;)
The kids have been great overall (save the usual sibling rivalries and some table manners that clearly declined in transition) and our travel plans have gone off without a hitch. But when I really think about it, the whole family has been in a constant state of either coming or going for over 7 months. Since November, we've packed and sold our house, slept in countless beds in both hotels and temporary housing, left school, started school and left school again, said goodbye to friends and made new ones, and invited both a driver and a nanny to share in our crazy every day life. I actually felt guilty about setting up and decorating the kids' rooms, books, toys and play room only to then whisk them away from it to live in temporary housing yet again. But in the big picture - we are happy and enjoying the journey despite the constant feeling of flux.
This week we are in Pittsburgh where E's parents live and where he grew up. It is beautiful in the summer and we have been hitting all our old haunts- little diners, local parks, our favorite tourist sites (see pictures here!). We are even lucky enough to catch up with some of E's high school friends in town for their reunion. We have eaten fresh veggies from my father-in-laws' garden, devoured my mother-in-law's homemade sticky buns, and consumed a whole lotta corn bread. Most of all we are enjoying the freedom that comes with the simplicity of drinking from the tap, eating bagged salad, or taking an evening walk. Just driving along small country roads to the corner store is a breeze and the roads seem shockingly empty compared to Lagos. The air is fresh and crisp and it has made us all ridiculously tired but in that wonderful way that helps you sleep really well - which is precisely why we chose Pennsylvania for the first part of our holiday. It is slow and quiet and we can take our time getting caught up; which is good since we still have a ways to go. Friday we leave for 3 weeks in Boston and Cape Cod, we'll spend a week in Houston seeing friends and stocking up, back to Lagos for just a few days of unpacking and jet lag recovery and then if we're lucky, we'll be off to Morocco.
I gotta catch some Zs!