There really is no place like home. I don’t think I have ever appreciated my home, Jay’s home, Iowa, the US as much ever before. Our last few days in Farragut were nice and relaxing, a great way to end our whirlwind Iowa holiday.

Zoo.
We went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha with Memaw and Papa. There is a reason it has been voted the #1 zoo in the world. I have been there several times in the past, and every other zoo I have been to falls way short. It is laid out perfectly – plenty to see, fantastic habitats and viewing areas, and you don’t have to walk 30 miles to see it all. Fun for all ages, for sure. They opened a stingray area recently, so we were able to pet some stingrays. A tiger came right up to the window – I’m sure to say hi to Ty. Gorillas got pissy with a small dog that someone had brought into the zoo (not sure why that would be allowed?!?!).

My favorite part of the day, however, was being able to spend a few hours with an old college roommate, Anne, and her 4 year old twin daughters. I haven’t seen her in forever, but as luck would have it, she lives in Omaha and didn’t have any plans on the afternoon that we were going to be at the zoo. Yay!! It was so fun to catch up with her, and watch her girls explore the zoo with Ty.

Parks.
Even though Farragut is a tiny little town, it has two great parks. One is really close to Memaw and Papa’s house, the other is “across town” – which is only like a 10 minute walk. Ty spent a lot of time at them. We had beautiful weather the whole time we were in Iowa. Even the rainy day was nice.

Goodbye.
Memaw and Papa hauled us and our 75 (almost) pieces of luggage to the airport Thursday afternoon. Goodbyes are never easy, but this one wasn’t too bad. It really helps knowing that Memaw and Papa will be visiting us in Australia very soon. I tried to focus on that and somehow managed to choke back tears. Iowa. Who would have thought that the trip to Iowa, of all places, would be my all-time favorite vacation. Just perfect.

Flights.
The flights back to Australia were pretty good, all on time, good tail winds. The kids had a rougher time on this trip than 3 weeks ago. Ty got antsy about 12 hours in, and Lily was whiny most of the way. I think she had some sinus issues. Apparently so did I. With about 3 hours left, my head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. I spent the rest of the flight with a cold cloth on my head, trying to fight off the nausea. Thank you to the Qantas flight attendant who helped get Lily fed. And huge thank you to Jay for stepping up and taking that whole “in sickness and in health” thing to heart (and trying to keep me from feeling like the worst mom/wife on the planet).

Jet lag.
We tried to fight through the day on Saturday (arrived in Brisbane at 5:00 AM), but lost the battle around 6:00 pm. Unfortunately that meant that the kids and I were awake at 2:30 am. We watched the Fox and the Hound, then at 4:00 Ty was hungry (me too). We woke up Jay and had breakfast at 4:30 am. We did a little shopping and went to Burleigh for lunch and to make sure the beach hadn’t disappeared while we were gone. It sure does make it easier to leave home when we have those amazing beaches to come back to.

Mom asked me what jet lag feels like. That’s a tough one. I told her that it is probably similar to how she felt after 5 days of the county fair with 5 children in 4-H. It’s an extreme exhaustion, eyes feel really heavy, look bloodshot, you want nothing more than to crawl into bed but know you can’t for several hours, you wake up and are starving and craving roast & potatoes.

I have been most impressed with how my children have fought the evil jet lag. I’m writing this on Tuesday. Both days back at daycare have been a major success. Both kids jumped right back into their school routines. Ty skipped naps both days, Lily slept her normal 40-60 minutes. Granted, they are both ready for bed fairly early at night, but have been sleeping until around 4:30 am. We wake at 5:00, so their schedule isn’t too bad. Can’t complain!

Brumby.
Jay was able to get some pictures of the new ute in the daylight.

Hands.
Ever wonder how tall you are in horse measurements? Go out to your next draft horse show, find Jenson Shires, and look for the display of the adorable kid standing next to a beautiful Shire. You can stand next to the picture of Ty and find out how many “hands” you are. Emily had an amazing surprise when she arrived at the Nebraska State Fair – she nearly started crying. When she sent me a picture, I nearly did as well. Ty thought it was awesome! Such a cool idea!

Month end.
This week is month end. Jay is doing really well, considering the jet lag. The kids and I are getting along well, certainly neglecting the housework, but that can be done later. Should be an uneventful week as we all get back to normal. Have a great day!

I think the drive from Farragut to the farm felt like it took longer than the whole flight from Australia. I couldn’t wait to get home and see everyone!! We pulled in the driveway and saw the whole fam (minus Em who was helping get the horses ready at the Iowa state Fair) sitting on the deck – perfect. The whole day was great fun. I am pretty sure Ty is going to put Dewey the kitten in his suitcase, or bring a frog home. Lily and Bandit got reacquainted. Felt almost surreal to be there after being gone for so long. Grandma-grandma made the trek over. She is still, and probably always will be, the toughest woman I know. We had a yummy meal – thank you to everyone who brought food!! Our contribution was a package of Tim Tams – they were a hit! Such a good time.

Bonfire.
And Emily showed up!!!! I wasn’t expecting her to be able to make it. When the beautiful full moon appeared in the sky, we all headed out to the pond. A bonfire was lit, several fish were caught, beer was consumed, s’mores were cooked (but Ty didn’t like the “krangle” which was his newly invented word for burnt marshmallow), guitars were played. This is the type of thing I miss most about being away. So glad Mother Nature cooperated and gave us perfect weather.

Lily was in the house with Nana and Papa, and unfortunately when I dropped in for a minute, she had woken up very unhappy. I stayed in and got her calmed down, and got Ty to bed. Around midnight Ty woke me up and said his legs hurt. He had mentioned the other day that his bones hurt – figure it must be growing pains. He was miserable. Antsy, crying, couldn’t relax. We have him some Panadol (Tylenol) and made him drink a lot of water. It took a while but he finally calmed down. Poor munchkin. We ended up taking Lily to the doctor in the morning – mild double eat infection and an upper respiratory infection. Meds and a nebulizer (which she HATED), and she was on the road to recovery.

Fair!
I don’t know if you know this or not, but I LOVE the Iowa State Fair. I don’t know if I have ever missed a year. The food, the friends, the people watching, the everything. It is fantastic. On the way there we sang “our state fair is a great state fair! Don’t miss it! Don’t even be late!” My niece, Brianna, is showing sheep, and my sister, Emily (and pretty much my whole family) were also helping some friends with their draft horses. Ty got to ride in the truck and trailer with nana and papa, and then he spent the entire day helping. He unloaded the trailer, fed the sheep, and helped with the horses. He even got to ride in the wagon with Murari – pretty much the highlight of his day. Well, that, or the time a nice man paid Ty a dollar for sweeping up the sawdust out of the aisle. He wants to buy a special treat today. He ate corn dogs, drank lemonade, and enjoyed an ice cream cone. He didn’t stop until we got in the car around 11:00 PM.

We were excited to be able to spend the day with some other friends and family, as well. The Gee’s, the Conaway’s, and Bubba all came. Jessi and Mark joined the fun. Lily was such a trooper.

I am writing this next section on Monday morning, so the rest of the week might come out as a blurred mess. We had the most awesome time. Where to begin??? Probably more about the fair. Ty is definitely my son. He loves the fair, the barns, the milkshakes, the lemonades, getting dirty and nobody cares (in fact is preferred), walking 12,000 miles and not complaining, taking it all in. Lily was a trooper as well. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy being there. I don’t think she cried once in the 3 days we were there. Well, 3 days with Jay and I, 4 days for Lily, 5 days for Ty.

The highlight of the fair, hands down, was when Ty got to ride in the mare cart in the show arena with Ray-ray. Ty had spent the first 2 days in the horse barn, helping any way he possibly could, carrying tack, sweeping the aisles, non stop. I was a very proud mama, watching my little man step up to the plate and work. Nobody had to twist his arm, or offer him bribes, he just worked. He saw that everyone else was busy, and he didn’t question it, just jumped right in and helped wherever he could. As I was falling into bed at midnight after day 2, my sister, Emily, sent me a text and Said that Ray wanted Ty to ride in the cart with him the next day. He just needed a suit coat and dark jeans. When we woke the next morning, we didn’t tell Ty – I wanted Ray and Bean to be able to tell him. Brooke and I spent the entire hour long drive to Des Moines working the phones, calling every place that might have a little boys suit coat. We lucked out and found one on clearance at Von Maur, so after a quick stop (and a chipotle burrito – couldn’t pass that up), we arrived at the fairgrounds. Ty couldn’t wait to get there – and he didn’t even know what was going to happen. He was walking ahead of us, in his cowboy clothes, strutting along, swinging his arm, hop in his step. Such a confident little man.

Ray and Bean told him the news, and yep, he was excited. The show wasn’t until 5 or so, but as soon as they started getting the horses ready, he wanted to put his show suit on. Jay took him into an empty horse stall and got him ready. When that stall door slid open and he walked out, everyone oohed and ahhhed – even random people walking by that we didn’t know. Man, he looked handsome. And when he put on his Australian hat, Lordy. I couldn’t handle the cuteness.

Show Time!
I don’t think Ty knew exactly what to expect in the arena. That cart went FAST! When they first entered the arena, Ty had a look of terror on his face, but after a couple rounds, he relaxed and I could tell he was having the time of his life. I was taking pictures and videos and a lady came running up to me and asked who was in the cart with Ray. I told her it was my son, Ty Shearer. She ran back to the announcer booth and came on the loudspeaker. “Riding with Raymond is Ty Shearer. He is certainly the cutest driver we have had in the arena today.” Word.

Ray – I know you didn’t have to do that for Ty, so thank you for giving him that memory. I know he will never forget it. Ever. That is permanently ingrained in his 4 year old brain. Thank you for allowing him to help, showing him the ropes, and without realizing it, teaching him that hard work and good behavior pays off. Jay and I can talk to him about that stuff until we are blue in the face, but you showed him a valuable life lesson. Forever grateful for that.

I know there were lots of people in the barn those days, watching over him, teaching him new things, being patient with his gazillion questions. I can’t thank all of you enough. Pretty sure we are going to have to get a draft horse or two when we move back to the states…

Other fair fun.
Pictures say a million words.

Special treatment with the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Bathy Wathy Time!

Got some cuddles in with Court and Jeremy’s sweet babe!

Quad Cities.
We drove to the Quad Cities on Thursday morning and (yay!!!) got to see Ann, Will, Belle, and Elle. I think Ty could spend a week at Will’s house. Those two boys are likely going to cause some trouble someday. I overheard them standing out by the beans, talking about combines. Ann ran us all over the countryside snapping pictures that I am sure are going to turn out awesome. We sat by the pool for about a half hour (not long enough) before we had to head to the hotel. Quick trip, but so glad we got to see the Steward’s.

Bowling.
We got checked in, rushed to change, and headed down to the bowling alley. The next 4 hours are kind of a blur – many of our great friends and their kids stopped by to chat. It was so good to see everyone. So good. Ty and Jana jumped right back into their crazy fun play (after a gigantic hug), so many new babies. Lots of things have changed in a year, but at the same time lots of things have stayed the same. I don’t know if everyone else felt like this, but it seemed almost like we had never left and were just hanging out with friends that we just saw the other day. Mark of true friends. I was so busy that I didn’t even take a single picture (nuts!). Such a good time.

When we got back to the hotel room, Ty finally decided he was hungry – he had been way too busy playing to eat. So we ordered room service before crashing.

Corporate.
Ty and Lily got a special treat by having Miss Lindsay watch them Friday morning at the hotel while Jay and I went to corporate for some meetings. Miss Lindsay has been a blessing for us for 4 years, and I am so glad they got to spend some uninterrupted time together.

As Jay and I were getting our visitor badges, we ran into some old coworkers/friends. That was how the whole day went. Wherever we went, we saw familiar faces and got caught up with lots of people. So nice being back at Corporate. Our meetings went really well. It is so nice to be able to talk to people about our careers/experience/challenges/opportunities in person. Walking into the Treasury department felt like going home. It was hard not to set up camp in my old cubicle and get a deal done. I also got to meet a few new people that I work with at my new job. So glad we made the trip over.

The plan was to rush back to the farm after our meetings, but we decided to stay one more night. I needed to stop and breathe a minute after go-go-going for 2 weeks. And I needed some chill time with friends. We killed an hour or so at the hotel pool. The Bach’s whipped up an amazing meal with like zero notice, and the Blint’s joined us for dinner, drinks, and dessert – which Ty somehow turned into his 5th birthday celebration. No, his birthday is not until may. And yes, of course Rachel had awesome birthday candles. It was a beautiful evening, perfect weather for sitting on the patio, awesome time.

Home.
On our way out of town, we drove through our neighborhood. It was pretty quiet, didn’t get to see as many people as we had hoped, but the house is still standing. It looks just about like how we left it. Big thank you to Mr. Paul and Mike for taking such good care of the place. We did get to stop and see Gary. He was quite surprised to see us. We had a nice chat before hitting the road again.

On the way home, we dropped Ty off with Papa and Aunt Brookie do they could go to the fair one more time. Nana watched Lily, and Jay and I went to Paton to have dinner with Mark and Jessi. Ok, whoa. Paton, IA. Population like 200 or something, and they have an awesome restaurant/bar. Such a nice thing Mr. Bauer is doing for that community – and the communities surrounding it. We had a great time, started to make some plans for their trip down under in November, lots of laughs.

Sunday Funday.
Our last day at the farm was perfect. Jess, Brianna, Emmy, Brooke, mom, Steven, and the 4 of us just hung out. All day. Hair was “done”, cat naps were taken, ham balls were eaten, skotcharoos were made and devoured. Grandma grandma made a surprise visit. Yes, she is 88. Yes, she still drives. My grandma is tougher than your grandma. Chores were done, mule rides, malts were drank, and Ty learned how to drive Papa’s lawn mower. What took my mother 2 years to figure out how to drive, took my son 2 minutes to work out in his brain. So much fun.

Prep!
In all of the excitement of the last week, I can’t believe that I almost forgot to share our exciting news! After 8 months of fortnightly phone calls to my new best friend Mary at St Stephens admission office, Ty has been given a spot at big kid school! He still has to pass an interview (lord knows what they will ask and how Ty will respond), but barring any major disasters, in January Ty will be in the Prep 2015 class at St Stephens College (not really a college like we are used to in the states). This was our top choice, and I am so thankful to have this major unknown figured out. Yay!! We still need to work out before/after/vacation school care, but we have the big problem solved!!

Goodbyes.
So saying goodbye sucked. Ugh. I really dislike it. The choking back the tears, the quickly running off and looking away so that we don’t all see each other’s red eyes and tears, so not fun. But this time felt a little different than a year ago. This time I know what lies ahead of us, it isn’t a huge unknown that we are venturing off to. We have several visitors lined up to come see us down under, and are trying to convince several others to come down as well. And honestly, the first year has flown by. We should be back home sometime between August and December 2015, all subject to change of course, but at least we have a rough idea. Time will go by fast, I am sure.

I am sure that I forgot to include heaps of stories and details about the past week. I think it would be impossible to include every bit of awesomeness that we just experienced. To everyone that adjusted their schedules to make time to see us, drove out of their way, entertained our children…thank you for making our “vacation” home so perfect.

We have a few more days to spend some quality time with Memaw and Papa and the gang in Farragut before catching a plane on Thursday. Looking forward to the week ahead!

Ahhhh….Farragut…. My little oasis, home away from home, comfortable, cozy, lovely little Farragut. The sleepy little town in southwest Iowa has been the perfect place for us to attempt to recover from the forever-long trip and the jet lag. The days are kind of a blur, but I will give you a recap to the best of my foggy memory. What day did we fly in again? Saturday night, right? Yes, we left Australia on Saturday, travelled for more than 24 hours, but arrived on Saturday. Reminds me of that classic riddle about the old cowboy that rode into town on Friday, stayed for 3 days, and left on Friday. Let me know if you can’t figure out the answer. No tricks on the Australia trip, just the good old International Date Line..

Surprise!
So Sunday. What did we do on Sunday? Nothing really. Didn’t go anywhere. Relaxed. For the first time in I don’t know how long, we didn’t have plans, didn’t have anywhere to go, we could just relax. Sherry mentioned that some people wanted to stop by and see us after they got done with church and would be here for a late lunch. Sounded great. As lunch time was nearing, the jet lag took over and I dozed off for a bit on the couch. I was woken by someone touching my arm and a familiar voice saying my name. I thought I was in a dream, but I opened my eyes and saw a teary-eyed baby sister Brooke standing next to me. WHAT?!?! And then I saw my mom coming down the steps, followed by Steven. Sounds of Ty shouting for Nana and Papa! Laughter! Hug a bunches! Puppy dog kisses! Oh my. What an AWESOME surprise. I was not planning on being able to see my family for a week, which was nothing short of torture but logistically the best plan. Leave it to Sherry and mom to work behind our backs and secretly devise a master plan without us having even the faintest idea. Steven, being the trooper that he is, got home from working the night shift and jumped right in the car for the 3 hour trek to Farragut. They only stayed for a few hours, but I cannot say how awesome those hours were. Surrounded by people that I love, and who love our little family so much… I didn’t get too emotional when they were here (likely due to the shock of the situation) but am literally soaking my pillow with silent tears as I am writing this snuggled next to a sleeping Lily. Love them.

Ty has had the best time playing with Jay’s old toys. They were pulled out of the attic and given a proper bath before each being inspected, transformed, and flown around the house. Yes, Jay remembers how to transform all of them. Duh.

After we got the kids to bed, jay and I needed to go to Walmart. Oh Wally World, with your endless supply of cheap and awesome USA products. I stocked up on heaps of toiletries, undies for the boys, shoes for Lily (only $3 each!!), and a small fortunate later, our first shopping outing was a success.

Birthday.
Monday was my 35th birthday. Wowza. That sounds so old. We went to Nebraska City so I could hit up The Fort – a fantastic western store (it’s no Western Edge but I couldn’t wait that long). I tried on half the store and found a few cute things. The boys got tired of waiting for me and went to the shoe store down the road and got Ty a new pair of tennis shoes. Jay was finally able to get my phone working properly with a temporary Verizon number (yay!). We ate lunch at Runza (yummy), picked up some food at Fareway, and the boys grilled out for dinner. I was able to get some work done. Apple bars and ice cream for dessert. Overall, a great day. So thankful to spend it with Jay’s family.

Tuesday.
OMAHA!! Let the shopping begin. Ok, so maybe I can’t really call it shopping when I only go to one store, for like 3 hours (I tend to lose all track of time in that place), but I can no longer say that I am sick of my clothes. Well, at least for 6 months or so. If there are any ladies out there that have not yet shopped at White House Black Market, treat yourself to a Pretty Woman day and go get some retail therapy. I have never been a fashionista – but this place takes the thinking out of getting dressed. And everything looks adorable. I got a ton of stuff, a mixture of work clothes and fun clothes. I might have bought a jumpsuit. A.dor.a.ble. Jay might have had a minor heart attack when the credit card fraud alert came through his email, but after him making a comment about a semester of college, I reminded him about the souvenir sitting in our garage in Australia. No more comments. :). He has to admit, the clothes do look pretty darn cute.

The boys were sent off to a different mall while Sherry, Lily and I bought half of WHBM. They went to Dave and Busters after they got their shopping done to play video games. Pretty sure Ty’s mind was blown. We had a yummy lunch at a little cafe, then had the boys pick us up to go back to Farragut. Got a bit more work done in the evening.

Tavern.
Staci and I wanted to sneak away for a bit, so she and I went up to the Farragut tavern for a bit to catch up. While the topic of conversation was not necessarily a fun one, I am glad that she and I had a chance to spend some uninterrupted time together. Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am to have been allowed to join the Shearer family? Despite ups and downs, they somehow manage to stay strong and positive.

KC.
On Wednesday, Jay and I did something we haven’t done for over a year. We went away, by ourselves, for an overnight trip. Kirk and Sherry (and Staci and Riley) – thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love my children dearly, don’t get me wrong, but I was so excited to sneak away. I have not been away from Lily, other than to go to work, and the 2 or 3 times Jay and I have gone on a date. So while a part of me was nervous and anxious and not sure how she would get along, I knew we were leaving the kids with people who love them as much as we do. I tried not to worry about them and just enjoy the time with my husband. We went to Kansas City, shopped at the Plaza, had a delicious dinner with some great friends who I have missed dearly, and stayed at a beautiful hotel. For the first time in a year, I slept with both ears closed. No worries about a crying baby, a scared boy, or anything. Aside from the 4:00 am feeling like I might puke from eating entirely too much delicious food at Houston’s (appetizer, ribs, potato, dessert), I slept great.

Work.
Thursday morning we headed into the office to meet some people that do similar work to what we do in Australia. It was a great day – met some nice people, learned quite a bit, and have some great resources to take back down under. Worth the trip, for sure.

As if I needed anymore calories in my belly, I couldn’t resist the Taco Bell sign, so I had Jay drive through and pick me up a supreme double decker taco. So bad for me, but oh so good. We conveniently also happened to be right next to a Quik Trip, so I picked up a gigantic cup of the worlds best ice to eat on the car ride home. Not flattering photos, but can you tell how excited I was?

When we got home, the kids were good. Ty was sleepy but happy, Lily was, well, no worries. I think Memaw and Papa were a little tired, but everyone seemed to have not been phased by our little mini vacation. Phew!!

I read my book while the boys watched football, Ty crashed early, Lily wasn’t far behind him. I think Lily is pretty comfortable at Memaw’s house. What do you think?

NE City.
On Friday, Jay and Kirk helped get Riley all packed for college. Staci stole Ty away for the day, and Lily fell asleep on my lap (she didn’t sleep worth a darn Thursday night). After Lily woke up, Sherry and I headed into Nebraska City to pick up my ring that was getting repaired and to go to the VF outlet. Another successful outing – the extra suitcases are getting filled at a steady pace. 🙂

Whips.
It was around dinner time when we finished up, so we met the boys in Sidney at Whips Steakhouse. Always delicious. Jay, Kirk and Riley showed up….no Ty or Staci. She apparently wasn’t sick of him yet, so she wanted to take him to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course he said he wasn’t hungry – he knew he could fill up on popcorn. :). They ran into some friends at the theater and I think Ty thought it was pretty cool to sit with the big boys. Ty came home all sorts of excited, HU-HA-HUTting his way around the house (he may have ninja-chopped his ice cream cone across Memaw’s dining room). I didn’t know ahead of time that a day with aunt Staci was in the plan, so glad it worked out! What a special memory Ty will have.

It is Saturday morning, and my family will kill me when they find out I am laying in bed blogging instead of getting ready to hit the road to see them…everyone else is asleep – I guess I am too excited to do that. Everyone will be there – I. Can’t. Wait!!! We are going to have a little party this afternoon/evening (all are invited to stop by!!). Sunday is the first Iowa State Fair day. More fun ahead! Hooray! Hoping to see many of you this week. 🙂

The week was kind of a blur. Jay had month end, so Miranda and I were on our own in the evenings. Every night I packed a little bit, trying to chip away at the thought of packing for 3 weeks. I was planning of shopping (a lot) in the states so I wasn’t too worried about forgetting anything. Ty was excited to finish packing and get to the United States.

Brumby.
The world’s largest souvenir arrived at our doorstep this week. After what seemed like months of negotiations, hours of phone calls with Murray (g’day Jay), and over a week of transport time, Brumby has arrived from Western Australia. Ok, I admit it, it is pretty cool. The interior needs some love, but the outside is pretty sweet. I love the body style, and yes, the paint job is a teensy bit loud. I am not crazy about the Australian army stuff on the rear tailgate, nor some of the stickers in the window, but overall it looks good. When we get back from the states, Jay has to get it inspected before it is street legal in Queensland, so he could only drive it down to the roundabout and back to park it in the garage. It is loud. I mean, like, really loud. So loud the neighbors were popping their heads outside when Jay started it up. Oh boy… Ty loves it. Jay does too. Sweet ride, mate. I will have to get some pictures of the whole thing when we get it out of the garage in the daylight.

Cookies.
Miranda needed something to keep her entertained during the day, so she decided to start a business. She stayed up Wednesday night baking a bunch of chocolate chip cookies. Thursday morning Ty woke her up early and told her, “you can’t make a million dollars in your sleep.” She put the cookies in ziplock baggies and took them up to the front gate. Tradies start lining up and have to wait until 7:00 to come into the neighborhood, so she hit them up for a gold coin per bag ($1 or $2). She only sold one bag and I think her motivation plummeted. She slept through morning tea and was laying out at afternoon tea, so she didn’t sell any more. So much for her million dollars… But we got to eat some yummy cookies. 🙂

Morning Tea.
Friday morning Ty’s school hosted a morning tea and brought in 3 ladies from the public schools to talk about the transition from kindy to prep (like preschool to kindergarten). It was a really helpful discussion. They have us a checklist that lists out all of the things that a child should ideally be able to do before going to big kid school. I think Ty can do most of the things on the list, will be fun activities to try out and see what we need to work on. He is really young as his birthday is near the cut-off, but he is so stinking smart.

The ladies spent a lot of time talking about special needs, and how the most important thing is to know your child’s special needs, and to let the new teachers know in advance. I started wondering about what I would need to tell a teacher, trying to think about what they might need to know – and them I started worrying that I don’t know of anything that might need extra attention. Hold that thought.

I asked the parents if I am the only person that isn’t sure where their kid is going to school in January. Half the parents raised their hands and said they are in the same boat. Some people recently moved to the area and are on wait lists, some are having a hard time finding a public school that their kid can go to (they don’t live in the right catchment area – school district), or the schools in their area are not great. Made me feel a little better that I wasn’t alone.

After the meeting, I talked to Ty’s teacher, Miss Tu. I started to ask her if there were any special needs that Ty has that I might need to pass on to a big kid teacher, and she laughed and said, “no, nothing at all. Ty is so intelligent, and confident. Might just need a gentle reminder to use his gentle hands during active play, but that’s it.” Phew!! Then one of the administrators came over to give me some options for schools in our area, and she told me that Ty will be successful wherever he goes. That 10 minute conversation eased a lot of my concerns/doubts about whether or not Ty was ready to go to school. Now we just need to get him into one. They mentioned that many times people will not get their kids into their school of choice right away, so they go with their backup plan, and then 2 weeks later spots open up at the top choice. They have to hold spots for 2 weeks,typically, and if kids don’t show up, then they offer the spot to the next kids on the list. The worst part of this is that you have to buy uniforms at both schools – even public schools have uniforms. I am hoping we get confirmed at our first or second choice schools before the school year starts.

I worked from home Friday afternoon and finished up the last bit of laundry. Friday evening I got the rest of the bags packed. 4 checked bags (3 empties tucked inside for all of our cheap and wonderful US goodies), 2 carry ons, laptop backpack, stroller, backpack baby carrier, diaper bag, purse, and Miranda’s bags. Jeepers, we don’t travel light. The Coen’s stopped by for a little bit Friday night to bring us a US laptop power cord and to give them the buggy keys to use while we are gone. Then it was early to bed. 4:00 wake up, last minute packing, hurry up and wait for the 6:15 shuttle to arrive.

Miranda.
Now is probably a good time to talk about Miranda. Her trip to Australia wasn’t as exciting as we intended – jay was sick, traveling, and working, the kids weren’t totally healthy, and we were busy getting ready for the trip home, so she didn’t get to do as much cool stuff as we had hoped. But I think she still had a nice time. I think Australia was good for her soul. She arrived with a lot on her mind – it is not always fun to be a 17 year old girl, especially in small town Iowa. But after week 1 – getting a lot off her chest, sunshine, and no drama, I saw her start to smile more. By the end of her stay, smiles came easy, laughter rolled out of her, and the tension was gone from her shoulders. Let’s hope she is able to stay this way for a long time. We had so much fun together, she was a great house guest (she even organized my pantry!), the kids loved having her with us. Such a great time – went by too fast.

Travel.
I won’t bore you with all of the travel details of the seemingly endless trip home, but here are the highlights. Ty got to ride in the front seat of the shuttle bus, which he thought was awesome. Brisbane to Sydney. Quick layover.

Sydney to Dallas. The kids did awesome. Lily slept most of the trip, never once fussed. Ty didn’t puke at all!!!! I actually got to watch a couple movies and read a book. I couldn’t sleep, but Jay and the kids did.
6 hour layover. Thank goodness for the kids play area in Dallas, and for Chilis chips and queso, bottomless Dr. Pepper (with ice!), and a bill that would have cost us over $100 in Australia was only $57!! Dallas to Omaha. Too easy. Memaw, Papa, Staci, and Riley waiting to greet us – wasn’t expecting to get so emotional, but after going strong for about 30 hours I guess the exhaustion got the best of me, and I got a bit teary eyed. So good to be here…

We drove through Freddy’s on the way home and got a cheeseburger (delicious), got to Farragut around 11:00, kids played, Jay got my temporary phone number installed, bathed Lily, took the best shower I have ever had, and tried to get the kids ready for bed. 1:00 AM bedtime stories and both kids didn’t seem like they were going to be able to sleep. Ty stayed in his bed for 2 minutes before going up to Memaw and Papa’s room. Lily fell asleep in our bed. Ty woke at 7, we woke at 8. Not bad…hopefully we can stay awake and get adjusted quickly. So good to be in Farragut. So good. More to come!