“Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” – John Howard Payne

I’m back! It’s good to be home. I missed my little blog, but thoroughly enjoyed being unplugged for a while. Now, with my head swimming in posting ideas and new thoughts on motherhood to share, I’m anxious to get back to it….

First and foremost, we had a terrific trip! The flights to and from were torturous and very hard on us all, but we did it and are better for it.

I can’t believe that I can now say that I been to six continents or even more impressive that, that my son has been to three!

Sydney is a beautiful hustling bustling multi-cultural city with tons of things to see and do and we made the most of our four days there by exploring The Rocks, the great neighborhood where our hotel was located, walking over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, visiting the famed Opera House and the Taronga Zoo.

In between our bookend stays in Sydney, Lucas and I spent a wonderful week with my friend Sophie and her family in Noumea, New Caledonia and got to experience life on an island. It was so good for my soul to see my friend again and I loved finally meeting her beautiful daughters, Emma (who turned six while we were there) and Noemi (3). They were very sweet to Lucas and he fell in love with them instantly too.

I am especially grateful to Sophie’s husband Luc, who took the entire week off work while I was there to help out with their girls and their daily routine and even looked after Lucas so that Sophie and I could spend some time alone together. I love how even after not seeing each other for 10 years, we picked up right where we left off. That has to be the mark of a true friendship.

As I said in my Facebook status on April 25: One 15 hour flight, one trip to the ER, one lost cell phone and unbelievable humidity = the price you pay to see your best friend again! Having a wonderful time in New Caledonia.

I can never thank Sophie and Luc enough for everything they did to make us feel comfortable and welcome and I don’t know what I would have done without their help. Shortly after we arrived (literally minutes after we walked off the plane), we headed to the ER where Lucas was diagnosed with gastroenteritis. This led to multiple trips to the pharmacy, calls to their family’s pediatrician and a later diagnosis of an ear infection and sore throat.

Agh! I now know what a mother’s worst fear is while traveling and it’s not that you’ll run out of diapers on a 15 hour flight, it’s that your baby will get sick on an island where you don’t speak the language!

He seems to be 100% now, although he is still pulling on his ear, so we are going see our pediatrician tomorrow (I mean, later).

Maybe he was just missing his daddy, who was in Tasmania participating in the annual Targa Tasmania, a tarmac rally with competitive stages on closed roads. I will have to get Lucas’ dad to share his experience in the form of a guest post, because I couldn’t do it justice. I suppose the pictures might speak for themselves. Luckily no one was seriously hurt!!

It was the longest we have all been a part from one another and what made it more difficult was the lack of communication. We can normally text one another, but not without a phone (which I believe is in the Sydney airport somewhere…Grrr!).

Jet lag is starting to kick in… photo highlights will have to wait until tomorrow (I mean, later).

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