Visit with Nana and Pops...

We were very fortunate to get to see Nana and Pops two times during our visit this summer.  Nana and Pops came to our house to hang out for the day with Kay while they were in town helping Scott and Annelise with a house project.  Kay had fun telling stories about the airplane ride and her time in Hong Kong.

Kay also had fun looking at our blog book from 2011 with Nana.  They were able to look at the pictures over the past year and talk about all of our adventures to new countries.

Visit with Great Aunt Pat...

Kay and I had lunch with Aunt Pat and her friend Deb.  It was so fun to see her and catch up.  Added bonus... I was able to check sweet tea and fried chicken off my food list ;) (again, welcome to the South!)

Skype with Daddy...

Although there are many wonderful things about being an expat, one big disadvantage is being far away from family and friends.  We had to be away from Craig for a month!  This is the longest our family has ever been apart.  All my friends in Hong Kong said not to go home for less than six weeks.  They were right!  By the time you get everyone on the right time zone, run all errands, visit doctors, and see family and friends the time flies by.  Craig could not be away from his job for that long so he joined us for the last two weeks.  Kay and Craig spent a lot of time singing songs and talking together on Skype.

Picking Blueberries...

I admit, I had a long list of food to eat during my time in the states.  I was very excited when one of our family friends invited us to go blueberry picking on their land.  NC Blueberries were high on my list.  I missed strawberry season, but was happy to hit tomato, blueberry, and peach season in the South!

I think Kay ate more than she picked.  We had a blast and brought a lot home to eat later.  I think baby Hardin loved it too as she seemed to grow A LOT during the six weeks home in the States.

To USA...

We made it!  I am not going to lie, it is a long journey (made even longer traveling by yourself, with a three year old, and pregnant)!  Our journey took door-to-door, 24 hours, 3 countries, a taxi, MTR, two airplanes, a lot of walking, and a very welcomed car ride home!  We arrived at the airport on our scheduled day only to realize it was delayed 5 hours and we would get stuck in Canada (because of the Typhoon that came through HK the day before).  We ended up changing planes until the next day and had to listen to tears of "I wanna see Grandma and fly on a plane" all the way home.  Poor girl had prepared herself and was SOOO excited to get on a plane.  Overall, Kay is an amazing traveler.  I was stocked with new toys, books, and the iPad and she slept about 4 hours (leaving me only about 2 hours to sleep) on the ENTIRE journey).  When we got off the long leg (HK to Canada- 16 hours) several flight attendants commented about how Kay was one of the best kids they ever had on a flight.  I said "thank you, we are exhausted!".  The flight attendant commented about how she wants to get shirts made for moms flying alone with kids for the long-haul flight that says "We SURVIVED" to hand out when they land.  My thoughts exactly!

As soon as we landed in NC I was welcomed by the sound of a southern accent.  At that moment I realized I no longer had to "tune out" the conversations around me.  You get so used to not understanding what people are saying you start to tune it out without meaning too.  What a welcomed sound!  We were also greeted with auto flushing toilets which were not a welcomed as Kay again was terrified of them (same as Japan) and had issues the entire trip finding toilets she would use.

My favorite memory from the trip was coming up the escalator and seeing my mom.  Every emotion in the book hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was SOOOO exhausted from the trip and was SOOO relieved to have help, happy to be home, so happy for a hug, and the realization of just how far away we are that I broke down in tears.  Even though it was midnight Kay had saved enough energy to give big hugs!

Our next challenge... dealing with a twelve hour time change.  We had a lot of middle of the night wake ups and naps where we had to wake Kay up.  If we kept everyone busy, we did ok.  

Waiting in Canada for our next flight...

Fell asleep during take off.  Notice the socks.  She played with the toiletry bag they give during take off.  She put the socks on like tights.

How did I know I was in the USA and more specifically the south??... It was cute to watch what Kay noticed when we first landed.  She often asked "where are the taxis".  She also asked when we were going to take the MTR.  At lunch one day she said "in North Carolina we have a big microwave and Hong Kong a little one".  She kept asking about tow trucks and why they were pulling cars.  We had a few car seat struggles as she is not used to them now.  I forgot how easy it is to go to the store, push a cart to your car, and unload the groceries in your garage!  

Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery....

We decided on Sunday to find the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery.  They make you earn the 10,000 buddhas by hiking up a little over 400 stairs.  The stairs are lined with more statues so in all there are around 12,000 buddhas.  I admit, 400 stairs never sounds fun to me, but being pregnant it REALLY was not fun.  Kay tired out and Craig ended up carrying her up most of the way.  I went really slow to make sure I did not push it too much.  Once we made it up it was pretty neat.  Inside the building they did not allow pictures; there were buddha statues everywhere!!

Dragon Boat Festival...

We decided to check out the international dragon boat races on Saturday.  We (along with everyone else in Hong Kong) went to Stanley to check it out.  Thankfully, we are up early so we beat most of the crowds.  We just stayed for a few hours and left as most people were coming.  I am sure it got to be so crowded you could not move later in the day (judging by the amount of water and beer they had ready for the crowds!) 

It was very neat to hear the drums beat as they row the boats.  There were apparently over 200 teams competing.  It is "good luck" to swim in the ocean during the race.  I think Kay got enough good luck for all three of us.  The morning began with me having to buy a new set of clothes for her!  I enjoyed my perch on the beach while Kay and Craig played in the sand/water.  It was a very fun Saturday as a family.