The day has arrived…..

Finally after months of planning, saving, organising, buying and packing our holiday to the States is awaiting us!!

It only seems like yesterday that we went for the first time…that was 5 years ago!!! So much has happened in that time – another baby has been born for goodness sake!!! This time we will be traveling as a family of 5 and with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews. It still seems so surreal!!

This past month has been one of the craziest months of my life. Between the end of year demands at work, finishing off everything for our holiday and celebrating the spirit of Christmas, what I would normally do at this time of year in 6 weeks, has been crammed into 2!!! I’m feeling a little fragile but I know this next month of holidaying in the US and our week at Burleigh when we return will be so worth it!

When I finished work on Tuesday the realisation of being on 7 weeks holidays was bliss. I woke on Wednesday morning and I had a three-day plan to enable me to be completely ready for our trip…that was short-lived as Bailey woke up with a leaking ear and Mia had told me the day before her ear was sore! A trip to the doctors and $82 spent at the chemist was not in my plan, neither was all the little mishaps that happened along the way this week!! But I will not be defeated. I’m happy to say that no tantrums were chucked or no tears were shed…and we WILL have a great time lol!

While I’ve been packing for our trip and celebrating Christmas with loved ones of late, it makes my heart ache for the people who will face this Christmas for the first time without their loved ones. That was us this time last year – even though we will continue to uphold our family Christmas traditions, there will always be a void on Christmas Day without nana!

Although the festive season should be a happy time, I always struggle emotionally at this time of year. This has been a challenging year for us with the kid’s health and has seen many of our family and friends experience heart ache, but it signals the end. The end of memories made, the end of another school year – the kid’s teachers have yet again been amazing and the thought of saying goodbye makes me sad. It means we are all another year older, but hopefully wiser. It means Mia starts preschool so soon – now where did that time go! I’ve never liked changed and always resist it to begin with but I will endeavour to enjoy what’s left of 2014!!!

I think I have everything sorted:
Passports – check
Travel documents – check
Money converted – check
Snow clothes – check
Beanies, scarves and gloves – check
Jackets – check
Clothes and shoes for 3 different climates – check
Toiletries – check
Medication in case ears go pear shape – check
Entertainment for the plane – check
Chargers – check
Camera – check

Our itinerary for the next 23 days is as follows:
*7 days in LA – Disneyland, Universal studios, San Diego
*Drive to Vegas for 2 nights – shopping!!!
*5 nights in New York – my favourite place!!
*2 nights in San Francisco – I haven’t been there before and am so looking forward to it!!
*Drive to Lake Tahoe – Christmas in the snow!
*Our last 2 nights are spent at Santa Monica – tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills!!

As I board the plane I’m feeling happy, excited, nervous, cautious, but so very grateful that we are able to provide such an experience for our children. Yesterday when I felt like I was never going to be ready I had a sudden feeling of – why are we doing this?? But now that the stars finally aligned and we are ready, we are going to enjoy every moment of what this trip will bring to us!

As Americans would say…Happy Holiday everyone!!!