A baby for you: My trip

November 17, 2012

My trip

I recently visited my surrofamily. As I've mentioned, they live overseas. I've wished a million times they lived closer to me but that just hasn't happened. So I traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to spend some quality time with them.

I had been planning this visit since summer. When I first started planning it seemed like November was an eternity away, but as we all know time flies and I soon found myself boarding a plane.

I traveled alone which made me a little nervous, but at the same time I was excited. I was nervous because it's a big deal to travel that far alone and I'm a small town type of girl - as in, I don't get out much. I was excited because I would have all this time to myself. Sure, I was on a plane and there is only so much you can do on a plane, but at least I could live in my own thoughts for awhile. Remember I have 4 kids... alone time doesn't come easy for me.

Avner picked me up from the airport. Together we drove to his and Roy's apartment. There is something about these two guys that I just can't explain. Just being in their presence makes me so happy.

I was anxious to see the babies. I was excited to watch them and just be near them. I wanted to get to know their personalities. I am happy to say they are quite perfect. Their personalities are somewhat similar to when they were in utero. Ella is a busy little bee with her crawling. The cat's dish has some sort of magnetic control over her. She tries her best to crawl to it before getting caught. She is very curious and seemed a little suspicious of me. By the end of my trip I think she was starting to accept me. Ely is full of smiles and very welcoming. He is content sitting in one spot (although he does crawl too) and playing or taking in the world around him. His favorites sounds are aba and ga. He gets pretty excited when he says them.

I spent time with the babies everyday. The guys have stuck to a great routine. During their playtime, I sat on the floor with them. During bath time, I watched as they happily splashed around. They love water! Every night we enjoyed a walk. In the evening, there are many couples pushing their little ones in strollers and/or walking their dogs up and down the boulevards. Actually all day the boulevards are busy with people going here or there. The weather was pretty great too. It was about 85 and sunny everyday... and it's their winter season. A bit different than Minnesota's winter months.

The guys were excellent hosts while I was there. Roy set me up with an apartment he oversees while the owner is away. Avner always made sure that I had a menu that read in English. If the restaurant didn't, he would read me the menu. Those are just a few examples.They both took time away from work to spend time with me. They showed me popular tourist sites of their country. Because of privacy issues I won't share where exactly I went, but it's a country with a ton of history and impressive landmarks. I know what you are thinking... "how did she get soooo lucky to be matched with these IPs?". I ask myself that too.

I met some of the guys' family. To be honest I was very nervous about that. They had certain expectations of me I'm sure. Is it weird that I didn't want to disappoint them? Both moms were very surprised at how young I look (I am quite youthful looking, you know haha). It was sweet. I'm not comfortable with a lot of attention on me. Lucky for me the moms didn't put me on the spot. They are both very nice ladies. I was happy to meet them and to spend a little bit of time with them.

I didn't even cry when we said our goodbyes! If I would have known what this week would bring I am sure my goodbyes would have been said with a boatload of tears. I'll fill you in on that news in another post.

Here are some pictures. I didn't take nearly as many as I should have. Guess I'll have to visit them again just so I can take more pictures.