The other New York



Gorgeous view of the Adirondack Mountains in fall colors.

For the past four years my extended family has whittled away an autumn week in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains.   Chris and I have heard all about their fishing and hiking exploits and were glad to be back in the States and able to join them this year.  I’m thrilled to show off such a beautiful part of our country to my UK friends reading this, who think only of the metropolis 275 miles south of here when they hear ‘New York’. 

The drive was stunning!

Fall is arguably the prettiest time of year in the Adirondacks when the leaves turn colors as trees prepare for the hard winter.  I don’t remember ever seeing the reds and oranges more vivid than they were this year, although we were told there’s still a week or two before the peak color.    There really aren’t too many trees in England, as most of the woods are long gone, the land being farmed for generations. 

This year we lodged in a couple cabins on Blue Mountain Lake, one of more than 3,000 lakes in the 6 million acre Adirondack Park.   (For our fellow British triathlon folks, the Lake Placid Ironman is held in the park, and after seeing those inclines I have zero interest in ever attempting that race!) Thought it meant we had packed the wrong clothes, we were happy to have warmer than average temperatures (what we call an Indian summer).  Chris and I used to pride ourselves with our amazing packing skills that, like many other skills including productivity and efficiency, completely vanished upon the birth of our baby boy.  We literally packed two huge suitcases for our trip including most of Braxton’s wardrobe but somehow didn’t pack formula.  Of all things to forget, why was it food?!  Remember, we’re in the mountains.  I’m still breastfeeding, but the thought of not having formula to supplement him overnight motivated Calvin and me to drive forty minutes to the closest store.   Thanks, Uncle Cal, and glad your ridiculous luck let you avoid that speeding ticket!  The best part of our adventure was arriving back to a cabin-full of family and grandma’s pierogi and Polish sausage on the table. 

Aunt Mary Ellen was zooming around on her crutches all week, having broken her ankle a month prior.  I’m so glad she and Uncle John decided to come despite the added work involved.  Sarah rode with the two of them and the only absentee was Katherine.   We missed you sorely, Binna!  The newest addition to the group was of course Braxton, the first of the fourth generation, and he absolutely stole the show.  He’s such a lucky boy to be loved so much by so many people.  It was the first time Braxton had met Sarah, AME, and Uncle John and little man instantly warmed to them.  His little toes didn’t touch the floor all week unless we enforced tummy-time.  He’s managing to scoot forward a couple inches at a time but he hasn’t quite grasped crawling yet.  Braxton did find his ‘outside voice’ and spent quite a bit of time squealing at the top of his lungs and then smiling when anyone looked at him.  Uh-oh. 

Braxton loved AME and her boot!

Dziadzia with his great grandbaby!

Playing on the floor.

The dziecis (minus Katherine) hiked up to Castle Rock and despite the cloudy skies that first morning were wowed by the view.  So impressed, we hiked the same trail the next morning to try to get a group photo with the colorful foliage background.  We arrived to the trail head before Chris asked where the camera was.  By the time we realized it was at home he had already said ‘go on, I’ll catch up’ and jumped back in the car.  Cal, Sarah, and I started hiking.  Not twenty minutes later, a hard-breathing monster come roaring past: Chris with camera in hand.  He had sped home & back and then sprinted up the mountain to catch up.  We ended up with some great photos. 

Grandkids on Castle Rock, with Katherine there in spirit.

Sarah signing us in to the trail log.

We could (barely!) see our cabin on the far side of the lake.

Sarah and Chris on the trail.

 

Time in the mountains wouldn’t be complete without a campfire.  Dziadzia split most of the wood and there weren’t any close-calls this year as Sarah stayed well out of the way of flying axe heads.  Pyro Calvin was in charge of fire-building.  Uncle John threw in some really cool copper-treated pine cones that turned the fire green and blue.  I did the marshmallow roasting for AME’s six types of gourmet s’mores (my favorite being a banana slice + dark chocolate caramel Girrhadelli square + roasted marshmallow).  We told stories and drank the Polish beer Grandma & Dziadz brought from Rochester. 

He's so stinking cute!

Cal making the fire.

 

So pretty!

The next morning we decided to walk off the s’mores and drove to the Buttermilk Falls trailhead.  Mom was thrilled to be using her walking sticks for the first time.  We didn’t realize how short the walk was, and Calvin literally walked the tenth of a mile to the falls, then turned to tell mom who lagged a few yards behind that they had arrived, only to hear mom say “go on without me!” as she fussed with her walking sticks.  “Ma, that’s it.  Ma.  Ma!  (shakes head) Ma, we’re here. “  Hahahaha!  

Ma, we're here already!

Buttermilk Falls

 

Most of us spent some time on the lake.  Benson did a lot of fixing fishing lines and casting in to the (empty?) lake.  Dziadzia tried to get Benson some time IN the lake, but he managed to keep his balance at the last second.  Tiny Sarah got her exercise rowing 6’4” Dziadzia and 6’2” Calvin around the lake in ‘the outfit’ that had Chris laughing.   She trolled them around the lake for a long time without any luck.  Chris, mom, and Cal went out later and Cal caught two tiny fish, two more than anyone else did.  They did come back with a story about mom’s ninja skills as she spat a wasp off her lip and then stomped it with her boot!  I did some fishing from the water’s edge and managed to catch the pine tree next to me… three times. The third was an impressive cast that literally propelled half of my rod into the water and the bobber and worm 20 feet into the tree.  I gave up and walked in to the house to find my 86 year old grandma wiping laugh-tears from her eyes, having watched it all happen.  Embarrassing. 

Relaxing ont the water.

Fixing reels

Dunno why he didn't love being in the boat.  HAHA!

 

We had a good bit of lazy time and didn’t move fast except when one of the resident mice made an appearance.  Sarah threw a fit that one had not only found her trail mix but had awoken her at 5:00 in the morning eating it!  There was some football watched, but mostly we sat around and chatted.  There were the obligatory family squabbles, of course, but more laughs than anything else. Chris very carefully said he saw where some of my stubbornness came from!  Haha!  We’re already looking forward to next year!



Group photo!

 

Happy Half Birthday, Braxton!

Well little guy, you’ve certainly changed our lives.  Friends, family, and total strangers told us you would, yet we held on to a sliver of belief that our lives would be more or less the same.  And then you came, certainly not without a fair bit of drama, and proved us wrong.  Your birth and first few weeks were stressful, and your temperament didn’t make our new family dynamic any easier.  Your dad and I really struggled those first few months.  We held strong as a team but we resented how much you complicated our previously happy and undemanding existence.  We felt lost and a little bit alone until we started talking to people who said they, too, had struggled during the newborn phase.  Why had no one mentioned that the first few months of life-with-baby weren’t necessarily the magical time others experienced?   Although we were fiercely protective of you from the moment you were born, we never seemed to be good enough parents to make you stop crying.  Self doubt, frustration, and sleep deprivation interfered with the seemingly instant bond it seems some parents have with their babies.  These were real feelings that we didn’t want to share, acknowledging fully that our innate selfishness was hindering our ability to bond with you.  I’m so thankful for the friends and family that rallied around us as we struggled, by telling us we were good enough and you weren’t going to be scarred forever by the hours you cried, and giving us hope that things would be easier as time went on.  Our friend Nancy suggested that although it was fine and maybe necessary to consciously mourn our old life, it was also time to move on as the new family we had created.  She put it so simply, but the comment caused a shift in our thinking that eventually led to a real acceptance…  Life wasn’t the same, but that was okay. 

And then, at four months, we started feeling less like failures as your crying ebbed.  You started sleeping a little bit, giving all of us needed rest.  And then you smiled, and our hearts started to melt.  Over the course of the next few weeks, we began to think of you truly as a son.   We are truly in love with you.  Whereas before we lamented our newly complicated life, neither of us can now imagine a life without you.  As I’m writing this today, on your half-birthday, my heart absolutely swells thinking of your toothless grin, your amazing baby smell, and how you look at me with your gorgeous brown eyes as you nurse in the evening.  Your dad and I laugh at how little we get done when you’re awake, not always because we’re unable, but rather are unwilling to miss any minute of your antics.   You seem to do or discover something new every day, and neither of us wants to miss a thing! 

That’s not to say there haven’t been bumps in the road.  You started sleeping through the night at four months, but then at five started waking up every couple hours.   We were incredibly frustrated and once again sleep deprived. Long story short, turns out you weren’t trying to manipulate us, you were just HUNGRY.  The stress from the international move and your delicious habit of sleeping for nine straight hours had combined to drastically reduce my milk supply and poor you had actually lost a couple ounces in your fifth month.  We met with a fantastic lactation counselor and pediatrician and once we started feeding you a whole lot more, you started smiling a whole lot more!  You quickly made up all the missed calories and have now returned to the 75^th percentile.  Even better, you’ve returned to sleeping an eight-hour stretch.  Never mind that we now have to squeeze your chunky thighs into your sleepers… :D

And speaking of sleep (as we tend to way too often!), you seem to LOVE naps.  You took 48-minute naps for the first five months of your life, until the lactation counselor suggested I start ignoring all the books (which I advise every breastfeeding new mom to do, quite honestly, because every book assumes all breastfeeding babies can get enough milk to go four hours, something actually quite unnatural for lots of mom/chunker teams) that suggest a four-hour Eat/Play/Sleep routine.  Your milk transfer tended to be about 3.5 ounces, which wasn’t enough for you to last more than one 45-minute cycle (after playing) without waking up hungry!   We fed you before a nap and you ‘magically’ slept 1.5 hours.  And have done so ever since.  Putting you down for naps used to involve an intricately choreographed routine but now when you start to show signs of being tired we literally walk to your room, put you in an extra layer of clothes, cuddle you for about 30 seconds, and then lay you tummy-down in your crib. Sometimes you babble for a few minutes and flip from side to side, other times you don’t move one bit from the position you plopped down in.   You never cry, though, and seem to love the calm of your crib. 

Your personality is really starting to shine these days.  You seem to know exactly what you want, and are finding ways to communicate your feelings.  You’re feisty, and get frustrated that you can’t always do what you want.  We leave you on your tummy despite your irritated grunts because you’re so close to figuring out how to scoot.  You get up on all fours and rock back and forth, occasionally face planting into the carpet.  You sit up on your own until a toy gets a bit too interesting and you fall over reaching for it.  Your absolute favorite activities are trying to talk over us as we have conversations, swinging on the hammock, jumping in your bouncer, smiling at pretty ladies and other kids, and of course EATING!  You’ve eagerly consumed avocado, banana, chicken stock, pear, peach, apple, carrot, squash, egg, cheese, tomato, and little tastes of whatever we’re eating.  So far, broccoli is the only food that you’ve been hesitant about, so we’ll wait a bit and try again later. We’re trying to get you introduced to any and everything while you’re still getting a good bit of breastmilk, because the latest research has shown that may reduce food allergies.  But you know what?  We’re just doing the best we can, because advice from research seems to change faster than we can (or can’t??) give you peanut butter!  Bailey helps clean you up no matter what you’ve tried to eat, and you can’t get enough of her! 

Since moving back to the States, you’ve been able to meet almost all of your extended family.  Grammy and Pawpaw Sheally so kindly let us live with them for a couple months while we were getting settled in Davidson.  They are always so excited to see you and barely even say hello to your dad and me when we go to their house anymore!  Grammy gets cuddles and you give Pawpaw smiles even when you’re not giving them to anyone else.  You’re really comfortable at their house, which is great because you’ve been staying with them a day a week as your dad and I start back to work. 

 

Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt welcomed us for a week at their house when we first came back to the US and then we all went on a great adventure to Great-aunt Kay and Great-uncle Ed’s house for the Schmidt family reunion and a weekend at the Wisconsin Dells.  Great-grandma Wais held you for a good bit, as did everyone else.  Your dad and I got to do all sorts of fun things together while you were being entertained… we rode jet skis and went on a boat and even watched a spectacular fireworks show.  You weren’t even the youngest one there, because our cousin Kristen and Justin brought their 3-week old Lylah.   A bunch of us went from the reunion up to the Wisconsin Dells to play on the waterslides and had a bit of an adventure when dad almost lost Aunt Kay’s car keys, but that’s a story for later! 

When we were back in North Carolina, Auntie Stephi came in from Seattle and we spent an afternoon with her family initiating you into the Vasiloff clan.   You loved them all, so much so that you thought napping was completely out of the question.

Grandma and Grandpa came to see you again right before your half-birthday, and delivered all sorts of things to dad from his childhood.  Maybe we’ll keep some of his Starting Lineup collectables for you, so we can regale you with stories about sports greats from our generation.

 

We met Aunt Colleen in Charleston when we drove down to pick up the car dad had shipped back from England.  It was weeks late, and ended up arriving on the weekend that Uncle Cal was out of town, so you still hadn’t met him until he came up to Charlotte the following week.  Uncle Cal was so sweet with you, and brought you a pair of Carhardts to match his work outfit!

 

 

Next week you get to meet the rest of your family in the Adirondacks!  

Travel in Review, and the End of this Schmidt Adventure?

It feels like a lifetime ago Chris and I were living really comfortably in the gorgeous home we bought in Little Rock, Arkansas.  We had a solid group of friends and were both enjoying our jobs.  Chris’s commitment to the military was over, but we bounced the idea of agreeing to another assignment if the coordinator found us a spot overseas.  I’ve grown up traveling and Chris enjoys it as well, and we figured it’d be the best time in our lives to get to live in another country and explore Europe.  Careful what you wish for, right?  When presented with the actual decision – stay in Little Rock or move to England – we suddenly found it to be an impossible one.  We wrote a list of +’s and –‘s , which ended up quite heavily favored towards the –‘s.  At the end of the 24 hour deadline we fell back on the only deciding factor: “will we regret staying? Or will we regret not taking the chance?”  As with most things in life (other than marriage!) as tough as it is to leave a comfortable situation, it’s rare we regret taking a risk and moving towards something new.  Now, with three years’ worth of experiences, the decision would’ve been a no-brainer.  Although it would be nice to be more settled by this time in our lives, the memories and friends we’ve made over the past three years will be with us forever.  

I started this Schmidt Adventures blog on a whim one evening just before we left for the UK, three years ago.  I’ve never been much of a writer but wanted a way for our families to keep up with our adventures. I certainly hadn’t expected to complete 72 posts or have over 14,000 page views! I’ve been a little obsessive with scrapbooking and journaling since middle school and have been so thankful for the entries because it hasn’t taken much work to put them, along with extra photos, into the 12x12” hardback scrapbooks that beautifully document our time abroad.

Quite a few people have asked for ‘our favorite trip’ or other such superlatives.  We’ve had way too much fun reminiscing as we were coming up with the answers!

Overall favorite trip?  Iceland for me, Greece for Chris, Turkey came in a close second for both of us!

Better than we expected? Barcelona, mostly because Gaudi’s influence made it such a unique place.

Overrated?  You either love Paris or don’t… and we just didn’t find it to be as magical as some feel it to be.  Plus we ran a marathon there, which hurt. 

Best food? Chris:  Greece!  Greek salads!  Me: Italy, Italy, Italy.  Greece definitely was second place, but the two favorite meals of my entire life were both eaten in Italy.   Seafood + pasta + wine = heaven.

Least favorite trip: Copenhagen.  To be fair I was just not in the mood that weekend to be somewhere unfamiliar, we went in January and (shocker) the weather was awful, and I didn’t take appropriate footwear so I shouldn’t blame Copenhagen.   Norovirus ski trip for Chris.

Favorite experience? Riding a camel into the Sahara, or the Summer Olympics.  Chris: skiing in the Alps with a great group of friends.  Also, we have to mention the Ironman UK!

Scariest experience: thinking we were getting abducted by a cabbie in downtown Cairo one night, whispering to each other a plan of jumping out of the moving car when it slowed, and then realizing that the driver was taking a roundabout route to avoid stop-start traffic on the main road. 

Who came to visit?  In no particular order: Bret Wise, Michelle Mudge, Brett Rollins, Ginny and Michael Ahrens, Cara and Brian Robison (twice!), Steph Vasiloff, Justin and Lindsay Waugh, and both sets of parents (mine and Chris').

Biggest regret: hmmmmm….

Anywhere we didn’t get to that we really wanted?  Claire: Prague!  Although we did make it to Budapest, which we’ve been told is a mini-Prague… and Snowdonia in Wales, not more than a few hour drive from us.  We just kept thinking we’d have a better weekend to go.  Chris: St. Petersburg, Russia is the other place we just never got around to, mostly because it involved either taking a cruise or going through a ridiculous process to get a Russian travel visa. 

Most expensive? Per diem expenses were highest in Iceland even with bringing our own food and staying in sleeping bag accommodations. The most expensive flight was to Cairo, Egypt.

How did you afford all that traveling?!  Well, we did spend a good bit of money, but we live ridiculously cheaply otherwise, so for us it was our only major expense.  The budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet helped keep things affordable, as did the flight search site SkyScanner and finding cheap hotels that were still rated high enough to suggest we’d be able to get a good night’s sleep (we typically used booking.com).

What’s our plan now?  Our next adventures will most surely involve this grand country we call ‘home’.  Quite a few UK friends have expressed interest in seeing more about the United States, so I’m guessing the blog audience will change quite a bit.  We’ll hopefully show them how beautiful the US of A is. Thanks for sharing in these past three years’ worth of Schmidt Adventures!  

 

20 Travel Rules

Here are some hopefully helpful travel rules, in no particular order of importance:

1.      Get in walking shape.  This is different from crossfit shape, gym shape, or even running shape.  If you have time, put on a heavy backpack and walk a few miles every day for the couple weeks before you take a trip.  Wear the shoes you think you’ll be taking to break them in or discover any problems before sore feet stop you from walking to that hilltop fortress or famous brewery or whatnot. 

2.      Run for that train (or taxi or bus or flight).  On any significant trip, you’ll inevitably need to, and the few minutes of stress and discomfort will be worth not waiting the extra couple hours (or worse) for the next one. 

3.      Pack light.  I’m not re-inventing the wheel here; there’s a reason this is always advised.  Seriously, just pack light.  See rule #2.  Debating whether to bring that third pair of jeans or that cute pair of shoes ‘in case you go out one night’?  If you’ll have to carry your bags at any point, just leave all the extras at home.  Pick a theme (red? brown? black?) pack a pair of shoes and wear the other, lay outfits out and make sure you have all the bits and bobs and that all the pieces go with one another, pack an extra colored scarf or necklace instead of the extra shirt to save weight, and then fit it all into one backpack. Rolling suitcases just aren’t practical in Europe, for the same reason stilettos* aren’t: cobblestones.  *unless you have a French woman’s poise

4.      Know yourself.   The better you know your flaws or peculiarities, the less tension you’ll have traveling with others.  For example, I get angry when I’m hungry.  As in hangry.  For my and Chris’ sake I know that when I’m getting to that point we need to just stop for a minute and find an apple or ice cream or whatever  it will take to stem that ugly tide. 

5.      Eat as many fruit and veggies as possible while you’re on the road, because it’s very common for your, ahem, system to stop up if you don’t.   And that’s no fun.

6.      It’s important to plan but imperative to be flexible.  A particular day comes to mind with this rule: Michelle M. was visiting and the three of us flew to Italy, looking forward to hiking the Cinque Terre trail.  We were at the head of the trail before understanding that a mudslide had rendered the cliffside path impassible.  Instead of tucking tail we seriously had one of my favorite days of the past three years.  The three of us sat on a rock outcropping, talking, drinking Prosecco, eating gelato and then finishing the day with honestly the best meal any of us have ever eaten (at a seaside mom-and-pop restaurant), and then watched fishermen pull their rickety boats out of the Mediterranean as the sky turned purple.   What a shame it would’ve been if we had sulked in the hotel room.

7.      If you do no other planning, at least figure out exactly how to get from your arrival point to your hotel.  You can always figure out the rest of your day (or trip) from there, and you won’t have to worry about your bags or a toilet.

8.      Dress in appropriate layers and wear comfy shoes.  I’m serious about shoes.  Don’t spend all that money to get somewhere and then be thinking about your feet the entire time.

9.      Always order different food than your companion(s) and don’t’ be stingy when sharing.  One of those days you’re going to accidentally order pickled mackerel and your companion will have the perfectly roasted lamb and you’re going to wish you had gone 50/50 on previous meals.   Plus, sharing means you’ll get to try twice as many local foods as you would have otherwise.

10.  Always stay on the same side of tram/train/bus/car doors as your travel partner.  Or said doors will close, and one of you will have the money and the other will have the map and you’ll both have to figure out how to get to the hotel.  At 11:00 at night. (Amsterdam)

11.  If you’ll regret not doing it, do it.  Going to Egypt was expensive, potentially dangerous, required all sorts of paperwork and extra safety training for the military to allow us to go, but we would’ve been so sad to have missed it.

12.   If you don’t really want to do something but feel like you should, don’t do it.  For us, this is usually the museum we wandered through, glazy eyed.  

13.   It’s okay to not visit every church, castle, or museum.  Unless there’s something special about it you really don’t have to feel guilty for wanting to give it a skip.

14.   It’s your choice to enjoy a place or be miserable in it.  If you think the ‘American way’ is the only way or only eat your favorite brand of turkey on white bread you may want to seriously consider just saving your money by staying at home.  If you can handle a level of newness or discomfort and can appreciate things for what they are, your chances of enjoying a trip are much higher.  

15.   In most of mainland Europe (other than Germany) don’t be fooled when someone gives you directions that involve the “15 minute” walk.  You will walk for 20 minutes and then ask the next person who will reassure you that in “15 minutes” you’ll be at your destination, and this will repeat many a time until you have to get a cab or run the last two miles to get to your train station (Croatia).

16.   Be less judgmental.  Don’t make fun of the tourists, because you are one.  Don’t be disdainful that people have B.O. (Italy) or talk too loud (Italy) or don’t follow your rules of a queue (Italy).  Believe me, the Italians coming to the States are be more appalled than you could possibly be (the astounding amount of obese people, our version of bread and cheese, and wine not available in $5 carafes with dinner.)

17.  Try to fly into one city and out of another, taking a train or other public transport between the two.  It’s just such a better way to see more than one place when time is limited.

18.  Plan to be apart from your travel companion a little bit during a trip and definitely take a good break when you get home.  Needing a break doesn’t mean you don’t love that person!

19.   Enjoy the hiccups of traveling because no matter how annoying or tough they are at the time they may well be your favorite stories later!

20.   JUST GO!

 

LHR - JFK - CLT; our trip home!

Chris and Braxton waiting for the flight out of London.

 

We spent our final night in England at a nice hotel attached to Heathrow and were able to tube into London for a nice last dinner and some family photos that evening. 

Brax helping me figure out how to get back to the Tube Station.

Yummy last meal in London. 

New fav family photo.

The next morning I sent up a huge prayer essentially begging that Braxton not scream the entire 17-hour journey and then fed B while Chris loaded two luggage carriers with our 6 huge suitcases, car seat, stroller, and three carry-on bags.  Lucky Braxton ate breakfast and then fell right back to sleep in the Ergo carrier, where he would stay asleep for the next three and a half hours.  The kid won’t nap more than 48 minutes in his crib, but absolutely loves the motion of the carrier.   We made it from the hotel to the airport, through 45-minutes of customer support to get our bags checked, navigated the chaos of airport security (he slept through us getting him out of the Ergo, passing him between one another, then putting him back in the Ergo), changed some leftover Swiss Francs for Pounds, ate breakfast, rode the train to our terminal and walked to the gate, and then waited there for an hour before he finally woke up.   We had an amazingly stress-free morning, considering the circumstances! The stress level rose over time, though, as our flight was further and further delayed due to mechanical issues.  Braxton didn’t seem to mind though: he was getting all sorts of cuddles and attention J

6:03 AM leaving the hotel to walk to the airport with two luggage carts and the baby.

Waking up from his 3.5 hour nap, totally oblivious to the day's events.

We lived in England for three years and ended up with exactly 5 Pounds cash to our name!

Our flight finally took off, two and a half hours late.  Brax was asleep again in the Ergo as we boarded, and the flight attendants not only made us take him out (where he was completely strapped to me, and I had my seatbelt on) but also wouldn’t let him be in his airline-approved car-seat.  They wouldn’t take off until he was on my lap with the most useless loop of seatbelt extension around his waist.  On top of the day’s stress and lack of room for our bags over the seat, this absurdity put Chris just about to boiling point.    He managed to hang on, slipping only a couple sharp words to the lady next to him and the flight attendants, and Braxton (by the grace of God) stayed asleep through the entire fiasco.  I literally woke him up to feed as the plane took off (to help his ears) and then he went back to sleep for the next couple hours!  Brax was so happy when he woke up, and so were we.  Chris had enjoyed two bloody Mary’s (free drinks all flight because of the delay) and I was able to get quite a few chapters into a great book.   Our plane neighbors were friendly, warm, and supportive and truly made the eight-hour flight enjoyable!    

I'll have the pasta and a sparling water, please.

Chris had wisely left a four-hour layover at JFK but through a series of unfortunate circumstances (very late first flight, construction at the terminal, having to re-check bags) we missed our flight out of JFK by minutes.  I cried out of sheer frustration, which were the only tears shed by any of us to that point.   

Super happy Braxton made our standby wait in JFK so much more enjoyable.  He should've been asleep or at least cranky (we both were!) - it was after midnight London time. 

Our last chance to get to Charlotte that day was a flight a few hours later.  We were on the standby list but our odds weren’t good as there were a lot of others in the same situation.  The last stragglers boarded and there was suddenly commotion at the gate as a guy came off the plane, on his phone, saying his wife was running to the terminal.  The boarding agent said “SCHMIDT!” and we hurried down the jetway.  The gate agent slammed the door behind us, the man and his wife outside, having missed their flight.  I can’t even say how relieved I was to be on that plane (but did feel a wee bit bad for having ‘stolen’ that couple’s seats).  We ended up sitting next to the teenage daughter of the couple that missed the flight “their fault, we left our house too late!”  The flight itself was uneventful but by the time we disembarked poor Braxton had reached his limit.  It was 3AM London time and he was just absolutely exhausted.  He let out a few bloodcurdling screams while I scrambled to put the carrier on.  Thankfully, it didn’t take long for him to pass out (and then pretty much stayed asleep until the next morning!)  It was surreal seeing mom in the luggage pickup area knowing we weren’t going back to England.  Thank goodness for those huge American vehicles – all of us plus all our things fit into Benson’s ‘Bruiser’.  We made it home, super loopy, and all slept great.   I’d consider a 23-hour travel day with a 4-month old a total success with only 10 minutes of tears between us!

 

Farewell, good England, you will be missed.

We’ve always found it tough to relocate, but this move has by far been the hardest to bear.  We’ve made some really incredible friends in England, have loved our village, and of course have really enjoyed being able to travel.  The toughest person to leave, though, is my cousin Katherine.  We weren’t that close before - she’s 8 years younger and we’ve never lived near one another prior to both ending up in England.  I’ve really enjoyed spending time with her over the past three years and developing as close a relationship as we have.  We had to say our goodbyes at the end of the 4^th of July weekend that we spent doing our typical routine: talking, baking, laughing, running, eating, and taking Bailey to Hinchingbrooke Park for Sunday Funday.  Poor Katherine stayed with us the night before Braxton learned how to sleep, so she suffered with us through an entire night of him crying every hour.  I promise it won’t be that bad next time, Binna!  It was so strange saying goodbye to sweet Aunt Kate and realizing she’ll now be an ocean away.

Katherine, me, Bailey, and Braxton in Hinchingbrooke Park.

Bailey enjoying her 'Sunday Funday' with all the other dogs at H'brooke Park. 

We scheduled our movers to come a couple months before we actually left England so our household goods would arrive shortly after we returned to the States.  In the meantime, the military provided us with ‘stick furniture’… which despite its ugliness and uncomfortableness, we were very happy to have.  Everyone who’s moved with the military will understand the creativity that kicks in for that interim period when you no longer have your things… trash bags suffice as black-out blinds, an old bamboo pole and string function as a drying rack, and cardboard boxes become trash and recycling bins. 

"Drying rack"(We love our BumGenius Freetime diapers, if anyone is interested.)

Creativity is also needed to try to leave as little food as possible.  Over the last few months we emptied the freezer and stopped buying anything except cheese, yogurt, eggs, milk, and fruit.  The veggies and potatoes all came from the garden, and we were able to use random bits and bobs to fill in the rest.   I should’ve taken photos… some of the meals were surprisingly good (wilted a bunch of chard + can of black beans + last few sprinkles of paprika + browned onion from the garden + straggler clove of garlic over a chunk of prepared polenta that had fallen to the back of the cabinet) and some didn’t turn out quite so great (can of sardines mixed into boiled potatoes with a bunch of spring onions).  Especially in the last few days we did our very best to eat every single thing the garden had produced.  Meals consisted of gigantic salads and boiled/baked/roasted/mashed potatoes.  It still hurt to leave the baby corgettes, masses of lettuce/onions/spinach/etc, and whole plot of potatoes untouched… hopefully someone uses them!

B-man checking out the spoils.

Katherine wins the ‘use the dregs’ prize, though.  I challenged her to use the leftover cabinet and fridge things: flour, sugar, jam, Belgian chocolate spread (thanks, Ang!), lemon curd, etc.  There are no measurements when Katherine bakes, which both drives my type-A side crazy and grudgingly finds impressive.  She made up three batches of cookies – chocolate-ish sugar sandwich cookies, lemon bars, and vanilla/orange thumb prints, all of which were really tasty.  Chris stress-ate 90% of them but at I’m thankful we didn’t have to throw all those ¾ empty jars away! 

Aunt Kate showing off her creative baking skills.

The next week included goodbyes with our friends the Stewarts, who helped us drink some of the alcohol odds and ends as we chatted until late in the evening.  That Friday Chris took Bailey to Heathrow to send her to mom’s house (aka doggy paradise) ahead of us.  I also had my last haircut with the gorgeous Cheryl… yet another person I’m sad to have to leave.  The thought of finding a new hairdresser shouldn’t seem overwhelming, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg on all the life things we’ll have to re-figure out in our new locale.

Our final week was especially full of ‘lasts’.  We were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather for our last Friday swim at Hinchingbrooke Park… we just showed up to chat and say our goodbyes, having vowed to never swim with a wetsuit again!

Friday nights at the lake.  We did a lot more talking than swimming this year!

The next morning, sweet Holly watched Braxton so we were both able to participate in our final Saturday Park Run at the same park.  It was a bittersweet time, as it’s always fun to see everyone, Chris hit run #50, and we got a shout out, but was quite sad to think about not having that be a part of our lives anymore. 

A few hours later, again at the same park, our Tri club had its annual club BBQ. We watched as the Juniors ran a marathon relay around the park and ate lot of yummy food and cakes. 

Leave it to the Spanish dude to cook a paella for a BBQ :) (It was delicious, thanks Ricardo!)

 

Coach Andy explaining the Junior's marathon relay.

So sad to say farewell to Andy & Deb and the Wren family.

The Sunday held another BBQ send-off by our NCT (prenatal class) friends.  I’ve been so thankful for their friendship during the tough first few months of Braxton’s life and am sad to no longer be able to watch their babies grow.

Andy &Ali's daughter Madison; Michaela & Dan's daughter Daisey, our Braxton, and Nic & Andy's son William..

Chris’ last official day at work was Tuesday the 15^th.  The dental clinic threw him a very sweet goodbye lunch, where LtCol Fair said some really kind words about Chris' work ethic and positive influence over the entire med group before coining him.  I was totally surprised that he shed a couple tears, and then was even more surprised when LtCol Fair called me up and also coined me!  NOW I know how to ‘accept’ the coin (by a special handshake), but at the time had no idea and definitely made it awkward by hugging her.  I’ve come a far way from saluting the gate guard coming on to base the first time six years ago (note to everyone reading: don’t EVER do that as a civilian) but apparently not quite far enough.  Hehe.

Base architect slash workout fiend (and friend) Emmanuel.

Chris with LtCol Fair.

I was coined as well!

Some of the hardest farewells were to our great friends the Leaches and the Paynes.  The three of our families landed in England around the same time and as often happens in military communities, we were all looking for new friendships.  Randy and Courtney Leach and their kids Andrew, Luke, Adam, and Lacy grew to become an amazing extension of our family.  Although they’ll never be replaced, we hope to make friends as dear in North Carolina.  We’re a little nervous going to a location without the people turnover… will people be open to allow new friends into their lives or will they already be firmly established in their own friendships? Ryan and Angela Payne and their kids Rooke, Gretchen, and Bridgette lived just across the street and also became the dearest of friends.  I’m so thankful especially for Angela for being such an example to me of a patient and kind mother.  She and Courtney were so…. real.  And zero drama.  I love them!

Me and Angela at the neighborhood playground.

 

Rooke, Gretchen, and Bridgette (who LOVES 'Baby Braxton').

 

We had a sweet walk around the neighborhood that last evening in our house on Horseshoes Way.  As usual, Braxton was really, really excited whenever we passed a tree!

Chris and B at our street sign.

"Uncle" Jim's garden absolutely put ours to shame. 

 

The next morning was chaotic.  We woke up, the stick furniture was picked up at 8, we cleaned and packed until the housing folks came to get our keys at 11.  Chris dropped me and Braxton off at our friends the Gregory’s house while he had his ‘final out’ appointment and dropped off the rental car.  We ate a hasty lunch (cheesy eggs paired with some amazing beer from the Gregory’s own trip to Belgium) and were picked up by the courier at 2:30.  The whirlwind over, all three of us fell asleep within minutes and were awoken by the courier as we pulled up to our hotel in London!

Me and Sarah squeezing out the last couple minutes of hang-out time before we went to London.

And I’m usually not one for quotes but:

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand. ~Irish Blessing

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth. ~Robert Southey