Home Again in Hanoi

We arrived home late last night exhausted, but happy to be home again. Here are some random thoughts I've had in the past couple days of travel as we've ended our stay in the good 'ol USA.

- I absolutely loved connecting with family and friends. My mind is swimming with good memories, warm feelings, deep appreciation, life-changing insights, fun times, and a heart full of love.
- The kids were amazingly good on the flights home and having Christian with us was such a blessing and a necessity. There were a few hiccups in our travels (like missing our overseas connection in SFO due to fog and having our journey delayed 24 hours, Xander's major diaper blowout-yikes!, and delicately balancing 12 pieces of luggage on 2 "smarte cartes") and I couldn't help but imagine the scene if I were doing it alone - me on the floor in a heap of tears and 3 crying kids is the image that repeatedly comes to mind : )
- Xander had the window seat and Christian had the aisle - in other words, he was "boxed in" and it worked out great. It cracked me up to see him with his airplane socks on (just like daddy) and walk around with his eye mask on (trying to copy mommy). He even took a nice nap and was cheerful on the trans-pacific flight, and he slept the entire 4 1/2 hour flight from Seoul to Hanoi. I was pleased that we didn't have to use the Dramamine I brought along.
- Emma sat behind Anneliese and me. I caught little bits of her conversation with the businessmen next to her, which cracked me up. She kindly bestowed Little Einstein stickers to everyone and at one point, I heard her exclaim, "this is my favorite show!" - on the Disney Channel of course. She was so grown up and proud to be "on her own" behind mom. Two fav moments are catching her brushing her teeth in her chair after dinner (who can resist playing with all the items in the travel pouch they give you?!?) And it was cute to see the flight attendants wait on her and give her special straws to go in her champagne glass full of water. I was a tad bit jealous, I just got a regular cup : )
- I got 2 solid hours of sleep last night from 1-3:00 a.m. and the rest was spent holding, feeding, jigging, walking out to the living room and back to the bedroom to test all the couches and chairs for comfort (I miss the nice rocking chairs at grandma's house and at mom's), and falling asleep with my head at every possible angle. I think Anneliese senses the change of environment and post stress of traveling for 3 days.
- I've been trying to think of what I am going to say to my housekeeper when she comes?!? I've been thinking about it for a couple days and all that comes to mind is a mixture of Chinese and Czech - help! She called this morning to see if we were home (we had no way to tell her our return was delayed) and I managed to communicate that we returned to Hanoi...obviously : )
- This morning both kids woke up at their usual time and Emma was excited to go to school, so we sent her for possibly a half day - we'll see how long she lasts. It will be a big surprise because I didn't have a chance to give her teacher a head's up. Thankfully Huong our housekeeper had a fridge full of chopped fresh fruit, spring rolls and sticky rice with chicken, and that was breakfast for all and lunch for Emma and Christian as they headed out to catch their busses.
- Xander, Anneliese and I took Emma down to the bus this morning and it was surreal and nostalgic to see Hanoi again through "first time" eyes. I couldn't help but smile as we waited for the bus and was reminded of the horn honking, motorbikes, ladies with bicycles loaded up with things for sale, construction projects in the works, people coming and going with their daily groceries just purchased fresh from the market ...aaaaaaah : ) I love it.
- I think I will be unpacking again for the next month...our airfreight shipment is waiting for me downstairs in 4 big boxes (the size of a dresser), our sea shipment comes next week sometime and I have 12 pieces of luggage with all sorts of things to pack. I know already that our housekeeper will smile, shake her head and say with a laugh "too many things!" It's amazing what you can do without and what you think you need to have.
- I need to sign off, Anneliese is fussing and Xander is too quiet...