We Made It!!

We arrived safely in Sydney last Friday, January 11th and have been trying to adjust to the new timezone and cultural differences. 

The kids did amazingly well on the trip.    I was very anxious but it was much better than expected.  FYI - Xanax does nothing, even when you add a glass a wine.  We left our house around noon on Wednesday, January 9th after saying goodbye to our sweet Sydney dog.  After a 3 hour - very rough flight- we landed in LA.  We met up with Molly and Dennis Komick for dinner at the LAX Encounter restaurant which killed some time and entertained the kids with watching all of the flights land.    We took off for Sydney around 10:30PM on Quantas Airlines, which is fantastic.  Shortly after take off we have dinner and then lights out. We all slept for about 6 hours or so. When we woke up we had 6 hours left which included lots of coloring, reading, reading, movies and breakfast.  The flight was smooth and the flight attendants were great.

We fought to stay awake all day on Friday.  The Sydney sunshine helped as well as a nice park across the street.    Matt walked up to the Cerner office garage and drove the car a few scary blocks to our parking garage.  We purchased a Toyota Aurion (equivalent of the Avalon) from a previous Cerner executive which was so convenient. They really need online driving simulators:)  It is intuitive- just not when you are used to driving in the US.  We have been taking public transportation most places for now:).
 
On Saturday, we took the ferry to Manly Beach and enjoyed some beach time.  We purchased some water wings or floaties to bring back to use at our apartment pool which have been a big hit with the kids. 

Thanks for all the warm wishes and prayers during the journey across the big pond.  We now have a new set of challenges ahead- finding a house, finding a pre-school for Paige, learning to drive, using the new lingo and getting over the cost of living.    One day at a time:)