simply Spain

Now despite losing Bunny and all the "bad" and "ugly" parts of getting to Spain I really have one thing to say:

It was worth it.

We love being in Spain. Last year the boys were so enamored with it that they listed it among Canada and Uganda as where they are from. 
Our one week conference was in Nerja which is in the South of Spain. Our apartment was ocean front and completely lovely. The conference itself was fantastic and provided childcare which I gladly dropped all three of our boys off at every day. We had some initial struggles to get the older two boys to go, but overall they loved their teachers {as proof: Noah invited his teachers to come and eat dinner with us when he saw them waiting in line to get their food. So.Cute.}.

We had a "free" day and we spent the entire morning at the beach.

The boys and their friend Sebastian who is STINTing {with his parents of course} in Scotland.

It was freezing, but that didn't stop the boys from playing in the Mediterranean.

We later explored town, enjoyed some gelato {have you ever had Ferrero Rocher gelato? AMAZING.} and walked the beautiful streets of Nerja.

Jamie and his friend Andy rented mopeds and bombed around town during the afternoons and in the evening when our boys were in childcare, Jamie took me for a ride during the sunset. It was amazing. Quite possibly my favourite moment in Spain. Riding along the waterfront, watching the bright, red sun setting and reflecting over the water. No pictures, but I'm pretty sure it'll stay in my mind forever. 

One afternoon I took the boys for a walk up to a nearby park. It's been almost 2 years since I uttered those words. A walk. On a sidewalk. To a park. These are the things I've missed from Canada. Strange how it's the little things that we end up missing the most.

Now this park was a bit lame, but the boys played on it by themselves for a good hour while I basked in the sun with Blaise. GLORIOUS.

My view from the park.

It was such a great week catching up with friends. The boys even performed in their first on-stage song ever! It was SO cute. Jude actually did the actions and while Noah stood and faced the wall the whole time, I was proud of him for actually making it on stage! Check it out!

God is watching over you from Vanessa Strickland on Vimeo.

I enjoyed a one-on-one coaching session with a fantastic staff woman {and friend} from Canada. She listened to me and my experience and understood a lot about living in Africa {she's married to an African and lived in Ghana for a time}. We talked so long that I was late for my next appointment. Which was counseling. 

I've never been to counseling but it was offered for free so I thought I'd try it out. I'd also seen some anger in me that surprised me and saddened me as I interacted with Noah who had refused to go to childcare a couple times. Let me tell you, I am a total convert to counseling. I didn't really know at first what I wanted to talk about, but I talked and she listened and asked some really good questions and pointed out some words I had been using as I talked about the things I wanted for my kids and our home and our family. It's something I am going to look into as we move back to Canada and I continue to work through thoughts and life stages and transition back to living in Canada.

Our time in Nerja was a total blessing. Stay tuned for our time in Barcelona!

traveling with young kids: the good, the bad, and the ugly

So we took a bunch of flights recently to Spain. With three kids. For the first time. 

It was...interesting.

Our flight path:

Entebbe, Uganda to Cairo, Egypt. 1ish hour layover.

Cairo, Egypt to Barcelona, Spain. Arrive around midday. Take a {very expensive} taxi to our apartment hotel for the night. Get up early to be at the airport for around 7am.

Barcelona, Spain to Malaga, Spain. Kick around at the airport for 2ish hours to wait for our shuttle bus to Nerja. Spend a week in Nerja for our work conference.

Then Malaga, Spain to Barcelona for 6 days of vacation. Take public transit to our rented apartment for the week. No more expensive taxis for us. After 6 days it's back to the airport in Barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain to Cairo, Egpyt. 1.5 hours layover. Eat Burger King and Haagen Dazs ice cream {banoffee flavour in case you were wondering. Pure heaven.}

Cairo, Egpyt back to Entebbe, Uganda. Arrive at 3am.

The Good

I made surprise packages for the boys and put them in their carry on suitcases including some candy, crackers, and a few other snacks as well as stickers, crayons and colouring books. I also snuck in a new book into each of their suitcases which they actually didn't discover until we arrived at our final destination. They were also allowed to pick 5 toys to include and were looking forward to playing with the various dinosaurs they chose {they're both in a dino phase these days}. They were really looking forward to these packages and it kept them occupied for all of 7 minutes. Just kidding. They were occupied for at least a third of the first flight.

Jamie charged up his iPad and computer and the boys watched movies and played games on the various "screens". This probably kept them occupied for at least half of the flight times. 

Blaise happily slept for a good chunk of the flights. 

I had an empty row to myself with Blaise for four out of six flights. It was almost for three flights, but my hero {my hubs} got me a row to myself for our final flight instead of sitting beside two men again. One of which had a decent case of BO.

The Bad

Our flight from Cairo to Barcelona was filled with high school students who happily {and loudly} hung over the backs of seats, walked up and down the aisles as I tried to rock Blaise to sleep. I felt like I was on a high school bus trip. 

This was one of the flights that I did not have the row to myself. Luckily I was seated next to a really nice university-aged couple who were utterly charmed by Blaise.

Our flight from Malaga to Barcelona was full. And I was in between two business men. It was not pleasant although both men were as accommodating as you can be to someone who doesn't speak your language and is breastfeeding their 4 month old baby right beside you.

Jude was his usual 3.5 yr old self. Provoking Noah, getting up and down, and waking up extremely cranky and loud in his lamentations about how rough his life is. And just generally complaining whenever he didn't get exactly what he wanted.

The Ugly

Trying to rock Blaise when it seemed every.single.person wanted to walk up and down the aisle.

The flight attendants on Egypt Air were generally unhelpful and disinterested in what would appear to be their jobs. They closed off the back so I had nowhere to stand with Blaise other than in the aisle that everyone wanted to walk up and down.

Egypt Air {at least the four flights we were on} don't have tv's on the backs of the seats. This was a bit disappointing for the boys, but thankfully Jamie's iPad and computer lasted the flights. I probably couldn't have watched anything if I wanted to.

Our flight from Malaga to Barcelona {the same one where I was stuck in between two business men} was ROUGH. Blaise was fussy. As I was nursing him on the way up, I felt/heard him fill his diaper. So after he was done and the seat belt sign went off, I got up to change him in the bathroom. But as I got there, but flight attendant said someone was in there and I had to wait. Behind the curtain. Unfortunately I was carrying Blaise in a way that he was looking over my shoulder. And he totally spit up on the man sitting in the first row. I was utterly humiliated. Thankfully he {the man, not Blaise. Blaise was oblivious to it all.} was really good about it. And then Jude screamed the whole descent into Barcelona. And peed his pants. Oh yes. That was not a very good flight.

On the flight with all the highschoolers I had to put my finished tray of food on the ground because there were no flight attendants nearby. One of the Egyptian students came by and step on/kicked the tray and leftover food went everywhere. She got a pissed off look on her face and loudly said something to me in Arabic. I was livid, but politely said I was sorry. I think she was surprised that I either wasn't Egyptian or didn't get all up in arms at her. Either way, she backed off, but I was almost at my wits' end by that point.

Losing Bunny somewhere along the leg of Cairo to Barcelona. {He's doing a lot better, by the way. Last night Noah gave him his Pooh bear to sleep with and that worked wonders in settling Jude to sleep right away. When I found out, my heart melted to hear of Noah's compassion. My sweet boy.}

Because our flight from Barcelona to Cairo got changed twice {once because it got cancelled and then another time due to the unrest in Egypt and our layover was 24 hours. So we extended our stay in Barcelona so that we'd only have 2 hours in the airport in Cairo} our tickets were a bit bonkers in the system and it took forever to check in. We were literally "those people" who hold up the plane and are the last to rush in and haphazardly get settled. The boys were exhausted and bored and antsy waiting to check in. Great start to 12 hours of travelling ahead.

I guess in the end we survived. And overall we did okay. But it goes without saying that I'm not so much a fan of traveling with little kids. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. And it certainly makes coming back home extremely appealing. Even if it's stinkin' hot out. 

Some "take home points":

- if you are taking two long flights somewhere, it makes things easier to stay at least one overnight in the country you're flying through to break things up.

- if your kids have trouble keeping underpants dry or use a diaper at night and you're crossing time zones, PUT THEM IN A PULL-UP. I cannot stress this one. The only flight I didn't put Jude in a pull-up for, he peed his pants. And of course, they always have to go when the seat belt sign is on. Of course.

- for me, it's worth it to fly with a more expensive airline that has more kid-friendly food {the boys at nothing by snacks I brought and the buns that came with the meals} and tv's on the back of the seats. 

- I'd personally prefer not to have to get up in the middle of the night or too early to make a flight. Evening flights or daytime flights are best. No rush. And everyone's less cranky.

- snacks and special treats on the flight are not to be underestimated. It's fun for everyone and makes things more enjoyable.

What are your tricks, tips and experience with flying with young kids?

three on the third

I actually did take this on the third. But I didn't bring my computer and Jamie's computer doesn't have a card reader. So I'm back dating it. Because I can.

Spain was amazing. More on that later. But these three guys got a lot of attention - especially Blaise who made tons of friends on the metro which we took every day in Barcelona.

I had wanted to get a picture of them outside somewhere cool in Barcelona {which is where we were on the third} but it was quite windy and cold that day and there may or may not have been numerous melt downs and tantrums. So a few pictures snapped during some tv time worked just as well in our Ikea-decorated apartment that we rented for the week {definitely the way to travel with kids}.

Noah. He is just growing so fast. Jude is non-stop and mostly defiant. Blaise is adorable but enduring his first cold, poor guy.

We've had some really tough moments over the past couple weeks but also some really good ones. Traveling with young kids is not for the faint of heart, but I think it's worth it to push the limits and see what you can do and what doesn't work. Again, more on that later.

Three boys in Barcelona! Huzzah!

going

So thankful to have our passports and to those who prayed! And now to finish packing...

missionaries aren't perfect

Most days it's weird to think of myself as a missionary.

You see, I grew up in a church that had many missionaries coming and going. My piano teacher ended up moving with her family {4 little kids at the time!} to Malawi. But for some reason I had this idea that missionaries are...better than the rest of us. Somehow different than "normal" people. Here's the deal, though. They aren't. I mean, we aren't. We're normal. We mess up. We swear {well, some of us do.}. We lose our cool and skip quiet times and have days {months?} when we don't feel close to Jesus.

Today I was having one of those days.

We're going to Spain {for the same conference as we went to last year} on Friday morning {like 3am. Yikes.}. Well, technically we have plane tickets to Spain. Whether we're going or not is still not certain. You see, we don't actually have our passports. They're currently at the immigration offices here in Kampala. Where they've been since August. I kid you not.
And after paying over $500 in "fees" {due to their inefficiency in processing Jamie's work permit} I expected to have our passports like 4 months ago and the only worry in my mind would be whether I had packed enough diapers. A bit of a fool's hope.
We were told we'd have our passports by today. Jamie went to the immigration offices today and after talking to multiple people was told to come back tomorrow. Oh and apparently our lawyer was "surprised" to find out that we are leaving on Friday. Even though Jamie told him several times.
When Jamie came back without our passports I had very unsavory thoughts go through my mind toward Uganda and the system and the people.
Sigh.

What am I even doing here?

Anyway, it's frustrating. But it is what it is. And the thing is, Jesus is not surprised by any of this. So we continue to trust in His goodness. Regardless of whether we miss our flight or not.
But I really, really, really want to go to Spain. So that's what I'm praying for. Because with the ants and cockroaches and rats and mice and the heat and the inefficiency of things here {oh and possible bed bugs}...I need a break. Because I'm normal too. I'm nothing special. But He is.

spain.

so we went to spain. it was glorious.

see?
it's been so long since i last blogged that i almost didn't know where to start. i hadn't meant to take this long, but the day before we left to come back to uganda i got slammed with a brutal head cold/flu thing that was going around. and i was pretty much bed-ridden until yesterday. absolutely brutal.
but i'm on the mend.
so...
spain. our flight route was uganda to kenya to amsterdam to spain. and then a bus ride to our destination in nerja. but it.was.so.worth.it.
our schedule was light and we spent afternoons walking around through the cobblestone streets and the mornings and evenings in soul-lifting sessions. {more posts to come as i process through the things i learned.}
lunch on the beach? awesome.

and while we had a rough go at the beginning with the boys in their classes/childcare, they had fabulous teachers and enjoyed playing with new friends.
after the conference was over our family took a train to madrid for a few days before flying home.

it was ridiculously cold in madrid. in nerja it would sometimes get up to 16 degrees in the afternoons reminding me of a warm, autumn day. but madrid? *shiver* it was -2 degrees. we had to buy scarves and hats and mitts for the boys it was so cold {and we certainly didn't bring those things with us to uganda!}. we did a bit of sight seeing and ate at mcdonalds and our last night there we bought a baguette, a huge hunk of delicious cheese and hunkered down in the warmth of our hotel room and demolished the entire thing. so. stinkin. good.
speaking our hotel, it was amazing. the staff were wonderful, the rate was cheap and the boys even got a little gift on our arrival. i highly recommend the novotel hotel in madrid, spain. and i know that the next time i go somewhere and need a hotel, i'll be checking to see if there's a novotel hotel in the area. we were also on the bus line and it only took us one bus to get into the heart of the city.

we're home now and i'm on the mend so i promise not to be a stranger and neglect this blog for so long again {if i can help it!}.

5 months

here we are. 5 months in. it feels like forever ago since we got on the plane in chicago and headed to london and then arrived here in kampala. tired, but excited. ready to start a new kind of life here.
and so I find myself tired. and not really too excited. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of adjustment phase and I'm okay with that because I'm still confident that this is where God wants our family, regardless of what I'm feeling right now.
I am missing home. my friends. my family. the familiar. but we've been brought here for such a time as this and so I am desperately trying to seize each moment instead of yearning for ones to come.

we leave for Spain in 5 days and I could not be more ready. ready for refreshment. ready for a change. ready to be with co-workers who are doing exactly what we're doing but in different places.
I am so ready for this:

granted it will be around 12 degrees and feel absolutely freezing compared to the weather we have here, but still. jeans! scarves! jackets! shoes!
sometimes you just need a change. 5 months in, bring on the change!