It must be with some trepidation that you have decided to read this post. "Hmmm," you may be thinking, "do I really want to know how a fourteen hour flight with two young children went? Do I actually want to read about the reality of trying to adjust to an eleven hour time difference?" But you're here now so you may as well skim this post, right?
First, the flight. It sucked. But, apart from Tommy vomiting about 12 hours into the flight, it was totally best-case scenario. (And even the vomiting was okay as we made it into the bathroom. What are the chances?) As we walked into the plane, I was overcome by a feeling of calm. I think the realization that we were stuck and I was committed somehow helped me relax. We had some confusing moments - Tommy refused his lunch from the flight attendant because "we are having lunch at Grandma's!" "Yes, we are sweetie, but in ten hours. You should probably eat it." But by and large, they are good little travelers and they are game for whatever silly games I suggest and they most importantly like television. Each of them slept for about an hour, but not the same hour.
Here we are boarding the flight from Muscat to Dubai. That's the new airport in the background. (As we drove past one time, Eli said, "there's Daddy's airport!" or something like that and little Lulu exclaimed, "OH, DADDY! How did you do it?")
Second, the jet lag. Which is much worse than the flight. (Of course it's better in that we have a bit more space to deal with it.) But on night one, Tommy woke up at midnight and Lulu woke up at 2:30. Last night, I woke up at 1, Lulu woke up at 2, and Tommy woke up at 3:15. If we can all make it until 3 tonight, I will be happy. I will know we are on the road to making it to 5, and right now I feel like that is all I will ever hope for in this life. (Let us hope that is not true and I rekindle some of my ambition when I am a bit more rested.) I had a moment on Saturday night of wishing I had not already purchased our tickets home for Christmas, but OH WELL.
The kids are having so much fun here. Tommy can barely handle going to bed or resting because he feels that it is wasted play time. He has seen three caterpillars (all the same species, he is careful to explain), a bald eagle, crows, a blue jay, and he has also caught a dead bee in his bug box. Lulu is enjoying having new adults to boss around, and is enamored of "Akota". She has participated in feeding him every time he has eaten since our arrival. I am mostly not doing anything because I am so tired, although I did do some yoga this morning at 4. And I ran outdoors for the first time in five months yesterday and now I have shin splints. I am slightly bitter that due to my offspring I cannot take a sleeping pill and just get this sorted.
I'm hoping to stay up until 7 tonight, but that is feeling ambitious right about now. Seattle (and Portland!) friends, I will be in touch soon. I just have to get over feeling so badly and then we can get together and perhaps I won't fall asleep while we are chatting.
It is so nice to be outside so much. I love it.
First, the flight. It sucked. But, apart from Tommy vomiting about 12 hours into the flight, it was totally best-case scenario. (And even the vomiting was okay as we made it into the bathroom. What are the chances?) As we walked into the plane, I was overcome by a feeling of calm. I think the realization that we were stuck and I was committed somehow helped me relax. We had some confusing moments - Tommy refused his lunch from the flight attendant because "we are having lunch at Grandma's!" "Yes, we are sweetie, but in ten hours. You should probably eat it." But by and large, they are good little travelers and they are game for whatever silly games I suggest and they most importantly like television. Each of them slept for about an hour, but not the same hour.
 |
| Lulu liked the eye mask. |
The kids are having so much fun here. Tommy can barely handle going to bed or resting because he feels that it is wasted play time. He has seen three caterpillars (all the same species, he is careful to explain), a bald eagle, crows, a blue jay, and he has also caught a dead bee in his bug box. Lulu is enjoying having new adults to boss around, and is enamored of "Akota". She has participated in feeding him every time he has eaten since our arrival. I am mostly not doing anything because I am so tired, although I did do some yoga this morning at 4. And I ran outdoors for the first time in five months yesterday and now I have shin splints. I am slightly bitter that due to my offspring I cannot take a sleeping pill and just get this sorted.
I'm hoping to stay up until 7 tonight, but that is feeling ambitious right about now. Seattle (and Portland!) friends, I will be in touch soon. I just have to get over feeling so badly and then we can get together and perhaps I won't fall asleep while we are chatting.
It is so nice to be outside so much. I love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment