Around the world in 8 days....with a 2 year old....

From take off to landing..the only way to fly!

So a little over a week ago we woke Graeme up at 1a.m. to start our journey back to California for Brittany and Jason's wedding.  With a 5a.m. lift off scheduled it wasn't too hard to get Graeme to sleep the first 1/4 of the journey...a quick stop in Hong Kong (possibly the most expensive breakfast we've ever had @ $70usd!!) and we were back in good old San Francisco!

Welcome back!

Our pick up service (Thanks Uncle Bob's and Auntie Mim's!!) were right on time and off we went to Lodi for the big weekend.  It was a whirlwind.  Tons of family, friends and fogginess due to jet-lag.  It was so wonderful to get to see everyone and felt really good having everyone so interested in our adventure and asking questions about how things are going.  The whole gang was there...prompting a family portrait of Erin's Mom's entire family - the first time they have all been in the same place in 12 years!  So Cool!

Poolside view from the Bride/Groom table

I don't want to steal any of Brittany and Jason's thunder from their big day - But I have to post a few pics here from the day.

Cousin's in the shade

Graeme and his cousins, Avery and Piper, were the flower girls and Graeme was the ring bearer...Graeme (almost) made it down the aisle all by himself and (almost) made it through the entire ceremony.  The girls performed flawlessly (as expected!).

Too cute for words...the 3 amigo's!

The day was an all out family and friend affair and was put together by Family and Friends as well.  The amount of work that went into this wedding was phenomenal and the end result was nothing short of spectacular.  Not a detail was missed.  From photo booth, to a dessert table that covered any and all sweet desires to BBQ cooked on-site in a race-car trailer converted into a kitchen......the kicker?  Fireworks.  Yes, real fireworks!  Not a few sparkly things shot off the back of one of your buddies trucks.  No.  This was a firework display on par (and probably better than most) July 4th presentations put on by communities across America.  It was incredible!  I do feel sorry for anyone in attendance who hasn't gotten married yet and plan to as I believe they just blew their budgets on their future wedding plans because, of course, their wedding will have a firework display as well!

Mother of the Bride

Here comes the Bride

 

They do!

Captain Graeme will get you there!

Earning his wings at an early age..

On our flight over Graeme earned his first visit to the cockpit as well as his wings.  He was very eager to show them off to Nan and Poppy.  This was the only part of Customer Service that United Airlines got right the entire trip....

               

Erin flew back to HCMC early, after only being in USA for about 4 days!  Graeme and I stuck around the rest of the week.  Was a great time to connect with Family and Friends outside of the wedding craziness.  Graeme got to spend some quality time with some of his Grandparents and Great Grandparents.  It's very cool that Graeme is able to experience Great Grandparents.  It's not too many that can.  He has 5 Great Grandparents and got to spend an extra couple of days with his G-Nan and G-Pop in California (Erin's Grandparents). Being his Father and watching him interact with the generation that started it all is a great feeling for sure.

So Graeme and I headed off on our own to travel 1/2 way around the world.  A 30 hour journey door-to-door.  I've never traveled alone with him on an airplane, let alone this far.  To date he has a ton of flying experience for his age.  He usually is asleep upon takeoff and as long as you have some snacks, a stack of books and a lollipop hidden somewhere he is the easiest travel companion around.  I was a bit worried though on this one.  Turning around after only a week, jet-lag, flying with just me....it all could have added up to a disaster!

These toys rule..connect magnetically.

Well, it was the opposite of disaster.  He is such a wonder to travel with.  I really believe he makes it easier.  Aside from having to carry everything (along with Graeme sometimes), his inability to acknowledge the drudgery and toil that lays in front of you on such a long trip lends itself to focusing on the positive things.

Delay at the gate?  No problem.  Find another human your size and run around in circles until you fall over from exhaustion.

Surrounded by people chattering in foreign languages you don't understand?  No problem.  Walk right up to them, get their attention and ask "What's your name?"

 Have a few hours to kill before you need to get to your gate?  No problem.  Let Graeme push the stroller and navigate the human traffic while searching out every people-mover in the terminal.

Making friends across the world...

 I remember travel pre-Graeme.  Getting to your terminal early, finding your gate and being ecstatic that there was a bar right next to it and free WiFi!  Flash forward to post-Graeme.  As excited as I may have been before for the bar, multiply that by 100 and you have the level of happiness reached when you discover a kids playground next to your gate!  SFO has one now in the United (domestic) terminal.  Our return took us through Tokyo and they had 2 kids playgrounds in the terminal we were in.  We hit them both.  An added bonus were family bathrooms.  Great to get freshened up with and not have to squish into a gross stall of a men's room (why are guys such slobs?).

Might not look like much here, but it was alot to carry!

                              

Miss Sienna Puppies!

In our absence, Miss Sienna Puppies is being lovingly taken care of by Brittany and Jason.  To see her so happy upon our return makes us feel so good.  She is obviously being loved to death by those two!  We rest much easier at night knowing that she is in a happy place, being doted on and appreciated for the love she provides in a home.

That said, it's really tough to say goodbye to her for the second time in 6 weeks.  Same goes for the rest of our family and friends. While we have just started our adventure here it may have been even tougher saying goodbye this second time around.  Maybe it's because we know there isn't a scheduled encounter 5 weeks away.  I am not sure.  But I know it was not easy and at the same time it felt right to be heading back to our budding lives in HCMC.


It was mind blowing to hear first hand from everyone how they are reading our blog and following Graeme's adventures.  It really means a lot to us to know that our support network at home is there and rooting for us!  Thank you to everyone for the support and the love that you are constantly sending our way!

So, we are not scheduled to head back to the States until next summer.  Until then we have a bedroom with a Queen sized bed, bathroom and plenty of couch space with your name(s) on it!  Book the trip.  You will not be disappointed.  There are only so many times in life you'll have a connection in this part of the world so please do take advantage of it!

Graeme goes back to day-care tomorrow morning (jet lag permitting) and we are looking forward to finally getting ourselves into a much-needed routine. 

Keep an eye out for more posts with Vietnamese craziness...and who knows what other countries we can fit in??

Hoà bình,

The Hawken's in HCMC
#thetaoofgraeme