Traveling with kids is...

We made it to America! It was a little over 24 hours of travel and being in airports with two small children but we made it. The lead up to our departure from Asuncion was not as epic as the journey itself but without the lead up there is no great story.

During the week we diligently ate up as many perishable fridge and pantry items as we could and cleaned both properly. The fridge is bare and the pantry looks organized. On Thursday we had Brenda and Netza over for what we thought would be their last dinner and game nights but it turns out they have been extended to work on the Temple until August. It was a lovely surprise. We ordered burgers and deliciously bad for us cheese fries and played a terrifically epic Harry Potter game.

Poor Finely needed to receive medicine via nebulizer 3 times a day every day until we left.
She HATED it.

Professor Finley joined us during dinner one night.

We had several close calls but we won!

Poor Nanima called in sick twice this week as she was battling a cold so Kiersten was on duty with babies all day. It was good prep for this current week as Scott is in Panama for a training. So on one of these days during school pick-up, Mackenzie said she wanted "burger cheese". They went to a mall food court and then she played in the play area for over an hour. With no extravagant dinner to make at home Kiersten was in no rush to leave. It was a perfectly fun, somewhat relaxing and totally successful afternoon out.

It got cold! Fell asleep on the way home from school drop off. 

Enjoying her "burger cheese" from Mostaza.

Already driving her little sister around.

Friday night didn't feel like a Friday night since we spent it packing and doing laundry. In the morning we grabbed our last minute items and got to the airport with time to spare. Since we were traveling business class on this part of the journey, we got to enjoy the Premium lounge of the Asuncion airport. It was small but quiet and had free food and drinks so it was perfect. Our first flight to São Paulo was about 2 hours. We had a little over 4 hours in the airport there but again, business lounge so it was bearable. 

We set up shop in the United Lounge and settled in.

The next flight to Houston, TX was almost 10 hours. Scott was in charge of Mackenzie and Kiersten was in charge of the babe. Parents, to your battle stations! The flight departed at 9pm Paraguay time so we got both kids in jammies before takeoff. During the dinner service, M fell asleep mid-bite of a dinner roll and didn't eat her dinner (she ate plenty of food in the lounge). Finley ate while Mom ate and soon thereafter she too fell asleep. We were then free to "relax" and get ourselves to bed. 

Business class is really the only way to do a long flight. I can't go back!

We got some sleep then woke and ate breakfast and landed in Houston where we enjoyed the new and posh Polaris Lounge. They didn't have a family room to hide our children but they had showers so the parents enjoyed that while Mackenzie bounced off the walls and Finley cried demanding sleep. This was the beginning of the rest of the day of Finley sleeping and crying for sleep. We made it to Utah by noon Mountain Daylight Time. Got our rental car by 1 and to Pleasant Grove by 2. Since Mackenzie had taken a nap, albeit a short nap, on the plane she was "good to go". Scott had a headache so he napped while the baby napped and Mom and M went to get grocery essentials. The house is currently empty so food was a must. That evening we enjoyed our first American meal, Wendy's.

In the morning Scott went back to the airport to fly to Panama where he will be the rest of the week at a work training. As it was Memorial Day the girls joined Kiersten's grandparents and Aunt and Uncle to place flowers on the graves of their ancestors in Pleasant Grove and Tooele. Kiersten's brother Scott recently moved to Tooele so they reunited after 3 years. Mackenzie was happy to have more cousins to play with but all the familial terms eluded her so she just referred to everyone as "my famby (family)". We had a fun lunch at Denny's then drove to Springville to see the grandparent's new home at the Ashford Assisted Living Home. It was very nice and we are happy they are doing well there. After a very long day, Kiersten got the girls home and both to bed by 7:30. Win! 

Tooele Cemetery with William and Evie. 

Great-Grandma Hammond and our two girls.

The word that best describes today is loud. Finley is still adjusting to a new time zone, location, people and being in a car for more than 30 minutes and today she had had enough. She demanded to be held by Mom all day and cried in the car for long stretches. Mackenzie is doing well with everything as she is a very experienced traveler. We went to Great-Grandma Jackson's where she played in the yard with Uncle Brenton for an hour much to her delight. Then she wanted "burger cheese" again (day 3) so we went to In-N-Out. After lunch we visited Great-Grandparents Hammond in Springville and Finley cried and refused to let anyone but Mom hold her. After a few hours we left and got dinner at Coast Vida (not a burger!) and then home. Both again were in bed by 7:30 and Kiersten finally got silence. Please let tomorrow be a better day.

The perfect pair.

Yet another cheeseburger! We promise to feed her something else this week.

Thanks for reading. It was long.