Wednesday, September 8, 2010

An earthquake, 3 flights, and a whopping order of humidity

My poor neglected blog. It's been over 2 weeks since I've blogged anything of interest here! Sad...

Part of my excuse is good. Part of it is not. I mean, there's that whole "I-moved-overseas-with-my-family-11-bags-and-only-a-portion-of-my-sanity" thing. I think that's a decent excuse. But the fact that we've been here for 10 days and I haven't been incredibly busy, is definitely a slap on the wrist. Oopsie!

The long and short of it is that we have survived. We lost no luggage, only a shoe... (Oceana's sneaker) which I cannot prove has actually been lost yet, as some of the suitcases are still unopened (well, unpacked and stuffed full of all the winter stuff for the moment). The need for sneakers is definitely minimal, since we're hanging between 75 and 95 at the moment (F, Celsius - 23-35).

The only major issue was early in the trip (oh, that'll make you worry!). We arrived at the airport, 11 bags in hand (err...on the two overflowing pushcarts), and the check-in lady says Naomi has no ticket. Oh, I'll be honest. I screamed, "WHAT?!!?!" Oops... Matt dealt with the issue, because I was in no position to talk to her politely. Looks like when I called to add Naomi's infant ticket to our pre-purchased online tickets, the genius that answered my call wrote all my "needs" in the comments, instead of actually making them happen. (Ie. Please add an infant ticket, request the bassinet row, make sure our daughters have meals appropriate to their ages, etc). Mind you Nameless Genius managed to charge us, just not do anything we asked. See, 2 weeks later, I probably still shouldn't talk to them.

Matt had to purchase Naomi another ticket, so my next project is calling "Them" (Travelocity, just FYI) to get my money back!

Anyways....

We made it. We're ok. ;)

It's hot here. Well, not today. But last week it was a jolt! Of course, I refuse to complain since we're experiencing the first nice weather in about 6 months. :)

And the earthquake. Yes, New Zealand was hit by an earthquake last week, 7.1 in case you live under a rock. We were gone by the time it hit. It hit the South Island (we lived in the North, and would never have felt it). My sister lives 6 hours south of Christchurch (epicenter) and didn't feel it, but her in-laws (who live 3 hours south) did feel it. There's a lot of ruined buildings, but as far as I know only a few casualties. It's amazing that it wasn't worse, for as large an earthquake as it is.

And now... a quick catch-up in photos. :) In no particular order...

Gramma's watering can -- definitely the coolest purse ever.

Being one of 4 people to meet Ezra when he was born (1 week after we arrived in PA)

Our new-to-us car that was given to us. :)
Enjoying shorts, t-shirts, barefeet, and sunshine.

Saying goodbye to newbie, Bella in NZ.

Our last playdate before we flew.

Our lovely hostess (we stayed with our pastors and their little girl the last few days in Tauranga)

Oceana makes sure that Minnie Mouse and her Cinderella clock make it safely to Pennsylvania.

Naomi's cool new duds (courtesy of the NZ auntie).



2 comments:

  1. Yay! You're here! Glad all arrived safely. Laughed at your honesty about the airline experience. To be honest myself, I can get a bit unpleasant when arrangements get messed up by others. I think because it can make one feel vulnerable. Hope things work out from what Nameless Genius did.

    You are taking great photos! Good to have you back.

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