Anyway, we had a lovely 2 weeks in Texas. I think I forgot about how hot it was over there - most days being in the upper 80s F. (And yes, I spent 21 years of my life over there!) I guess I thought October would mean some autumn weather, and didn't realise it would actually be hotter than our Scottish summer! So, in the end, about 3/4 of Abigail & Benjamin's suitcase was never used, and about 1/2 or more of Peter's as well! Maybe someday I'll learn to pack what one actually needs for a holiday. I always end up taking everything imaginable just to be prepared. Anyway, as for the heat, we survived and Peter was actually adjusting to it quite well by the time a cool front came a few days before we left! Benjamin suffered the most and got a really nasty heat rash under his neck - poor thing! I think the redness is finally about gone and his skin looking more normal.
It was so nice to be back over there and see so many relatives again. Abigail had so much fun with everyone and really warmed up to people very quickly. She took to Grammie and Grandpa immediately and was always excited when we were going to their house. She still talks about them too, as well as Reuben the dog! She really liked Uncle Ernie too and was even talking about him today! She mentions various names at different points during the day, such as Aunty Leah, Uncle Caleb, Uncle Nat (who "went to Texas on an airplane"), James & Hayley (always said together!), Joseph, Aunt Terry, Claire, "Aunty Stephy" etc. Obviously the lack of your name here doesn't mean she doesn't remember you - these are just some of the names she says, which I remember just now.
I have quite a few photos from our time in Texas (nothing very exciting, unfortunately), but I don't have time just now to go through them and edit & post them here. Hopefully sometime soon.
We got back home on Thursday of last week. It was a long journey, felt even longer by the fact that Abigail didn't want to sleep at all on the plane home! So she and her daddy walked in circles around the plane "all night long"! Of course, it was only midnight according to Texas time by the time we landed, so hardly surprising she still had lots of energy. But it meant we had a very heavy sleeping Abigail to carry through Amsterdam airport, on and off the plane to Aberdeen, and then on to taxis, trains etc. We managed to get to bed around 8 something that night and fairly well slept through until about 8 something the next morning. We hoped that meant we were off to a good start with regard to jet lag, but I think it was just because we were all coming down with colds/bugs/viruses that we slept so soundly! :( Abigail has been rather fussy most of Thursday and in the later part of the afternoon complaining of sore legs, but it wasn't until she developed a temp of over 101 that I realised she was unwell. She had a fever and was generally a bit miserable for a few days but seems nearly better now . Benjamin came down with something similar over the weekend and was vomitting over a period of about 24 hours, as well as having a cold! You feel so helpless when they're so young & feeling poorly. At least Abigail can tell me what's hurting her, but Benjamin can't say anything - he just wanted to be held tightly and given lots of cuddles. He's still not quite himself, but his temp has just about gone away. Peter's had a cold and I've had a cold as well as a sick stomach. Just hoping it will all pass soon and I'll get a bit of energy for getting organised and back to normal.
Right, I must end this post! Being at the computer after midnight on the first night that my children are actually asleep before midnight is not the way to recover health or energy! ;) So off to bed I'll go.
But before I go....here are a few photos! They don't actually fit in with anything above or our holiday in Texas. But wanted to put them up. The ones of Abigail were taken before we went away (early October) and the one of Benjamin was taken just last night.
Already helping in the business! She was working very hard and peeling off the various labels (return address, postage, airmail sticker, etc) and actually putting them in the right places on the parcels!
Here she is again, putting them onto the parcels. She *loves* helping with stickers, but she can get carried away having fun and a local UK parcel ends up with at least 6-8 Airmail stickers! LOL
Mummy's little helper again! This time hoovering the floor in her bedroom.
Benjamin is a strong little boy! He managed to pull a big and heavy dictionary off the shelf and onto his lap and didn't even hurt himself! I was cooking dinner and noticed him putting at the spine of it with his finger and it had moved maybe an inch or so, but I didn't really think he could get it off. However, the next time I looked over at him (prob a few minutes later) I found him looking at the pages (just before this pic was taken). No damage done....but a few seconds more and the pages might have been a nice tasty snack! ;) ..... Good thing he happened to pick a book that belonged to his daddy and not one that was for sale! Now we must think out what to do to protect the books along the bottom shelves - any ideas?! :)
