It's been ages!

I know it has been a long time since an update...that should clue you in to how FULL life has been!  On June 5 we moved into our new house and spent the next week or so getting settled and Jason finishing up the school year.  Then my dear friend Ruth Ann and two of her girls came to visit from a different part of Indonesia and we enjoyed four wonderful days together.  Then on June 18th we left in the wee hours of the morning for a three week trip to India!  Since then we have travelled to Malaysia for three days, then on to India -- to the beach for a few days, then a ten hour train ride, then a three hour taxi ride, then to a hotel for one night, and then onto the house of some friends at our old campus!  Busy would be an understatement!  Mixed in that has been some really hard things...like having my wallet lost/stolen...but we have been enjoying being back in India.  We spent three years living here (2000-2003) and we became parents here. We brought our sweet little Alaina home to this campus where we are staying at just three days old. So many memories of this place are precious to us and it is so fun to share some of it with the kids.  

I am sure I will have more to share later, but here are a few photo highlights of our trip so far (and please excuse the photo quality...my laptop has serious color issues).

A six am flight to Malaysia

  Happy travellers...I am always amazed at how well the kids do with travelling.  They are always super troopers...they all carry their own little bags, they always do what they need to do. They LOVE it (and always say the airplane is their favorite part of the trip!)

My sweet little Cabe...the lack of routine and structure of travelling can be hard on him but he does SO well. I love how the first thing he does at new hotels/houses is make his bed and set up all his stuff.  It makes him feel settled and secure.

Papa John's Pizza in Kuala Lumpur...SO good.

Father's Day was a little unusual this year...Jason took the kids out to play all afternoon while I got to sit in Starbucks alone all afternoon.  It wasn't ideal for Father's Day, but with not knowing if/when we would have internet on our trip, I had three weeks worth of work to do before we hopped on a plane the next morning.

Fort building on the flight to India...thankfully the flight was pretty empty and so they didn't bother anyone!

Playing tag in the Trivandrum airport while Mom and Dad stand in a very long line waiting to get through immigration.

Once we got out of the taxi, one of the first things my kids said was, "You're right mom!  People in India DO carry a lot of stuff on their heads!"

We finally made it to our hotel.  Jason and I used to stay at this place when we came while living here. The only thing is...the hotel has gone up six times in price and added a pool, TV's, hot water, and a fridge.  It is wrong that we were a little irritated at having to pay $30 a night for a view like this? 

We stayed at a place called Lighthouse Beach and did something we had never done while there before...climbed the lighthouse.

The view from the top...looking out over the beach and strip of hotels.

 View from the other side...looking out over the gorgeous water

Goofy kids at the top of the lighthouse

Messy hair and the bluest eyes I have ever seen           

Walking down the lighthouse steps...at little nauseating if I do say so myself.

When the kids weren't in the pool, they spent lots of time building a playground out this little stick things.

On our last afternoon at the beach, Jason decided to take the kids on a little "field trip" to show them the tea stall where he has been getting our coffee and tea for the last few days. Why pay 35 cents for a tea at the hotel when you can pay 15 cents? That's my boy!

The kids loved watching the guy "pull" the tea.  This cools it down so it is a drinkable temperature. He just pours it back and forth...and never spills a drop.

Ahh...tea and biscuits (cookies). The perfect way to spend the afternoon!

Alaina settling in for the ten hour train ride...thankfully there are beds on the train (and A/C!) and it is a rather enjoyable trip.  The kids did great!

Jason reads up on the things we might do/see on our trip

And this is how Caleb passes the ten hours on the train

We were planning on spending the night in Coimbatore (the city the train comes into which is about three hours from the town where we were heading) but due to a conference in the city there was NO place to stay, so after a quick stop at Dominos and a ridiculous taxi fiasco, we headed up the mountain to our old town.

Katie enjoys a bucket bath at the hotel...it was the only way to get warm. Aren't those little toes so precious??

Finally we made it to the house where we will be staying for about two weeks.  Our dear friends are back in England for the summer but graciously offered their house for us to stay in.  There is nothing better than getting to stay in a kid friendly house!  The kids have made themselves quite at home with all the toys and videos.  They have declared they want to live here!

New toys to play with have kept them occupied for hours (and don't worry Alex, we'll do our best to put everything back where it belongs!)

Yesterday we made it back to the main campus and the kids had fun seeing our old houses, seeing the classrooms, and playing on the playground.

                

Comments

[Heather]

I love all the wonderful adventures you do with your family. You guys are so brave! I always think traveling with tots is so tiring. We have 4 kids under 7 and after a 4 hour drive a few weekends ago, I decided we need to stay close to home (after our baby cried for 2 hours of the trip in his car seat... sigh). So I admire your courage in your travels and living abroad. I also love hearing about your thoughts about motherhood and teaching. You are a woman of God! Keep going with all your good, good things! And thanks for sharing them occasionally with us.

[Holly Beck]

Sounds like a great time and so many good memories! Love hearing about what you all are doing. Have missed your posts.

[Lynne-Marie]

What a great post Janet... you are one busy lady! I LOVE the bucket-bath photo!! :)

[Jennifer]

I'm so glad you're back! Sounds like you had a great trip. Can't wait to hear more about it.