If You're Going To San Francisco...

....its a bummer when your stroller doesn't turn up at the airport! Oh well, at least that's the third issue, and so ends our bad luck for the holiday 😊

American border security / customs was its usual long wait, and Charlotte was *really* feeling the effects of "staying up all night for the first time!" James, having been let out of a seat for the first time in 16-odd hours just wanted to run around - and gave everyone a laugh when he escaped under one of the barrier ropes. Well, everyone else 😄. 

Customs passed, luggage got, we headed off to hire a car. Charlotte was very impressed with the train we had to take to get there, as there was no driver and she and James got to sit in the front window. 

At the car rental place we ended up with a mini van, since they had an excess of them and we got a cheaper rate. A Chrysler Town and Country to be precise, since both the check-in guy and the lady at the garage said that was the one we should choose. 

We headed off, and got to the hotel in about 10 minutes flat. Awesome! It was just after 4:00 by then, so we mucked around for a bit and then headed off for early dinner. We had passed a Chilli's on the way, and thought that would be preferable to fast food. 

James decided he wasn't going to eat anything at all (typical of him with tonsillitis - hope the antibiotics have kicked in properly by tomorrow), but Charlotte ate a ton. Nothing that she ordered, but most of James' meal and some of Wayne's. 😄

We then headed back to the hotel so the kids could sleep. At least they've both gone to bed at their "normal" time.Will be interesting to see how James goes in a bed for his first time. There are a ton of pillows on the floor next to him. 

Although we're a bit exhausted Wayne is currently watching Iron Man on TV, until Survivor comes on. Yes, even on holidays Michelle still watches her reality TV!

Oh, and the stroller? They think it missed the plane so are expecting it tomorrow. When (if!) it arrives they'll send it to the hotel for us. If it doesn't arrive we get to go shopping. Will keep you informed. 

And we're off!

And 

So after a night filled with limited sleep - and not all because of our traditional las minute packing! - we headed off to the airport. And since we're going for such a long trip, why not do it in style! 

Only kidding. Wayne's friend from tennis is a limo driver, and given it was going to cost as much for a return limo trip as staying in the long term parking this time around, why not. It was a good trip - Charlotte was disappointed the TV in the car didn't work though. 

We got to the airport and faced our first 2 (and hopefully only) issues of the trip. Firstly, we had to get assistance to get our boarding passes because we didn't have a return ticket. All good. They then wanted to see our tickets out of America (these are American government regulations). Well, cruise ships don't issue tickets. 

After showing the cruise check-in documentation they manual documented our onward journey information, but it still took them another 15 minutes to get our baor song passes - clearly the U.S. don't like you entering by plane and exiting by cruise 😜. 

The next issue was a bit more serious to deal with. That being up all night I mentioned earlier? James was not a happy boy. Well, he was happy, he just didn't want to sleep. That, combined with hardly eating or drinking anything yesterday and a persistent cough made us think he might have tonsillitis again. 

Visit to the doctor (Tullamarine really does have everything!) and $$ later we confirmed that, yep, he has tonsillitis. He also has a slight ear infection, probably from the throat issues. The doctor cautiously advised us it might be a good idea not to fly for 24-48 hours until the antibiotics have kicked in, as he may have excruciating pain in the plane...or he may not. 

Further questioning confirmed that the pain would be restricted to take-off and landing, so we decided that anti-biotics, panadol, and lollies to chew on would be fine. 

Turns out we made the right decision - the only problem James had during take-off was that they paused his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show to show the safety demonstration video. 

Not long after take-off! 

Charlotte listened intently to the announcement about lunch and proclaimed everything "yuck"! But was very excited when she got her kids meal. 

Cake, chocolate chip biscuit, juice, AND...

Mac and cheese 😊. 

That didn't compare to the highlight of the trip though - Charlotte was asked to help the flight attendant hand out the lollies - or sweets as they called them. I'd forgotten Air NZ flights into NZ did this. As a thank you Charlotte was given a bag with a ton of lollies in it too. 

After a brief stopover in Auckland we headed into the plane for San Francisco, and our first experience with SkyCouch. Basically, you get three seats in a row and the leg rest folds all the way up to make a sort of bed. You then get extra seatbelt things so you can lie down and sleep and still be belted in. 

It was great - would have been even better if Charlotte wasn't determined to "stay up all night for the first time in my life!" She did nap for a few hours at the start of the night, and 20 minutes before landing, but a nap at the hotel this afternoon is definitely in order. 

And here is what it looks like with the leg rests down. 

Here We Go Again...

....we're almost off. T - 4 days and counting.

We can't wait to head off travelling again. It's been 20 months since our last big trip and Michelle, in particular, is getting antsy about the whole no travel thing. This time though, it's a BIG one.

The itinerary in brief is:

San Francisco and Sacramento (to catch up with Nancy and Norm!)
Mukwonago, Wisconsin (to catch up with Kim, Scott, and Max!)
DisneyWorld!!!! Of course, including a day trip to Universal to see the improved Harry Potter World and ride the Hogwarts Express
A Transatlantic cruise from Orlando to Copenhagen, on Disney Cruise Line
A Baltics cruise round trip from Copenhagen, on Disney Cruise Line
A Norwegian Fjords cruise round trip from Copenhagen, and you don't get a prize for guessing that we're on the Disney Cruise Line :)

We will post updates as we can, depending on wi-fi availability. We're not sure what will happen in the 29 nights (!) that we're on the cruise, so we may be pretty quiet and then upload heaps at once, so keep checking in if you're interested in what we're up to.