We had a great time during our 3 weeks in the States. We were crazy busy trying to see all our friends and family and celebrate 2 holidays. I'm still recuperating from all the running around and eating out, but I'm happy to say that I was able to meet up with almost everyone I had hoped to. The kids even had a few playdates with friends they had to leave behind.
After hitting the malls with a vengance the first few days we were home, we settled into doing the family "thing". Missy, Chris, Jenni, Tyler and Jeremy were up from Alabama the first weekend so we were lucky to spend time with them. On Christmas Eve, we tackled presents at Mamaw and Papaw's and at Pattone's.
Aidan had such a great time with Alec. Jeremy bought them each the Dangerous Book for Boys. Aidan loves his. He's been playing games from it and learning about first aid. It's a bit of a tough read for him, but he's trying. The other day he highlighted the words he didn't know as he read so we could define them for him. He could read the words, he just didn't know what they meant. But who would expect a 5-year-old to understand words like "patient" , "suggest", or "heave"? I'm amazed he could sound out such words!
The other thing Aidan and Alec did together was play video games. I am not a proponent of video games at all, but I let him play since it was a vacation. He and Alec played tons of ATV racing, at first. Then, once Alec got "Rock Band" for Christmas, Aidan's inner rock star came out. One night he spent at Mamaw's, he and Alec and Aunt Pam stayed up past midnight rocking out! I'm thinking a Wii may be in the cards for his birthday. At least that one requires some movement!
Erin came over to spend Christmas Eve at Pattone's with us. She bought Aidan this cool MSU fleece and Lainey a MSU cheerleader uniform. She's asked to wear it nearly everyday since. Lainey also got lots of other dress up clothes, like this fairy outfit.
All in all, I had to borrow an extra suitcase and bring a box back with me to fit in all the gifts! (Well, and lots of food supplies too.) As usual, we were all very spoiled this "kiss-kiss" (as Lainey says Christmas) and very blessed to be with our families.
After the holiday festivities, we went over Becky and Jed's to celebrate Becky's birthday. Aidan and Lainey were so excited to see Jacob and Corinne. We couldn't get the four of them to sit still long enough for a picture. But we were dealing with a 5-year-old, 2 3-year-olds, and a 1-year-old so we did the best we could!
We also went to visit Maddy at her new home. The kids were really excited and I think Maddy was happy to see us too! She came right over to me and cuddled. Lainey was all over her. We miss her a lot, but I'm definitely glad we didn't bring her to Switzerland. She's better where she is. Knowing this didn't stop the kids from asking over and over if Maddy had "learned enough manners yet" to come home with us.
(Lainey's face got all scratched up the night we lost power at my mom's and she tripped over Aidan and fell face first into the DVD rack)
Aidan even got to spend time with the other Aidans and David from his pre-school. The boys are such good kids and they are really good friends. They picked up playing together as if Aidan had never moved away.We finally all made it back to Zurich on Friday. I flew alone with the kids, and it was quite smooth, except for Lainey kicking the poor woman next to her constantly as she slept. I got 2 jars of peanut butter confiscated from my carryon at security-who knew peanut butter was such a threat? I guess peanut allergies can be fatal, but really! 2 of our bags got left in Amsterdam, which really worked out well for me. I didn't know how I was going to get through customs with 2 kids, 7 suitcases, 1 box, 2 carryons, 1 booster seat, and a stroller anyway. The 2 bags getting left behind was great because the others barely fit on the luggage cart! The other bags were delivered to our house later that evening and we got $75 flight vouchers! Not a bad deal at all!
We're slowly getting over the jetlag. I thought we were fine, but Aidan's been waking up at night crying saying he wants to move back to Michigan because he doesn't have any family here (um...are Jason, Lainey and I chopped liver?), which means I'm up at night. So that screws me back up into the 6 hour time difference we had before. I think that spending 3 weeks non-stop living with and seeing all our family made him really homesick. He was fine when we moved here, but back then he wasn't living with Pattone or Mamaw and Papaw. I thought this may be hard on him, but I didn't realize how much. Hopefully, now that he's played with his local friends and is back at school he'll be fine again.
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