We're Home, Eh!

Hi Family and Friends!

We've been back in Guelph for 2 weeks and I've been meaning to blog about our trip home. Since we're watching 'Election 2011' I thought I would write at the same time ;)

The Trip
Our journey back to Canada began in the early hours of the morning on April 18th as we were loading up our friends' caravan with ALL our luggage at 5:40am! We had 3 large bags, 3 smaller bags, 5 pieces of hand luggage (our 3, plus computer bag and diaper bag), 2 car seats, a stroller and a bike - yes, another bike for Mark! As we said our goodbye's to our England house, the sun was rising in the Peak District and the hills were golden pink - it was the perfect departure. As we drove off towards Manchester Airport, Liam said "I'll miss you New Mills" and Mummy began to cry.

At the airport, we began to have a bit of trouble managing all our luggage. We first returned our car and waited forever for an elevator - at that time in the morning there was only 1/3 working! We already had one full cart with us and hadn't even met our friend, Mike, with the caravan! Once we finally got down to the caravan and got everything, bike and all, we had two overflowing carts that Mark had to push one at a time due to sloping sidewalks and a precarious bike, and I pushed the stroller while pulling a large suitcase with a smaller bag resting on top and one of my shoulder. One man commented that I had my hands full and I replied - you should see what my husband's got (he was miles behind me)!

Finally at the check in counter - the line up was crazy - hundreds of people in front of us - and it was already 2hrs before our flight! We had purchased 'Option Plus' with Air Transat for $60 each paid seat (not Gemma). We did it for the extra 10kg of check-in baggage allowance each (would regularly cost $150), but it also came with priority check-in - THANK GOD! So we get in the line and the customer service guy takes a look at us, then at all our stuff, nods, and mentally prepares himself for his Most Epic Check-In Ever.

It took a long time and we had to reload all our baggage onto the carts again because they were 'canvas' and had to be taken to the special oversized baggage check-in - but not the one right next to the Air Transat desks - no, because we had a bike, we had to haul everything to the other side of the floor (at least we were on the same floor!). Our super helpful Air Transat guy took one of the carts for Mark. Our excess baggage only cost us £140 at  £10/kg (120+20 for the bike). Not only did our 'more cumbersome packing' (5 hand luggage with 2 kids) and the Option Plus help, but the airline upped their baggage allowance from 20 to 25kg, which totally helped us get an extra 15 free kg!

After security Mum and Dad were desperate for coffee and the kids needed breakfast so we headed to Costa and the 'Burger Store'. We also rushed through the shops to pick up last minute duty-free gifts - we had scoped things out two weeks before when we left for Italy from the same terminal. We boarded the flight last and still had loads of room for all our hand luggage as it was a huge plane and we were seated in middle row getting overhead space on both sides - total score! The 7.5hr flight went by fairly quickly and comfortably considering we were all sweaty from wearing our hoodies, winter coats and winter boots (things that take lots of luggage space)!  And we kept getting free snacks and booze because of our Option Plus! We could have had a real good flight had the kids not been with us:)

As we arrived in Toronto, our sadness to leave England quickly turned into excitement to return to Canada. It felt like when we left Toronto for Guelph last year. In the airport, we worried that we would totally get stuck in customs for being out of the country for 8 months and coming back with almost the max for personal allowance of goods ($750 each person, including Liam and Gemma). We all used our Canadian passports to re-enter and were asked what kind of things we were bringing back and breezed right through! Tim Hortons welcomed us home with an ad on the luggage carousel - it wasn't a 'double-double' but it still gave us a warm and fuzzy feeling inside ;) We struggled with the luggage again as we left the arrivals gate to find our Red Car Out-of-City Van desk to take us back to Guelph. We got the Van Desk lady to 'babysit' while I ran to Mark to take one of the two carts. The on slot of Canadian accents in Toronto was mind blowing for us - especially since the Van Desk lady sounded like she was from Arkansas! We had a private van this time to take us home and our driver was Scottish, which messed us up a bit for the accents. The temperature was 2C - 20 degrees colder than it was in Manchester the day we left - and it was snowing a bit! Welcome Back to Canada!

The Transition
It was strange coming back 'home' to our Guelph house where we only lived for 3 weeks before leaving for England. Our furniture was there waiting for us, some of it in a different spot from where we left it. The kids immediately went to the Family Room where all the toys they left behind were waiting for them - along with some new toys left by our lovely tenants. This was great because it was about 4pm Cdn time and 9pm UK time, so all the toys bought us a couple hours of jet lag fighting time. My mom did some cleaning and our Sis-in-Law, Amber, dropped off a gorgeous lasagna all before we got back which was super great! As good as the lasagna looked, we were totally craving Swiss Chalet (and the sauce) so we got delivery which was just about as much jet-lagged Mum and Dad could handle that night:) We were waking up at about 5am for the first few days and the sunrise was noticeably later in Canada than in the UK. The house looks great and we are taking our time settling in and figuring out where things are going to go.

Our beloved Subaru car wouldn't start on it's own so we had to get CAA involved - twice! We also got various friends and relatives involved in pushing it up the driveway (which has a pretty good incline) when the battery was gone (we used up all our street parking days for the year!) . Mark ended up taking the car to the dealership in Kitchener to get a new battery and it works great now! And I'm borrowing my grandmother's car so we're now a two car family - totally suburban now;)

Our Dog, OD, was NOT impressed to see us back to pick her up at my other grandmother's house where she stayed for the 8 months - she wanted to have nothing to do with us and even barked at me! So we had transition time with her (like they do at daycares!) and instead of picking her up on the first day we saw her 2 more times before taking her home to the Guelph house she had never seen. She was ready to come with us and even jumped into the car she didn't recognize! There have been a few accidents, but we expect that from a 14yr old dog. In the week she has been back with us she has done really well and has taken to sleeping on Liam's bed at night which he just adores and Gemma's new favourite word is 'Dogga'.

It was great to have Easter weekend straight away and be able to see lots of family and friends as soon as we got back. We've all been getting called out on our 'accents' from time to time - well everyone but Gemma;) People can't believe how much both Liam and Gemma have grown and developed in the past 8 months. England was definitely great for them.

Liam finds in too cold here right now, but we keep telling him that Spring will really be here soon. He's having loads of fun playing with his pal, Deacon who lives a few houses down from us. Gemma is loving walking all over the house and the park and finding new places to get into trouble - like the kitchen cupboards she hides in! We haven't visited any playgroups yet with the kids as we are taking our transition slowly with them - Liam misses his Nursery and talks about his friends lots. We've started swimming lessons which is great for now. We're just finally getting into the right time zone rythym. I'll stay home with the kids throughout the summer then I'll be looking for a new job when Liam starts school/daycare and Gemma starts some sort of daycare. Liam's already been inside his new school which he'll begin in September and will go into his classroom for a visit day with other children in June.

Mark had two weeks off before starting back at work at his old school in Toronto and has been two days now. He was missed by both staff and students which is nice to hear and the teachers are glad to have him back on the their soccer team - he's sort of their ringer;) So far the commute isn't too bad - between 40-50 minutes when he leaves before 6am. And his school changed their hours, now finishing at 3pm which is perfect for the commute home! Today he got home before he would have when we lived in Toronto!

We are relishing the Canadian things we missed while in the UK - Tim Horton's, Swiss Chalet, Pizza Pizza and the familiar brands at the grocery stores. Although I did have a major celebratory moment in the Guelph Zehrs when I found PC English Style Crumpets - not kidding, air fist pumps in the bakery section:) When the weather warms up it's going to be all about the blizzards from Dairy Queen!

All in all, we are so happy to have had the experience abroad and are real happy to be back in our new home in Canada.

Photos on Facebook
What I can't promise is a blog from Mark on teaching in England - it was a nice thought, but I don't think it will happen:)

Looking forward to seeing all of you Canucks we haven't seen in a while and to seeing some of you Brits here for a visit!

Thanks again for reading!
Cheers,
The Nicholson Family