We're home!

Well, in Seattle at any rate. It's 4:00 a.m. and the kids are wide awake (feels like noon, our time) so I'm on the hotel computer trying to pass the time until Bryce and Amy come with our car and we can head home. The main thing is, the kids were FANTASTIC on the plane. I now owe Jake a Power Rangers sword and Emma a Nintendo DS, but it's well worth it. They slept on the plane, played, watched movies...no temper tantrums at all. They've turned into good world travelers, I guess. I'm awfully tired of plane travel, though. Ready to be a homebody for a while.

It's so great, so weird, to be home, and I'm looking forward to being back in our house in a few short hours. More then!

6 Days and Counting

We leave in 6 days. Emma's last day of school was yesterday, Jake's is today. Emma's friends are having a little going-away celebration at a nearby park today. We plan to visit London once more tomorrow and then Erik will spend the next four days with the kids while I pack. We won't see him for the next 5+ weeks, which is the longest any of has been away from him (oh, however will we survive...) He will have a quiet and peaceful month, however, enjoying our spacious flat and eating all his meals for free at Reed's. I can't quite figure out how Erik managed to weasel out of both cross-Atlantic plane trips with the children, though...

I am currently surrounded by luggage, clothing, toys and a scale (to make sure no bags go over 50 lbs...the newly implemented charge for an overweight bag is $100!) and despairing of ever fitting in the things we want to bring home. It will happen, though, just like I managed to pull it off 9 months ago coming here, and it will be such a relief. (To add to the muck, the basement of our house in Salem flooded this week, due to a broken water heater--mostly fixed now, but required a plumber to install a new water heater and flood-damage repair people to pull up and dry out the carpet.)

This year has been, well, an experience of a lifetime--I think I need some time and perspective to discover how I actually feel about it all. Living it is different than that frame of reference you get once you're not doing it anymore. So for those of you are are waiting for an Ireland update, I'll try to get to it sometime within the next two weeks. As for a post-trip wrap up, I'll post once more on this blog after we're home and settled. Until then, I'll stay immersed in wrapping up our life in the flat and concentrate on getting us home in one piece.

Holiday in Ireland

Wow, Ireland! Ireland is by far my favorite country so far. Although much of it looks and feels like the Pacific Northwest (which I love), I think it was the culture and the people I enjoyed the most. It's not just a stereotype that they are friendly and fun, and let's face it, they have the best accent ever.

I just returned late last night and need a bit of time to process the trip, but I will post the highlights here later this week. We just got Laura off on her Sunday morning flight back to the states and we are tired but happy and relaxed--we had an amazing time and are already plotting a return trip to Ireland next August after she finished nursing school.

Our Return

We've decided to come home a little early. Well, I guess it's me who's decided for the rest of us. I'm getting restless and since we don't have much planned for the next couple of months (no big family trips), Erik and I agreed that cutting the trip short is okay. Erik must work through July 4, but the kids and I plan to fly home on May 31. We're flying into Seattle so we can pick up our car from my brother and drive ourselves to Salem (Bryce, Amy and baby Dominic are coming along for a few days, so I'm excited to get some baby time in with the nephew I haven't seen since he was a newborn.) Our renters will have moved by then so we'll be able to plop right back into our house.

So yes, I'll be making another cross-world journey with two children, this time without any assistance from another adult. But I'm counting on the fact that Jake is a year older, perhaps a bit wiser, and hopefully easier to control. He's done well on our short plane trips so I think he'll understand what's expected. I don't believe for one minute that it will be easy--but I do want to go home so I'm willing to take my chances. I've got the experience of the last long flight behind me so I'm a bit more prepared this time.

In the end, I'll be beyond exhausted but I'll sleep in my own bed that night, and in the morning we'll have breakfast at Busick Court and the grandparents will spend time with the kids and I'll unpack and meet up with my friends and sit on my front porch swing with a cold beer, and life will be good.

Ireland!!!

My cousin Laura is coming back to England during her May break from school, and we're going to Ireland (without kids)! I was hoping she would come back here so that she could see how much better and easier life is now, rather than the stress and chaos she lived through our first month here. And since we didn't take any trips out of the country last time around, it's time for an adventure. She's coming on May 2 and we'll head for Ireland on the 6th. We'll spend four days there, then fly back in time for Laura to catch her plane back home on the 11th. We'll rent a car and take a route along the southwest coastline, starting in Cork, going through Killarney, the Ring of Kerry penninsula, Dingle Penninsula, Limmerick, and ending in Shannon--and we're staying in hostels along the way. Should have lots of adventures to post when we return. I'm excited to have the opportunity, possibly my last trip before leaving the UK, so I'll need to make it count.

London Marathon

Erik and the kids are watching the London Marathon in London today. I'm not sure if they show it on tv in the US, but if you are watching it, look for the Jensens!

Vacation in Valencia, Spain

We had a really great time in Spain! It was great getting some sun and beach time. It was a bit different than our other trips in that we had a bunch of time to relax and hang out. I think we all needed it.

The kids loved chilling poolside at our villa.

We spent hours on the beach, enjoying the Mediterranean Ocean. Jake discovered the fun of being buried in the sand!

We visited Guadalest, the site of an old village and castle built on a mountain. Of Islamic origin, Guadalest was a military stronghold and was the site of several ancient castles, the remains of which can still be seen today. You get to the castle village by climbing the side of the hill and taking a tunnel through the mountain. The castle is perched above the village.

Left: Guadalest Castle, built on a mountain above the village.

Right: View from the top.

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We also visited Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante City. It's one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe and covers the complete summit of the Benacantil Mountain. Originally built by the Moors in the 10th century, the castle received its name from the conquest of King Alfonse the Wise that took place on 4th December 1248: Saint Barbara's day. Over the following centuries it was developed and extended leaving it with three main areas all dating from different eras.

Pictures of our visit:

Left and Right: Views of Alicante City.

For the history of the Alicante area, see http://www.alicante-spotlight.com/alicante/history.htm

View as we drove through the Valencia countryside.