It's so summer

We're back in the south seas!

We said our goodbyes and hopped onto four planes in succession.  We had six suitcases again, with 300 lbs of freight.  This time our luggage was primarily comprised of stock-up items that are either unavailable or ridiculously expensive in NZ:  Levis jeans, GrapeNuts cereal, proper underarm hygiene products, and about a gallon of contact lens solution.  Plus armloads of toys and books from doting grandparents, aunties, and uncles.

We took off from some truly bitter Chicago cold.  We ended up in a wonderfully temperate summer.  And, in the middle of all of it, we had a short but lovely and frangipani-filled layover in Papeete, Tahiti.  All told, the trip only took 35 hours, door to door, and it was relatively uneventful.  The worst problems were biological:  Arram had a mild fever, Amiri wet his pants while napping, and my ears ended up feeling plugged-up because they stubbornly refused to pop on the descents. 

It's really nice to be back home.  The weather is warm and beautiful.  Walking home from school today, Amiri said, 'It's so warm and sunny!  Mama, it's so summer!'  The city is quiet and sedate, since a good proportion of the population is still on holiday.  Although we were tired and slept like rocks after returning home, we weren't jet-lagged at all:  conveniently, the wedding schedule of staying up until the wee hours of the morning and then sleeping late happens to correspond with a good New Zealand work schedule, so we were pre-adjusted.  I was up and chipper this morning at 5 am.

Arram has transitioned readily to sharing the big boy bed with Amiri, although so far they start out by falling asleep in their closet-fort.  Tonight, I put them to bed and told just the one story, despite their pleas for more.  After lights out, I heard them talking.

Amiri:  We can tell each other stories.  Stories for the brothers.  Arram, you tell me a story and then I'll tell you a story.

Arram:  Dog.  Running.  Door.  Raining.  Cry.  Dog.

Amiri:  OK, now me.  Arram, you want to hear a Jack the Goat story?  Yeah?  Come on!

And then they scampered into the closet and closed the door.  I wasn't able to hear about Jack's antics but I'm sure they were amusing.  When I went to check on them later, they were both asleep, holding hands.