Here We Go

After a year of thinking and talking about it.

And half a year of planning.

And several months of intense planning, we're finally off to the other side of the world- another hemisphere and for the first time ever, across the International Dateline. (December 22nd will somehow cease to exist for us and I'll enjoy claiming to fly for 35 straight hours will in reality it will just be 13)

Off to New Zealand!

We couldn't fly straight from Salt Lake and I was smart enough to think it not a good idea to fly to San Francisco and then on to Auckland in the same day without Isla getting a true nap so Friday night we packed up our little family and headed off to San Fran on our own.
Armed with pillow/blanket pets so everyone can sleep on the planes- fingers crossed!!!

We LOVE the new rule that electronics can be used during take off.  Finally!

I have been slowly convincing Isla for the past few months that cartoons are a good thing.  I know, I'm an evil mom- she's just 19 months, but I knew it would make this trip a lot easier.  And really she only consents to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in short bursts so it's not so bad.  And it's pretty cute.

The first plane ride was easy peasy and we slept fine at the hotel.  The next morning the boys and I played cards while we waited for Taylor and Isla to wake up.  Because there's now 6 of us, hotels require us to book 2 rooms.  It's nice to have the extra space truthfully and I'll gladly take the boys who are easy to put to sleep.  Taylor can cuddle Isla all he wants.

Saturday morning we met up with Mack and Sam who also decided to not do back to back flights with her being 6 1/2 months pregnant.  And we went for a leisurely walk around the bay.

Nothing major, just a chance to blow off a little energy before the 13 hour flight.

And of course we never pass up a chance to hunt for good sticks.

And all too soon it was time to load up again.  4 medium sized checked bags, 4 small carry on bags, 4 pillow/blanket pets, 2 booster seats, 1 car seat, 1 stroller.  That about covers it!

And then there was much waiting at the airport.  1 hour for the checkin counter to open.  Luckily snacks and card games (and laying under the baggage) passed the time.

Really?

And then more waiting inside the terminal- and again more snacks and card games.

And even more waiting to board our plane.  Yep, that's a double decker monster.  Huge!!!  And it takes a really long time to board all those people.

And then more waiting for the plane to take off but at least this time we got to be entertained by a safety video with elves and hobbits and wizards on it.

Seriously?  It was entertaining and everyone paid attention but maybe not so much to the safety part of the video.

And finally we were off.  I hadn't been dreading this 13 hour flight.  I know that sounds crazy but when we've previously survived a 15 1/2 hour flight with a 5 month old, 2 year old and 4 year old, 13 hours with a 8,6,4, and 20 month old sounds pretty doable.
We left at 7:30 pm so I figured the kids would watch shows for an hour, then they'd feed us dinner, then they'd watch another short show and by then be pretty tired and ready to fall asleep.  Sleeping in seats is never that pleasant but you survive.  Taylor ended up with a bulkhead and since Isla loves sleeping on him, he had no trouble putting her to sleep and settling her down mostly into her seat.  Isaac, Miles, and Ethan slept almost 6 hours and then woke up for breakfast service and watched 1 more movie before we were done.  It was actually very uneventful and fine.  And 6 hours of sleep- even if it's sitting up and not that comfortable is at least okay for a few more hours.
We landed in Auckland to this sight.  Welcome to paradise!

Everything was a little fuzzy after that.  No, that's just my camera :)  But see, plenty of energy left in these little monkey.

Taylor's dad broke his foot playing golf in October and still had to wear a boot and ride this scooter for the trip.  He was a good sport though I know it was hard for him.  We made it through customs and only got yelled at once- what do you expect when the custom's sniffing dog is the size of a yippy dog and he's sniffing all over Isla in her stoller- she did eat an orange on the plane.  Of course she's going to smell like fresh produce.  And of course all my kids are going to try to play with your cute, yippy dog.  Sorry they distracted him.

And then we got out to our rental car.  And laughed.  And laughed some more.  Hello tourists!!!  Seriously.  That's the car we drove around for a week.  It actually was very roomy and made for easy parking when there weren't open spots- no one gave Taylor a hard time for parking in the Taxi only zones.

And Taylor was a champ- driving that giant van and on the wrong side of the road no less.  Truly amazing!  Let the adventures begin!