Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Melaka Road Trip


Melaka, Malaysia is a quick four hour drive and a trip over the bridge from Singapore - a perfect weekend get-away for the Chinese New Year. When we finally crossed the border after a few hours of waiting, we stopped at the first rest stop along the highway (as did every other person crossing the border). The place was mobbed, and Elie and I headed straight for the bathroom. And then. . . we saw the sign outside of the bathroom. . . please remove your shoes to enter. And I thought to myself, there is no way I am taking off my shoes to go into a public, highway rest stop bathroom. I would rather be arrested and in prison with my shoes on, than in that bathroom with my shoes off. And so we waited. . .
Melaka is a tiny port town that used to be a hub for trade hundreds of year ago. There were plenty of fun sites to see and rickshaws to ride in. Here we are on the deck of an old trading ship. We told the kids it was a pirate ship – far more exciting.

Home for the Holidays


Our trip home for the holidays was absolutely incredible. We could not have imagined a better trip. We were able to meet our new niece and nephew – Lottie (Carolyn & Sean) and Cooper (Scott & Moira). We visited Marc’s family in Chicago and my family in Indianapolis. The kids and I made the roadtrip to Tennessee with my sister to visit our Aunts. We spent time with Marc’s parents in San Antonio, the Archers and other friends in Dallas, and then two magnificent weeks in Austin – at our house with our friends.










I want to sincerely thank everyone for making our trip wonderful – those who housed us, fed us, transported us, made airport runs, helped us with/wrestled with our gigantic amount of luggage – those who found us carseats and loaned us winter clothes, the nameless friend who snuck me into Costco for the mother-load purchase of fruit snacks, powerbars, and goldfish crackers – those who hosted get-togethers for us, those who took off from work to see us and those who drove/flew to see us. We will forever be grateful. Thank you for making us feel so loved and missed and not forgotten.