Adjustments

So far I think our "reentry" has gone relatively smoothly. Jet lag is over and now regular fatigue has begun, but so far I've only had one break down and that didn't last long ;) Besides the "normal" adjustments that come with moving (ie figuring out the neighborhood and the grocery stores, etc.) there are some small cultural stuff that I have had to adjust to. Here are just a few:

• Driving on the other side of the car and road
• Getting free refills (the first time I went to get a free refill I felt like I was doing something wrong)
• Saying "to go" rather than "take away" and "light ice" instead of "less ice" for my drink
• Driving everywhere
• Do you know it takes like 10 extra minutes to get your kids in and out of a car? I feel like I'm late everywhere I go!
• People asking if you need help in a store
• Did you know that the land of plenty does not have some of the American stuff that is carried in Singapore? True story.
• Cleaning my own house.

I'm sure there is going to be a lot more things, but for now this is the beginning of the list and I"m sure I'll have another breakdown so if you see me in the cereal aisle crying in front of the bazillion types of Cheerios don't stare ;) Thanks.

Bye Singapore

After our day at Universal Studios we put the girls to bed, packed and then tried to get some sleep before our 2 am flight.

We woke the girls up around 11:30 (Anastasia was still asleep as we picked her up from her crib and set her on our bed) and headed off to the airport.

Breakfast at 1 am?

We boarded and left Singapore bound for Houston with a layover in Moscow.  The girls did pretty well for the flight especially since it was in the middle of the night. The flight was packed but luckily Anastasia fell asleep on Toby so there was an extra seat for Elyse to lie down and sleep. Toby and I slept a bit ourselves.

In Moscow we had just enough time to go through security grab a snack and then get back on the plane.

On the Moscow-Houston flight there was a lot of room on the plane so got to stretch out a bit. This again helped with the sleeping. Elyse watched movies and then slept about 6 hours and then Anastasia was as good as a 2 year old could be on a 12 hour flight. We crashed that night. Elyse was up on and off throughout the night and so was Anastasia, but after that night they both did well sleeping.

The next day (Mother's Day) We found a playground and then got me a phone. A good start to our life in Texas.

The girls crashed for afternoon naps.

The "backyard" of our temporary apartment.

Moving Out of Lakeshore and into Orchard

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I can post about our move.

We started with a plan:

 

and then took things off the walls...

and then began to sort. What to pack in suitcases

 (Look, it all fit!)

and then what to put in the air shipment:
(notice all of the toys :) )

The rest was to go by sea.

The movers came in and did a great job. They packed in one day and then moved it all out the next.
We came with 700 lbs and 6 checked bags. We are leaving with 6 checked bags, 200 lbs in the air and 14 ft in a shipping container.

While the men were packing up Anastasia spent some time with me doing puzzles. Toby took them out most of the day.

Here is a look at our empty apartment. Bye Lakeshore you have been good to us!

After all of stuff was gone we stayed in the Orchard Hotel. The same hotel we stayed in when we first arrived. I thought this flyer (from our room) was appropriate:

We still had a water bottle from our first stay in the Orchard:

Similar room except this time we had 2 (and an extra child)

Anastasia got to sleep in the hallway, just like Elyse did 3 1/2 years ago.

Here are some flash back pictures. Notice Elyse is picking up the same chess piece she was standing by- this was not planed at all.

Now add another child :)

As I am writing this it's hard to believe that we were in Singapore just 2 weeks ago. It seems like a life time since these pictures were taken. More moving details to come.