We made it

We got on the flight in LA about 8PM. Sarah had just fallen asleep and had to be carried. Just as we were boarding, a guy near us got sick. We have never moved so fast in all our lives trying to get away from him. I felt a little bit like the bad guy in the story of the Good Samaritan. Once we got on the plane the kids went right to sleep. They have an uncanny ability to sleep soundly in the most contorted positions. The rest of the trip went well, I was even able to get my hot pepper spray through customs. We arrived in Auckland just before 6AM. Uncle Greg was at the airport to meet us, and he is sporting a great big mustache in honor of Movember, where the guys are all growing mustaches as a fund raiser of some sort. Emma had a few comments about it. We came to Mark's parents' house (They are away in Sydney until Friday), unpacked, and went to The Warehouse to get the girls some Roman Sandals for their school uniform. We did our best to stay awake as late as we could, but the kids were all in bed and asleep by 6:30. Mark and I didn't last much longer.

The Trip Down

We arrived at the Austin airport this morning with plenty of time. Our family took up 1/3 of the ticket counter line. We were fortunate enough to check most of our bags through to Auckland. Yeah! People have been really nice.

We have an 8 hour layover in LA. We splurged on a membership to the Admiral's Club where the kids have watched 2 hours straight of Spongebob. It was the only channel available in the kids' area. We eventually had to turn off the TV because we couldn't take any more.

Thanksgiving Day

Instead of Turkey and Football, our Thanksgiving Day has been filled with packing and cleaning. All in all, I think we have 16 bags. 12 of them are carry-on. Just imagine us boarding the plane. We are leaving our house Thursday afternoon to spend the night in Horseshoe Bay with my parents. Our flight is Friday morning. It will take about 24 hours to get to Auckland. We will arrive early Sunday morning (after crossing the International Date Line and losing a day), then the girls will start school bright and early Monday morning, jet-lag and all. Maybe if we don't tell them they are supposed to be tired, they won't notice.