In the middle of it all, E turned 6!

So, in case you were thinking of doing this, the best time to have one of your kid's birthday parties is NOT a week before you are leaving the country you have to leave in a rush!  Unfortunately for E, that's when his birthday occurred, so we simply pretended our lives and our house weren't in a shambles and went ahead with his party.  Fortunately for me, we had bought the favors and decorations over the summer, and I had remembered not to pack them in the boxes to be shipped or accidentally sold them at a yard sale.  He wanted a knight theme, and we added in a few princesses because he wanted some of his girl friends to come as well.  Actually, it ended up being a great party, a chance for him to say goodbye to some of his good little friends before we left, even if it was a bit stressful and haphazard for me.  E loved having time to see everyone, and I was happy we could fit it in before we left, even if there were piles of boxes pushed into corners to make room for the festivities!

Everyone got to breathe fire!

The husband painted the flames, since I have no artistic talent!

The kids made their own silver (balloon) helmets and decorated
their own personal shields.

We did lots of knight training, including hitting targets with slingshots...

and jumping across an ever widening moat.

How lucky we had already sold our couch!

The princesses were flying high!

There was lots of yummy food, of course.

We even had silver cupcakes with silver candles.

All kinds of presents and lots of friends!

E with one of his favorite princesses, who moved to Saudi Arabia
 the week after we left, sad all around but here we were all smiles!

Adventures in Istanbul Part 4

Our final days in Istanbul, we began with a visit to the Hagia Sophia.  It was very cold inside, and I thought the boys would be bored of yet another church, but they were very impressed with the architecture and the little bits of trivia the husband had picked up from a tour he took on his last visit to Istanbul.  The sheer scale of the building is amazing, and the ways in which Christian and Muslim elements are intertwined were fascinating.  The boys loved the hidden passages and huge chandeliers, as well as the frescoes and mosaics.  Afterwards, we also visited the archeological museum, which was impressive but frustratingly under construction.  We also almost had an international incident when J backed into a pillar holding an ancient bust, which then teetered heart-stoppingly while we looked on aghast.  Fortunately, the bust stayed upright, but, from that moment on, J had to hold one of our hands while we walked, and we were all relieved to get out of the museum safely.

Try to keep your thumb in the hole while rotating completely
around: only I was able to do it!

Ancient baptismal font. 

One last shot of the Blue Mosque.

The husband thought these guys looked a little like our boys!

Looking inside a hidden nook, filled with all sorts of treasures
I'm pretty sure were put there by boys like mine 500 years ago.

This is what we looked like every day, walking and/or waiting for the trolley.
Istanbul is a great place for walking even when it's cold--there is always
something yummy to eat along your way.

We thoroughly enjoyed all our time in Istanbul.  Our Airbnb apartment was spacious, very centrally located, and a perfect home base for us.  Our excellent hosts even gave us t-shirts when we left; how's that for service?  Istanbul itself was kid-friendly and entertaining, the food was SUPERB, and the weather was excellent for exploring.   We were nervous going when we did, so soon after the bombing in Sultanamet Square, but we were safe and happy the whole time.  Unfortunately, the situation there has continued to deteriorate, which saddens us to no end.  Istanbul is such a wonderful city and the Turkish people were so warm and welcoming to us, we wish it could always be as safe as it was for us.  Hopefully it will be again soon.

Adventures in Istanbul Part 3

Though all my (few but proud) readers have long since forgotten by now, once upon a time I was writing about our February trip to Istanbul.  The next two posts are the last installments in that series, as I continue to catch up on fun things past!

We started our next day in Istanbul at Dolmabace Palace, for which we have many outside shots but none inside because photos are banned in the building itself.  Which is too bad, because the inside is so ornate and gilded and grand it's hard to describe.  The boys loved it, especially all the enormous chandeliers and the polar bear rugs and the candlesticks taller than the husband.

I think the boys, especially E, will remember the roaming
 flocks of pea hens and chickens most of all.

After the palace, we headed to Istiqal street, a large pedestrian shopping street, where we window-shopped and ate more delicious food.  We also stopped at Galata Tower (but we didn't go up because the line was too long and we had already had a long day of walking).  We then walked across the bridge back to downtown and watched people fishing for their dinner while the sun was setting.  Once again, everyone was very friendly toward the children and let them watch right up close as they hauled in their catches.  Both boys were enthralled, and we all ended the day on a high note.

We're ba-ack!

So far behind, but thinking about that makes me tired, so I will just plunge in again and hope to get caught up along the way!

Big events in little bullets:

•  We successfully moved back across the world!  After the whirlwind of packing and selling and donating, we finally culled all our possessions down to 4 cubic meters to be shipped across the ocean and 16 suitcases to be brought with us on the plane, the fate of which I chronicled in my last post.  Some of those suitcases have made their way to my in-law's storage unit, while the container shipment is scheduled to arrive in NY this week--fingers crossed!
• We enrolled the boys in the elementary school down the street.  Of all the things involved in moving, I was looking forward to this one with the most trepidation but the boys' entrance into and continued success in school has been pretty seamless so far.  The teachers have been welcoming and responsive, the boys have found a few friends to connect with, and everyone has been enjoying their time.  In fact, even though I can hardly believe it, there are only two more weeks of school left!  Craziness!

  

  Have lunch at school with your second grader!

  

  Beach party day at Kindergarten!

  

  Grandma and mommy came to school to help make
  puppets for a class puppet show.

• We jumped into the job search in earnest, with the husband flying off to on-site interviews around the country.  So far, we have had some success with those interviews, including a few offers, but nothing has been decided yet while we wait for the licensing process and salary negotiations to work themselves out.  Which means, as of now, we don't know where we will be in the fall, but we do know we will be somewhere, which is fabulous.  I'm trying to be very zen about the whole process and not focus on the time ticking by and the multiple unknowns that still confront us (housing, schools, cars, climate)...and being only marginally successful with all that!  But really, things have been going very well for the husband, and we would be happy to work and any number of places, so now we just have to iron out all the details and make one of them happen. 
• We have spent more time with family than ever before, living with one set of grandparents, visiting the other, and seeing all sorts of cousins along the way.  The boys get to see at least one set of cousins every week (and they are loving that), and they were also able to meet both of their newest cousins born in December.  We were even able to take a trip to southern Utah with my parents during spring break, which was lots of fun.  So that part of coming back to the States has been a bonus.
  
  

  

  With Grandest at Needles in Canyonlands National Park.

  

  New cousin E with J.

  

  Post Mother's Day breakfast with Grandeur and Grandest.

  

  Dying Easter eggs with Aunt M...

  

  and Uncle J.

  

  Old photos of Daddy with Grandma.

• We've seen more different kinds of weather in a few weeks than we have seen in years: there's been snow, hail, buckets of rain, even a frighteningly terrible "wind event," and temperatures fluctuating wildly from freezing to shorts' weather--it's been very exciting for my Doha transplants!

  

  We were able to resurrect our old cold weather hats!

• We took a quick fact-finding trip to California (for a possible job), just the husband and I, the first time EVER we have traveled alone without the kids.  It was lots of fun (except for the small bout of food poisoning I had on our second day!)--we got to see my brother and his wife and kids as well as our friends who left Doha last year, ate out at a vegan restaurant, a farm-to-table bar, and several food trucks (we think the food poisoning came from the kale at the vegan place, sadly), and we even took an impromptu tour of my alma mater, Pomona College, the first time I have been back since I graduated.  It has been spiffed up since I was last there, but it still smells the same (love those eucalyptus trees!).  And the children thrived while staying with their grandparents!  Huzzahs all around. 

  

  Outdoor installation at LACMA.

  

  Brunch in the Village at Claremont.

  

  My favorite spot on Pomona Campus.

• The husband ran his first half marathon!  We went to see him at mile two and would have seen him cross the finish line, but he ran faster than he has ever run with his friend as a pacer, so we missed the big finish.  He ended up finishing third in his age division, so we were very proud.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Back to the USA!

So we have arrived back in our home country and we are all still jet lagged and overwhelmed and not sleeping and trying to fit into our new lives and feeling a bit out of step!

Our trip home was a mixture of the ridiculous and the sublime.  On the sublime side, our last long haul trip in business class (in perhaps ever!) was fabulous, of course.  We began with a leisurely breakfast in the business lounge and then we headed to the game room to while away some time before our flight.  After that, we used the last of our riyals in the airport toy store and bought the boys some little presents for the flight, something that is so unheard of, they almost couldn't make up their minds when give this unexpected opportunity.  Then we headed off to the flight itself, where the boys took advantage of every amenity the plane had to offer and charmed the flight attendants so they didn't mind helping them with whatever they needed.  J at salmon three times in 16 and a half hours, E took multiple naps in the lie-flat seat, and both boys drank as many mocktails as they could.  The husband and I watched some movies and relaxed which, after our harrowingly busy last few weeks in Doha, felt like a mini-vacation in the skies.  We crossed the North Pole and got to see the sunset turn into the sunrise and the plane seemingly change direction in the blink of an eye, which was more impressive than I thought it would be.  So we all arrived at LAX rested and refreshed and in good spirits.

In the first class lounge for breakfast, enjoying pineapple, eggs, and cheese! 

Look what some lovely business class fairies left for us!
It pays to have friends in high places! 

About to take off--notice the husband is already changed
into the complimentary pajamas!

Which was lucky, since the ridiculousness was about to start!  See, we were allotted 9 pieces of checked luggage for our flight, but, of course, since we were moving home, we had more than that, so the husband had purchased 7 extra pieces with his many, many frequent flier miles we had with Qatar Airways.  We had been told that the miles would work to get all our luggage to LA, but then we would need to pay additional fees with our domestic airline to get the 7 extra pieces on to Salt Lake.  And we were happy to do that, but the folks in Doha couldn't figure out how to make the charge, so they said we could work it all out with the people in LA when we arrived after we cleared customs.  So first, we waited for our bags...and waited...and waited...and waited.  Our 7 extra bags (actually, 4 boxes and 3 rubbermaid bin) were the LAST pieces off the very large plane, so the wait was long.  Fortunately, the switch to recheck those bags was simple, so our airline representative quickly shepherded us off to ticketing so we could work out the payment.  We first went to Qatar Airways ticketing, where they wanted to charge us more than $1700 to have brought all our bags to the US.  But no, we paid for over half those bags with miles, we have the receipts to prove it!  So there was much calling and computer checking and wringing of hands until we were told we should instead go to the American Airlines counter and work out the payment.  Fine.  So off, we went, waltzing around LAX with our many carry on bags in tow.  And then we repeated our story for now the 4th time (once in Doha, once with the QA person who met us at the plane, and then again with the QA ticket person).  Unfortunately, the American Airlines person couldn't do anything for us either, since our bags had already been checked through to SLC and put back into the baggage system, so she sent us on our way and said she didn't think we needed to pay anything additional.  We knew this was wrong but we had been trying to pay this fee for hours now and weren't going to argue.

After security, we headed to the American Airlines lounge (a perk of the husband's status and our business class tickets) for a little more sublime (they had manapua, Hawaii friends!  It was so onolicious!) and a rest before our next flight, which was a shuttle ride away.  Once we arrived there, we heard our name called and an American Airlines rep came to tell us we needed to resolve the payment issue and  could one of us please come with her.  Of course we could!  The husband went off to pay...and was gone a very long time.  Eventually, I looked all over and tracked him down, only to see him yelling into a phone.  After even more time, he returned, very upset, since now the One World Alliance rep was asking for more than $2000 for having flown the bags to LA and once again he had to explain that those bags were already paid for, at which point he got a little, umm, heated!  In the end, the lovely American Airlines woman who was there with us talked it all through with everyone involved, and came up a few minutes later to say we owed a grand total of $250, exactly what we had anticipated.  She was also profusely apologetic about everything on behalf of all the airlines involved, but I told her she shouldn't apologize; she was the only one who was able to make anything happen and actually take the correct amount for the correct bags from us!  Gold star for her!

As for the flight from LAX to SLC, I couldn't tell you much about it, beyond the fact that we had a trainee flight attendant with a passive aggressive trainer who was so annoying I tuned her out during pre-flight check and went promptly to sleep, only to wake up when we had landed in SLC.  Apparently, the husband and E did exactly the same thing, while J played on the iPad for the entire flight.  We then found our relatives and all our bags and ferried them to the curb, loaded the various vehicles that were there for us, and settled in for the last leg, the car trip home.  By the time we arrived, we had been traveling for more than 29 hours.

Here's E, moments after we took off on our final leg, curled up on the husband's lap.

I don't think I have ever been so tired.