Happy New Year

We rang in the new year with great friends, wonderful food, and happy hearts as we said good bye to 2013 and hello to 2014.  Our day started with a 30 pound delivery of Kobe beef- you know it's a great day when that happens! The boys and I were still dragging from our colds, but we rallied for the day, cleaned up the house and after great naps,we were ready for our party clothes.  Mr. Wyatt Bear only made it to 6:30, but Little Guy hung with with us and celebrated the New York New Year's Eve at 9:00. The kiddos all had a great time watching a projector movie in the garage and the mommies and daddies had a chance to enjoy a quick quiet dinner.  2013 was a pretty amazing year, 2014 has its work cut out!

Sick Babies are No Fun

It was bound to happen and truth be told, I am amazed and so incredibly grateful that it didn't happen sooner...our little loves are sick...and so is this mommy.  Between a 15 day international adventure, 60 total hours of international airplane travel (not to mention the domestic flights while abroad), nine people traveling together and sharing everything, late night holiday parties, and intense jet lag to combat, our boys came down with colds.  I wasn't sure if I should have been practicing extra hand washing or licking their spoons, but I knew it was inevitable that I would get sick too.  Daddy hasn't gotten it yet, he's avoiding us like the plague and sleeping in the other room- he says the man cave he keeps imagining would come in real handy on days like these...I told him I'd run to his man cave (if he had one) the next time he was sick...he said he'll stay at our house.  Poor Mr. Wyatt Bear doesn't know what hit him.  He can't breath our of his nose and he wakes up with his face covered in boogers.  We resorted to him sleeping propped up in our bed and Little Guy sitting propped up in his crib and so far that's helped, but we haven't had a good night sleep since the first Kleenex got used.  Little Guy is quite protective of his little brother and tells "No do that baby Wyatt Bear" whenever I take out the Nose Freida- we applaud his tenacity to defend his brother, but without a little snot sucking, neither one of them stands a chance at a decent sleep.

Merry Christmas 2013

Santa visited our house last night and what a lucky house we were! Little Guy was very excited to find a balance bike and a filled stocking when he came down the stairs.  Mr. Wyatt Bear was just happy to be in the mix and mommy and daddy felt like the ultimate winners after a 7:30 wake up call, way to go boys! We spent the morning enjoying our little family and the wonderful treasures Santa left before taking our naps and the heading out for the Fitz Christmas. It was a crazy hectic fun night with three babies, three dogs, six adults, and tons of gift wrap. My how a year changes things...last year it was just our sweet Little Guy under the tree and now we're blessed to have Mr. Wyatt Bear and Miss P to play with him! Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! we hope your days are filled with love!

Christmas Eve

We kicked off our 2013 Christmas Eve with a DeTar family brunch.  Uncle Luke, Aunt Kim, Grandma, Papa, Uncle Sam, and even his girlfriend Kaylynn came over to enjoy breakfast and exchange gifts.  Little Guy and Mr. Wyatt Bear were spoiled with some fun personalized chairs, a play tee-pee, stickers, big boy undies, cars, and books...the uncles can't figure out why anyone would ask for books for Christmas and I assured them that once they had kids and I gave them a drum set for Christmas, they would see the benefit in receiving books.  We followed up family brunch with great naps and then headed over to Grandma and Papa's for the Emigh family Christmas Eve celebration.  Papa's side of the family gets together every Christmas Eve and this year it was held at Grandma and Papa's so we didn't have to go far.  Little Guy and Mr. Wyatt Bear loved playing with their second cousins and meeting some of the extended family for the first time.  We had a special visit from Santa and home grown gift exchange with our cousins before heading home in our Christmas pjs to lay out cookies and milk for Santa's much anticipated visit.  Merry Christmas Eve to all, we hope Santa had you on the nice list.

Fitzsimmons Family Soiree

We had our second annual Fitzsimmons Family Soiree tonight at Aunt Colleen's house.  It was a blast to see all the family and get a chance to celebrate the holiday before everyone goes every which way for Christmas day.  Santa made a special appearance and Little Guy spent the night playing trains and cars with his second cousins.  Mr. Wyatt Bear was a trooper, he's had late night after late night just as he was adjusting back to California time.  Just a few more days with the holidays then it's back to bedtimes and my well rested boys will be happy campers again.

First time

I hit up the outlets today...crazy, right???  Nope, it wasn't bad, we went right at 10 and we were in and out before the crowds started.  That being said, I realized I grabbed the wrong size in a few things, so I'll be going back tomorrow and I have a feeling I won't be so lucky two days in a row. Anyways, today we had teenage babysitters for the first time ever.  I won't lie, it made me a little nervous and sort of sad, but we left our sleeping babes with two sweet girls while we headed out to the annual DeTar Christmas party.  Crazy small world story- our babysitter played volleyball for our friend last year and that's how she was recommended to us.  Turns out, our baby sitter's mom used to baby sit Daddy when he was little and Daddy was college roommates with our baby sitter's uncle.  Yep, if that's not full circle, having your childhood baby sitter's daughters babysit your kiddos, I don't know what is.  And I am happy to report, there was nothing to report when we got home.  Just two sleeping babies and two sisters that spent three hours watching COPS on TV...I am thinking I may need to go back to babysitting with the going rate these days.

Three Babies

We have had the best time this week with sweet Miss P and her mommy.  My sister called in a bind since Mr. Mark got called back into work (YES!) and needed to start right away while my sister was still in training for her new position.  Well, no worries here, Miss Peyton got to tag along with us all week and let me just say, everybody loved having her.  I got MANY empathetic stares and shocked comments when we went out with the double stroller and the ring sling and even more confused looks when I said the two babies were in fact NOT twins.  That being said, people have asked if I still want three kiddos after trying it out for a week and the answer is no...I want four!  And I take comfort in the fact that there's no way my next baby will be 16 weeks younger than Mr. Wyatt Bear, so it can only be easier.  Thanks for spending the week with us ladies, it was great having you!  We'll miss you tomorrow morning, but I bet your daddy is EXTRA excited to get his girls home!!

All Aboard the Polar Express

All aboard!!! We became members of the Train Museum this past August just to have a chance at pre-sale Polar Express tickets...and even though we bought tickets before general sales started, we could only get the 3:30 train, that's what a hot ticket this is! We have been counting down the days until we would embark on our trip to the North Pole with our buddies Emme, Caden, and Jack-Jack and we even got lucky enough to bring Miss P on our journey! The boys were all in matching choo choo jammies and the girls in Christmas red, it was precious! We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies,complete with a visit from the man himself, special sleigh bells, and a singing wait staff. We arrived early and had a little waiting to do, but the lights and live music kept us all in good spirits.  Mommy and the boys can't wait for next year!

Ho Ho Ho

We visited Santa today!  It was our first official visit and I wasn't too sure what Little Guy would think of the man in red...Well, he loved the fact that there were trains and airplanes in the toy chest right next to him, so he was content to stand next to Santa, but not on his lap.  Mr. Wyatt Bear and Miss P were happy to sit front and center and later, after a quick train ride, Little Guy was ready to go back for more.  Sorry buddy, Santa comes just once a year, but we'll be back next December!

It's beginning to feel alot like Christmas

It's a weird feeling to be away from home until 10 days before Christmas (not that we're complaining!) and it seems a bit odd to see the lights and decorations up when you were wearing flip flops 36 hours earlier...we decided we needed to get our tree sooner than later so Daddy stopped at the tree lot of the way home.  It would have been nice to go as a family, but between jet lag, unpacking, and catching up on everything, Daddy had to do it on his own.  Wasn't Daddy surprised when he got to the lot and it was gone....G.O.N.E. Not a remnant left, nothing.  He headed to the next lot, same thing.  Could we really be that late that Christmas trees were sold out???  He headed to Home Depot next and was lucky enough to pick from the last remaining dozen or so trees...He requested Christmas carols upon arriving home, saying "Nothing puts you in the holiday spirit like buying your Christmas tree at Home Depot".  He's right, it wasn't the same as the Christmas tree farm, but this year we have African memories to help fill the void.  And Little Guy could have cared less where the tree came from, all that mattered was he got to put ornaments up...and take them down...and put them up....and take them down...I see a pattern here.

All roads lead to home

We started on our return trek on Saturday, December 14th and YIKES!!!  The trip over and the internal travel were nothing compared to what we endured on the way home.  Let's start at the beginning.  We started our journey home via the road transfer from Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge to the airport.  Nothing to report there, we arrived with a little time to spare, no trouble with luggage, and our flight was on time.  I was already envisioning the airport shopping we would do in Jo'berg and the peaceful sleep my littles would get on the trans-Atlantic flight home.  I should have been a little leary when the woman checking us in couldn't confirm the bassinet and told me she could check my bags all the way through to San Francisco, but I decided to give Africa the benefit of the doubt and just go with it.  Well, we arrived in Jo'berg and decided to scope out our gate before shopping- good thing we did because I checked and double checked the ticket (it was in military time) and when I was 100% positive that it said board at 6 PM and depart at 6:50 PM, I panicked!  We were originally scheduled to leave at 8:50 PM and it was 5:50 when we landed...with the new departure time, we were left with 10 minutes to get through the terminal, to the international terminal, and in line to board.  Besides the fact that I was 100% confused and somewhat annoyed that I wasn't getting to souvenir shop, I became irrate when security made me throw my WHOLE unopened bottle of wine away- I didn't think anything of it as a liquid in my carry on since it hadn't even been flagged on our first flight, but it was definitlety over three ounces and we did not have time for me to check it- plus I didn't have a bag to check it in anyways....We raced, like literally ran with all our carry ons and two babies decked out in pjs, to the gate, only to be stopped by another, even more througho security check...I flagged down a staff member and was informed that South African Air runs a winter schedule and a summer schedule.  I booked the tickets during winter schedule time for a summer schedule ticket, so instead of booking me a ticket according to the schedule at the time I would be traveling, they booked our tickets according to the schedule at the time I was making the reservation...TIA- THIS IS AFRICA.  Upon learning about this scheduling debaucle, I learned that the bassinet had NOT in fact been reserved and we were sitting in seats with broken TVS....I couldn't dream up a more grueling 15 hour flight than one without any form of entertainment for a toddler boy.  Upon take off, they announced it would be eight hours until our touch down in Senegal...our what!?!?!?!  We weren't slated to have any touch downs anywhere and we're already looking at a close connection time in New York...well, we learned that, along with different schedules, they make a stop in Senegal on the summer routes and that wasn't reported when I booked the flight during the winter route times...again TIA.  We landed in Senegal after what seemed like an eternity and had to take all of our overhead luggage out and stand up while they inspected the plane- shoot me now.  We eventually took off and got a new cabin crew who were much more interested in helping us figure out our TV situation- we eventually had intermittent TV time, which I guess is better than nothing.  We FINALLY landed in JFK and were assured that we would make it through customs and immigration, through baggage claim, through the terminal, the terminal tram, and into the new terminal before our flight left, which was in 45 minutes.  I am going to spare the teary/angry/meltdown details and just say, we didn't make it and while I hate to type cast, the JFK New Yorker airport staff was none too helpful and not at all concerned that we were missing our last connecting flight....thank goodness we were able to catch a flight just two hours later.  Now, since this flight was later, we were traveling with people who had a full night sleep and weren't arriving at the airport until after breakfast, so everyone looked AND smelled showered and ready for a day of travel- we looked like we had been hit by a semi-truck and dragged to a landfill before not being allowed to shower for days on end...yeah, it was that bad.  My mom was wearing airplane socks under her flip flops and that was just the tip of disaster...after a two hour delay and a much needed Starbucks stop, we were boarded for our last leg.  About 30 minutes into the flight Gabe and I inquired what time it was, SURE we had been traveling for at least 2 if not 3 hours...heaven help us, it was going to be a long 5 hours.  The boys had managed for so long and just as Gabe was saying how amazed he was that they hadn't lost it, Mr. Wyatt Bear started to SCREAM and Little Guy chucked his sippy cup down the aisle....they were finally revolting and to be honest, who could blame them? Kindle batteries were dead, airplane games had lost their novelty, and everyone was sick of trying to sleep in the awkwardly small and uncomfortable airplane seat....I am not sure how, but we made it....we touched down in San Francisco and my dad was there to pick us up.  He had flowers and balloons and hugs for everyone.  I won't lie, the drive home seemed to last an eternity and I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to get the babies in bed, but we did, and while we LOVED every second of our African Adventure, sleep in our own beds never felt so good!

Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge

     Our last stop on our African Adventure was at Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve on the border of Kruger National Park.  We flew into the local airport and were promptly greeted by the warm humidity and HOT temperatures; up until this point, it had been more pleasant spring like weather, but the summer weather up north was no joke.  In our usual high rolling fashion, we were greeted at the airport by our transfer driver who not only got us to the lodge safely ( a feat you realize after you've experienced driving in Africa), but with plenty of local knowledge to boot.  We drove through the largest man made bamboo forest used to produce paper and heard about his three bouts of malaria...

     Once we arrived at Sabi Sabi, we were in for a real treat.  Unlike our first game lodge, this lodge was much bigger and filled to capacity, but that didn't stop them from showing us a first class time. Our rooms were spectacular, complete with monkey viewing from the bathtub and baboons crossing your front porch walkway (that was a little unnerving, I am not going to lie).  This lodge had a kids club, "The Elephfun Center", that the boys were welcome to hang out in during the day. All the kiddos were welcome on game drives since we had our own vehicle and we were able to do some split game drives so we all went out and then I headed in after an hour or so with the kiddos and everyone else continued on- it was just the right amount of time before Little Guy started to get pretty squirmy in the jeep.  

     We did venture to leave the boys with Ruth for one game drive and let's just say, it's going to be a while before they trust us out of their sight.  She was a delightful older African woman who even tried wrapping Mr. Wyatt Bear on her back (which he loves at home), but he wasn't having any of it and Little Guy was just beside himself that he wasn't with his mama.  Lesson learned, babysitters in foreign countries are AWESOME if your kiddos are already asleep, otherwise not so much. 

     We had an amazing tracker Heavyness (yes, that was really his name) and a great guide Steve who celebrated his 25th birthday while we were there (yes he's still a baby) and the boys did all they could to help Steve ring in another year older, including some sickening shots that Brad concocted...

     The game viewing was spectacular, a completely different landscape then our first safari made each game drive feel new and exciting.  We were lucky enough to finally catch a glimpse of the elusive leopard AND her cub, plus a lioness and her babies who were out and about for the first time chowing down on a water buffalo about 600 yards from where we were enjoying our breakfast out in the bush.  On the way to the outdoor breakfast surprise, the guys were coming in from a rather disappointing game drive when they rounded the final corner and saw the gutted buffalo and the lion family digging in.  We all decided that it made up for the lackluster morning drive...we ventured back to see the kill after breakfast and I just couldn't get comfortable with the idea of having both my babies in an open air jeep just feet away from hungry lions....Little Guy wasn't phased at all but I was a nervous wreck!  

     We made sure to do it up on safari and the ladies indulged in spa treatments at the Earth Lodge where we also toured some rooms and decided that if we ever wanted to live in true luxury fashion we'd stay there- we just have to make sure Paris Hilton hasn't booked up all the rooms.  

     We were sad to pack up on this leg of the trip because it meant we were headed home, but this vacation was everything we had hoped it would be and so much more!  I don't think a return trip to Africa will be a hard sell :)