A Whole New World: Frozen Yogurt and Sad Goodbyes, plus Meggie's Birthday!

On our last day in Florida we had lunch with Mimi and the Martins out at International Mall followed by some frozen yogurt for dessert. I'm sure I gained five pounds this trip but it was totally worth it - I got to eat all of my favorite foods, something I look forward to all year.

Lilly looks sick because she was, though at the time we thought she just had allergies.

We spent the evening at Papa and Mama's with the cousins but I didn't have my camera, presumably I'd already packed it. It was a special way to end our trip but sad to say goodbye to everyone.

We left the next afternoon and Mimi and the Martins came to see us off. Ellie was rather subdued but I thought she was just sad. Turns out she was sick and by the time we boarded our first flight I knew she had a temperature. I bought some children's Advil at the airport and dosed her up and she slept all the way from Tampa to Phoenix. When she woke up she was incredibly congested, coughing incessantly and her eyes were red and watery. Poor baby. Our flight from Phoenix to L.A. was late to take off and I worried again about making our connection, but this time we did make it so there were no nights spent in the airport. Once in L.A. we actually made it from one terminal to the next quite easily - it makes a huge difference having five pieces of checked luggage rather than 13 like last year! The lady at Air New Zealand's check-in counter was most unpleasant which shocked me as I love, love, love flying on Air New Zealand. I was tired and cranky having already travelled 10 hours with a sick kid so I know I probably didn't give her any grace, but she really wasn't helpful and actually was rude. She noticed me noticing her name tag though and got a bit better and offered to help us get our luggage onto the x-ray machine but at that point the damage was done and Meggie and I did it ourselves. The flight from L.A. to Auckland was fine, Ellie slept fitfully the whole time and the rest of the girls were good. We made it home to Wellington and the city welcomed us with blue skies and not too much wind.

The girls transferring terminals at LAX.

Now we are getting back into the swing of things, the girls have just completed their first week of term 3. Today is Meggie's birthday, but sadly she is sick. We still celebrated her but she missed a dance last night and netball this morning because she is just too sick. She did go to a birthday party for someone in her class this afternoon but she coughed and sneezed her way through the movie they watched. Thankfully she's good about using her tissues and washing her hands. She said her friends decorated her locker on Friday, I would have loved to have included a picture a here but her phone doesn't have a camera. Meg let me know that for Christmas she is asking for a better phone! Anyway, I am planning a party for her later in the month so today was a bit subdued but here are a few pictures.