For a year and a bit, while Janice was sick- New Zealand changed our definition of 'home'.
Jacien, within the first 6 months had moved more times than i had, in my first 20- something years of life.
It never phased the kids. Everywhere was home, anywhere we were- if we were together- where ever it was we returned to that night to sleep... that was home.
I'm not going to spend my time over here online for most of the stay- i'm taking a break from facebook especially. This blog can just be a distraction for my wandering thoughts.
For two days since we arrived, we haven't done much and i have battled a little to stop thinking of all the things i still have to do when we get home. I have to tell myself that i'm not wasting time here. That we and I all need this.
Marty and Amanda as always, open their spaces to us, and the boys have doubled in height, but it doesn't feel like 2 years since we last saw them. The Welch house is filled with light, and the instant familiarity that always affirmed for me, Zane and i have known each other long before we ever met.
I wanted to write down some of the things i noticed on the way, so i better do that before i forget.
We woke up in the early hours of Friday morning, Zane told me the train would come at 5-something. As usual my internal alarm got me up at 10 to 4.
Zane's alarm didn't go off so i woke him after my coffee.
Che was the last to wake as always, Tivi was the first - as she is when she knows something exciting is happening.
Jacie wakes in between, curious and tired.
It's still dark! Jacie says. The moon is full and we stick our heads out the window to say hello to it, and wave to Dad who is at the bakery across the road, getting us breakfast to go.
When we finally go to get you out of bed Che, you don't fight it- you get dressed quickly.
Are we walking?
Yes. To the train station.
It's an adventure- i smile.
Che looks up at me, the rising sun on his still sleepy face and says without a smile- just as a fact 'It is a great day for an adventure.'
On the train i watch them. Jacie snuggled at my side- telling me random things, Che with his face out the window, eyes darting with the moving scenery and Tivi, she's watching people. Curious about the other passengers in the carriage.
Zane is jittery edgey.. he denies this, but his leg taps a morse code of anxiety that he doesn't even register.
I am quiet.
I've been tired lately, not the irritated tired i often am as a mother... beyond it- which makes me almost agreeable. Haha, i have no energy to even be concerned about the possibility of things going wrong.
It is a great day for an adventure, and adventure is nothing if it is perfectly flat and lovely.
I tell Zane to relax - and he says he is. I am sorry for all the pressure i put on him. I know i have become quite the control freak. Going back to New Zealand sometimes reminds me of the days we were here, and how the years in between have shown me a lot about myself, how when some memories replay in my head, i cringe at the way i handled it.
Let it go, focus on now.
A man at the airport, who was on our flight with his wife, said to me, ' You have very well behaved children.' I swallowed my default answer of 'Oh sometimes! They have their moments.' and smiled at them, and then at him and simply said 'Thank you.'
We played scissors paper rock and they laughed and laughed. The plane ride was relaxed.
So our trip over was for the most part - apart from scissors in the carry on, and leaving our passports at the airport... haha apart from that it was scene free- drama free- argument free.
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I wrote that over in NZ then stopped writing altogether, so now- i'm just gonna do what i always do and thought vomit/document our trip the best way i can from my at times very unreliable memory.
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Jack and Scott wave to us from the window. When we reach the door, and Scott comes to hug me, he is almost a head taller than me, and it reminds me that the best way to gauge time is to measure it in the height and changes of children.
Scott remembers our songs. This makes me smile.
Jack, he's almost my height, no longer with the childish features he used to have, the age gap between him and the kids now obvious... he surprises me by telling me excitedly about his game, asking that i watch him play it- showing me the ins and outs of Minecraft. This makes me smile.
Later on that week, Scott shows me an album of Marty and Amandas wedding. It was the first time i'd met any of them. My first trip ever overseas, my first time in New Zealand. It was also the trip where i told Zane i was pregnant with Tivianh- just 2 months into our relationship. Haha...
Anyway in the album, is a photo of me holding Jack- i believe he is just shy of 3-ish, and i remember how cute he was, and how we played together from the moment we met. Under the photo, Amanda had written, Jack loved Vien from the start. Hehe- it was true, and vice versa. Seven years later- he is cheeky and full of stories and the complexities of a 'tween'. I realise that i am bad with kids who aren't small and easy to please.
Scott makes me happy, because he remembers the things we used to do- and we dance and sing and repeat things over and over again- but he is different now, matured. He helps me, watches out for the kids, the dog, tells me stories, remembers peoples names... we chat, and laugh and it is nice to be with Scott nearing Christmas time. It's his favourite time of the year and it amuses me how he loves to listen to Christmas songs and the sight of Santa sends him leaping.
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I have lots to write about, but it's 1am now and my thoughts are slurred, so i'll leave you with these photos of our first day of adventures.
The suitcases lined up at the station. We travel compact.
The de'souza's also lined up at the station... haha just before 6am and looking great.
The train is an adventure for them. The city is a curiousity.
Skip a few hundred photos of flights and airports and car rides - and a 16 year old Scott re-unites with his favourite De'souza child. Jacie was just out of being a 'baby' when we left last time... and Scott was fascinated by him. Jacie enjoyed the attention.
The new Welch family member- The kids loved Smudge. Tivi was obsessed with him. Gotta admit he's pretty cute. Daww... he loved me so. Awesome to have a pet for a few weeks.
Che was enchanted by Jack, and watching him play minecraft was a favourite pastime.
Tivi loved the garden- the grass and the dog.
I love that these grow everywhere on the grass... that two days after Marty mowed the lawns - new ones sprung up. What happy little things they are. Jacie spent many happy minutes picking them for me.
Surrounded by these spectacular paintings. Realising how awesome it is to be in the home of such talent and ability.
Marty made us beef Schnitzel - because it's our favourite dish of his- this schnitzel seriously, rocks!
I'm gonna leave it at that for tonight, delicious ending right?
Hehe more about New Zealand later. :)
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