Almost Vacation Time

I am feeling much better, not quite as homesick as a few days ago, although that probably has some to do with the fact that we are leaving tomorrow morning for Thailand! We are almost done packing, although we still need to decide whether to take the soft backpack carrier or the hard one – the hard one is more comfortable with Liz, but bigger and bulkier. We’ve managed to only have two suitcases (one of which is a carry on size) along with a backpack and a small pack, plus the stroller, pack n play and carseat, oh and a big huge duffel bag with all the swimming stuff in it. I thought it wasn’t too much, but now that I write it all down, sure seems like a ton! Traveling with kids requires a lot of luggage. Will be easier when Liz is three and we don’t need a carseat for her on the plane and she’ll be able to share a bed with sister. Ahhh, those will be the days (unless we have another kid, that would be scary!).

I’ve been doing quite a bit of shopping, for Christmas. Anthony is a hard one to shop for and I can’t buy games here (region specific) and he’s way behind on books, so that’s out of the question and he buys all the DVD’s he wants when we sees them. So, it was tough – I managed to find a few small things, but not really anything I wanted to get him. Oh well – he’ll just have to suffer. The girls are taken care of, they have plenty of presents from Santa – and Ashley wrote Santa Clause a letter today and sure enough, everything she listed, we had already got her, so Santa will have done a great job this year! I’m going to laminate the letter to Santa – it’s just too cute to lose. Anthony wrote down what she said and then she signed her name. I went for a walk last night trying to find some gifts for Anthony and found a night market about 15-20 minute walk from us – it’s mainly a food market with fish, chicken, vegetables and fruits. But, occasionally there were little shop stands with clothes and trinkets. It was nice walking through by myself, stopping to look at stuff without a stroller or fearing my child was walking away or getting lost.

The weather has been so nice here – although too hot to even feel like Christmas. Shorts and T-shirt weather, although everywhere you look, you’ll see the Taiwanese bundled up like it’s 30 degrees F out, instead of 70 degrees, which is the average right now. Kids are wearing parkas with scarves, hats and mittens – it is so funny.

I must go wrap A’s presents before we finish packing. We have to leave our apartment at 6 am, so we’ll be going to bed early tonight!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, with lots of time spent with family and friends. I know it’s hard sometimes getting together with family, having to spend time with that annoying uncle or bratty niece or boring in laws, just remember that family and friends are important and the holidays are a time to cherish seeing one another, however brief, and showing kindness towards others, even if you don’t really want to. It’s only once a year!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas – we miss each and every one of you!