Today, I discovered two mysteries as I went through my day. The first I discovered as I was taking Peter over to a friend's house for a playdate: I think that left is the new right here. There were at LEAST four people who were driving in the left lane WITH their left-hand blinkers on, who turned right. Huh??? *sigh* Welcome to Jordan.
Well, we are home now. Such a lovely feeling! We enjoyed our last few days in Rexburg at the end of our trip. We were going to go to Yellowstone before we headed back to Rexburg, but after looking at the map and doing some figuring, the distance and thought of driving MORE sort of made us, well, REALLY TIRED, so we scrapped that idea and just went back to Rexburg. It&apos;s a good thing we did, too, as we had a LOT to do before we left! We didn&apos;t even get everything done that we had wanted to! Oh well. Such is life, I guess.
We left from Idaho Falls on Thursday afternoon, had a layover in SLC for a few hours (where Devin and I had a &apos;date&apos;--we went and ate one of the best salads ever at a little restaurant while the kids watched a movie at our gate), then we had a 9 hour flight to Paris (where MY tv screen didn&apos;t work, so I didn&apos;t get to watch any movies!! But that was ok, because I finished reading my book club book and got a good solid 2 hours [I think] of sleep while Claire sprawled herself all over me, her seat, and her neighbor), a few hours&apos; layover in Paris (where we all groggily tried to do some stretches and run around a bit--we watched the whole process of readying the plane, too! Pretty cool to watch them load all the luggage in big containers, load the food, etc.), then our 4 hour flight down to Jordan! It was funny, as we knew we&apos;d get here around 7:30 and both of us were thinking that it would be still light when we landed. Nope. We watched the sun set on the plane, and it was pitch dark when we landed!
Happily, our pass through the passport station went smoothly (love that diplomatic line!!!!), and there was an embassy guy waiting for us by the baggage claim! Easy peasy! We went to the US with only a carry on each, and came home with a carry on AND a checked bag each! Ha! Hooray--we&apos;re all done with birthday and Christmas shopping! :D Free shipping plus some sales--you can&apos;t beat that!
We got home around 8:30, and by 9:30 all the kids were snoring in their beds. Admittedly, Devin and I had to watch an episode of Psych now that we have season 7, but we were asleep by 10:30.
At one point, Andrew came into our room and was saying something. I couldn&apos;t understand him at all, as I was still mostly asleep. I told him it was still night and he had to go back to bed. He finally left, and I looked around the room and had NO IDEA where I was! I asked Devin where we were, and I think he thought I was joking. It took me quite a while to figure out that I was in my room! Ha! Then, we looked at the clock. It was 10:46. Does that mean I&apos;ve only been asleep for about 15 minutes? Nope. It was 12 HOURS LATER!! Ha!! It felt like seconds. I couldn&apos;t believe it!! Devin and I slept for 12 hours! So did the kids!! I think we were tired!! That was the weirdest thing, though. We thought maybe the clock was wrong. So, I had to look at my iPhone, my watch, and my regular phone just to make sure it was legit. Wow.
After our long winter&apos;s nap, we got some breakfast, then Devin, Peter and I left for some MUCH needed grocery shopping. It was nice to find lots of fruits and veggies and just enjoy a nice leisurely stroll through the store. :) Our friends came and picked up the kids to play at their house so we could get some things done at home (like unpack all the Christmas and birthday presents without being seen! Ha!), then we headed over there and sat and chatted for awhile.
Here&apos;s the funny/sad part of the day: One of our birds died while the kids were playing at their friends house! Doh! It was sort of sickly from the beginning, so I wasn&apos;t overly surprised, but I was sad that it had to happen at our friend&apos;s house. I would have felt better if it were here, so they wouldn&apos;t feel responsible. :/ THEN, as we were leaving, I had one of the bird cages in my hand, I was carrying it by the top handle, and the whole bottom of the cage fell off!! Doh! The birds inside went a little crazy and one got out! AH!! It flew out the door, so we were trying to catch it before it flew away. Well, it WAS caught, but unfortunately, it wasn&apos;t caught by us. The cat caught it in mid air! It was quite impressive, actually, but I was glad the kids didn&apos;t see it! I chased the cat down hoping to salvage the poor bird, but by the time I caught the cat, the bird was gone. Oh dear. So, two birds in one day. The kids took it very well, though. We were able to bury the birds in the yard, and I was surprised that no one threw tantrums or broke into skads of tears. They were ok. A tough life lesson learned.
So, we got home and the kids were in bed by 9. A little late, but we&apos;ll get back into our schedule soon...especially since they all got up this morning at SIX. Sheesh. Welcome home. Oh well. I can&apos;t say I minded, really, as I do want to get back into a normal schedule again.
All my pictures are on my phone right now, so I will post a few large pictures from my phone for your viewing enjoyment.
All hardships and back-to-normalness aside, boy it feels good to be home!
Sunset over the desert from the window of the airplane! Can't tell you where, though. Classified.
Home at last in our own beds. Hooray!
Mmmmm... Roasting marshmallows after the family Sunday dinner with cousins is the best!
Now that the Cat's Out of the Bag, so to speak, I'm free to post on my blog! :D We have been thoroughly enjoying our time driving around the countryside here in the US. It's strange to imagine that next week at this time, we'll be back in Jordan! This is the first time we've ever taken a vacation to the US in the middle of a tour, and for some reason, it feels like we should be moving to another post! Thank goodness we're not, though, because we sure like Jordan!
Stay tuned for some serious Vacation Blog Posts!!
Waiting for the 'show' at the conference center in SLC, Utah.
This morning, we woke up to deer standing all over our campground! There was a guy walking around with a bucket full of something (grain, maybe?), pouring it onto rocks and tree stumps, and this huge group of deer were just following him around! So fun!