilia... it was my first time to meet my one year old niece!!! What a doll!!!

Then Matt brought the kids over for a quick hello... So here are the three girls - Madie (turned 9 while we were there), Helena (4) and Emilia (1). How funny that they all look so totally different yet look quite a lot like each of us siblings... genetics are a wild thing! The girls didn't think about any of that - they just LOVED being around each other!!!

Travis has just turned 7... Helena LOVED him... absolutely from day 1. Plus she immediately took to Uncle Matt... and he to her! It's going to be a fantastic vacation!!!

Trevor and the sibs.  Notice I am particularly pasty white... Matt told me at the end of the trip that I looked a lot better with a bit of sun... Thanks... that's what brothers are good for huh - being honest!

All in all - a pretty good way to repeat a day!!!