the move to statia

i'm finally caught up on my blog enough to talk about our new little life! well, at least our adventure to the island. 7 bags with 2 weighing over 60lbs later, and we had everything ready to go!


my mom took us up to calgary to catch our 12:40am flight, and the boys slept the whole way there. they weren't overly happy to be wakened up by the lights of the airport, but thankfully, there was a little play place where they relaxed and played after we checked our whole life packed up in suitcases. we had the nicest lady helping us, and she marked suitcases as baby seats to save us some moola in the end :) thank you jodene, and thank you mom for seeing us off and holding back your tears so that i could hold back mine!


the boys slept pretty much the whole flight to toronto, and then we had some breakfast, explored around a little, and had some naps while we waited for our next flight to st. maarten. the boys both did so well sleeping on the floor as people hustled and bustled around them, and yes......that is a sound machine between them. i thought it would help, and if that makes me a freak or a nerd, i'm ok with it!


don't mind the double (or yes, maybe triple) chin i have going on here. i wanted a picture of all of us on the flight, but this is the best we could do! mads had a good 1/2 hour spell where absolutely nothing would calm him down, and we had lots of fidgety and cramped moments, but we made it to st. maarten in one piece! holy smokers was it hot getting off that plane! welcome to your new life!


we got all of our bags (or what we thought were all of our bags) and then had to re-check them for our separate flight to st. eustatius (statia). it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R, and mads couldn't take it anymore. they weren't quite as friendly as i thought they'd be, but beckam and maddox gave the locals some long hard looks too! haha they made friends quick though, and everyone's spirits lifted once the bags were checked and when we spotted dominos in the food court! yummm!!!




we had some time before our statia flight, so we explored a little and found lots of mice and lizards and ants and beautiful views outside the airport. the boys loved being outside, and i was just trying to accept the humidty and beauty of where we'd be living for the next 2 years!




the boys did so great on our 20 hour adventure over here. we had our moments, and i will forever dread and avoid security check time. talk about STRESS!!!! a stroller, 2 kids, 4 carry ons, blankets, snacks, juice (that you're "not allowed" to have), not a one friendly or helpful person in sight and ya........stressful times! we loved the dvd player though, and snacks saved us a time or two, and thankfully we have 2 kids and 2 parents cuz i can't imagine how we would have handled more!



from being done and done as seen above in st. maarten, we hopped this tiniest of tiny airplanes to statia. it was 8pm at night, and both boys were spent. we had 4 bags to carry on and a dominos pizza for lunch the next day, and i'm not kidding - you are shoulder to shoulder in this thing! beckam was freaking out, and mads was staring at this large caribbean woman next to us as she was hyperventilating about our flight. they both eventually fell asleep - how i have no idea cuz this was the loudest flight i could ever imagine. haha me and mads were smashed against the wall with this lady next to us, and she kept holding a cloth to her nose that smelled like vicks vapo-rub while praying to her Lord that we wouldn't crash. it was quite the experience to say the least!


i wish i was in a different frame of mind once we landed, but the camera was tucked away, and mads was still sleeping, and we had to get our bags and find our friends and do all of this in the pitch black, so no pics of our 1st steps on statia :( what i remember now though is that it was sooooo good to see friends and that it was sooooo hot and that we were all sooooo ready for food and bed and to be done traveling! we passed cows and goats on our way home, and we were welcomed to our new house by lots of spiders and ants and crickets and a gecko or two as well - yay! haha



it just felt so good to be home especially with our amazingly big and cushy and comfortable couches! haha admittedly, we had a moment or two after the boys were in bed and while we were sitting our new living room where we looked at each other and thought - what have we done!!!! haha what a crazy adventure though, and thankfully we're a month into it now, and we're still here minus a few of those spiders and ants and crickets, and we're loving every minute of it :)