I know it has been awhile since our last post and I will promise to try get better at sending more updates. Desmond and I just returned from a nice 5 week holiday to NJ and met Marcus for 2 of those weeks, one week in DC and one week in NJ.
Desmond and I flew back to NJ on our own and it was a very interesting trip. We left India at 1am (India time) and arrived in Chicago at 5am (Chicago time). Des was amazing on the flight, we probably watched Shrek at least 15 times being the only cartoon available but I didn’t care because it made him really happy. Unfortunately we had a 4 year old scream on the plane for a good part of the trip so out of the 15 hours, Desmond probably only slept 4 – 5 hours, which meant I was also awake.
We arrived to Chicago on time, made it through customs with no problems and settled in nicely for a long 6+ hrs lay over. After about 45 minutes of running after a hyper baby I decided to check out the admiral’s club to see what it was all about. I wasn’t about to run after des for 6 hours and I knew he wasn’t about to take a nap so, we bought a day pass. Afterwards the guy looked at me and said I looked like someone who just got off a long flight and needed a shower, I said yes! He directed me to another terminal. When we got there, I did one loop around the entire club and right before we settled in, I saw playroom! A huge child friendly room with no one in it – we moved in! Desmond ran around like a crazy person for about 4 hours and I just sat and watched him. Life was good.
We packed up and went to catch our flight, only for it to be delayed for an hour – apparently they didn’t have a crew. Finally we boarded the plane only to learn it was delayed a 4 more hours. So we unloaded and then learned our flight was canceled. At this point I was so over tired that I am in tears, Desmond has not slept in 13 hrs (not even a nap!) and we are stuck. So I re-book, get a hotel room and we pass out until the next morning. Everything was smooth sailing from there! I was glad to see mom and dad at the airport!!!
Our first week in NJ was rough, Desmond had a rough time adjusting to sleeping in American (clean) food, but he came around in a few days. I also had to be in Philly right away for a class I was taking and he didn’t like me being away all day. However, during our 3 weeks there, we settled into a nice routine of playing, playing and wait, more playing. Desmond went to the park almost every day, play outside in the grass, and went on many walks. He was also very spoiled with love (and cartoons) with Grandma and Grandpa. He also had a lot of‘new’ toys to play with. His favorite was the cart, which he would wheel around the house.
We also were lucky to spend some time with Great Grandpa/grandma, Uncle Ray and Aunt Barbara. It was great to see them. And we got to see Uncle Bryan, Aunt Caren, and cousin Caitlyn, Zachary, and Addison. Desmond had a blast playing with his cousins!!!
Around week 4 we headed to DC. Marcus was in DC for a training so we got to stay with him. We were able to see Grandpa/ma Carpenter and Aunt Becca, it was awesome to spend quality time with them. We were also very lucky and were able to meet our friends Oliver/Miranda and Declan – they were doing their East Coast Family tour and carved out some time to spend with us . We spent the week, visiting with friends and family and eating. We had an amazing time!
Then we went to LBI for a few days and spent some quality R&R on the shore reading and playing. Desmond loves the sand and the water (even though it was freezing!!). We were able to see more family and get some great sleep (with the widows open!).
Our time home quickly came to an end and we while we had a great time, we are back home in India. We are back to working and Desmond is still playing. Next adventure, Spain!
