Maryland

Loving in the USA

Tuesday 12th – Saturday 16th November 2019

Being a tourist in the Big Apple is hard work, as is being a Mum, but somehow as I slept off an epic weekend, Katie was up and at it getting the kids off to school. With Jules off early on a work trip, I felt like a bad lazy friend for not helping! When I eventually emerged it was to lay on the couch and watch Fleabag while Katie went on one of her massive 18km runs. No idea how she does it. Especially since the weather in Maryland was bordering on snow, quite literally.

To not be a complete waste of space for a day, I joined Katie on an excursion to the local crafts place and Target for groceries (Target is soooo much more in the US). Every day I’ve marveled at their gorgeous neighbourhood, this time I actually remembered to take some footage to prove my point!!

Once back at Katie’s for coffee (the best since leaving AUS), it was time to commence my new hobby of cross stitching! The hobby choice had nothing to do with the extra gray’s I’ve been finding in my hair, not ready to be a grandma yet but like colouring in has been the new zen, as is cross stitch. Having watched Katie work away at a gorgeous unicorn and rainbow cross stitch for the last few weeks, I was keen to join in on the fun. The only thing that could pause our determination, SNOW!!!! Yep, white flakes of pretty were falling from the sky for the first time in Maryland, while the Costa’s were there at least.

So it’s a rule in Maryland that if snow is forecast for the day, kids don’t have to go to school. Unfortunately this snow made a surprise appearance so the kids were to experience their first snow while at school. Unfortunately the snow didn’t stick and was well and truly over before the school bell. While I did more of nothing, Katie picked up Drew and to keep him entertained, it was cooking time. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it a million times more, this kid is hilarious. A funny little personality that can be oh so serious for when it’s time to cracks eggs into the bowl, little dude can cook too, definitely showed up this old lady!!

After getting my arse kicked AGAIN at monopoly, it was an early dinner and bed for this grandma!

More ready and kicking than my previous days effort, we were off on a day trip to Alexandria, not Alexandretta like in Indiana Jones and as I kept thinking in my head. Heading in the general direction of Washington D.C., the closer to the capital, the more epic the highways and bridges, and weird planes in the sky. I wasn’t quick enough to get a pic, just have a solid memory of a helicopter/plane/hovercraft/stealth jet in my head, didn’t the Avengers relocate their headquarters to DC????

Anyhoo, loved getting a glimpse of the monument, the capital building and picture perfect city of Washington D.C., having been there once before, it’s pretty high up on the list of cities I love. But once we hit the town of Alexandria, it was proving to be as equally picture perfect, tree lined streets of beautiful old 3 story houses all dressed in their autumn best, with each house it’s own character. Think more like London townhouses or brownstones in Brooklyn, would have loved to knock on a few doors and look inside but apparently that’s not done here.

After Google took us on a scenic tour trying to find the car park, we finally hit the streets of Alexandria, the cold nearly floored us both! Was definitely in the minus but when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, you almost believe the cold is a figment if your imagination, surely it can’t be this gorgeous and this farkin cold???

After wandering around the harbour and streets until our toes were icicles, we settled in for a Thai lunch with a view. God I love Thai food and did not expect it to be this good in a little town in the US! Fed to the brink we braved the cold again and went in search of the littlest house in the US, or was it the skinniest, either way, given Katie’s arm span was nearly as wide as the house, dare I say it was both!!

Have to say, Alexandria is as cute as a button, if a town can be. All these terraced houses, coloured doors with their autum wreaths, red and orange trees and hot as hell muscle cars. Reminded me of Georgetown in D.C. and I wanted to live there too!!

With gorgeous shops to explore and also to get a reprieve from the cold that was definitely no longer my imagination, we explored the shop Anthropologie which gets a mention cos the clothes are gorgeous, the home wares unique and I could have spent a plane ticket home in there but tried to show some constraint, there is such a thing as excess baggage! All walked out, shopped out and freezing, we did what any normal person would do, had icecream!! Now this isn’t just your run of the mill scoop of gelato or soft serve, this was Nicecream. Take fresh cream, chocolate and of course sugar, pour it into a churner (not sure what the hell its called), mix the yummy up then pour over liquid nitrogen, looks a little something like this:

And tastes like the yummiest of yums you’ll ever taste. Best icecream I’ve ever had and you know that’s a big call, love me an icecream more than I love me a castle, ok, maybe not. With time NOT on our side on account of focusing on icecream rather than the time, it was scoff, leg it to the car and head for Drew’s pick up. This time I was ready to snap pics of D.C. Look there it is:

Ok, shit pic I’ll agree with that. The spin home was once again a beauty, and this time I saw the deer Katie had been telling me about. Ok it was dead on the side of the road but proof they exist!! Didn’t get the deer in this pic but here’s the general look of cruising the highway in Maryland…

Once home I finally remembered to capture the daily school bus drop off, still feels like I was watching a typical American movie about the perfect suburban neighbourhood…

Aware that I was quickly running out of time in Maryland, I savored the games of monopoly and goodnight hugs. It was the next day that I like to call “get shit done day”. Having decided to head back to AUS at the end of Jan, I was no longer on the prowl for a job or place to live in London, rather it was head down to work out how to fill the short time I had left OS with my bucket list of adventures. Right near the top, Jordan, or more specifically, Petra. Never heard of it?? If you’ve seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, that epic place in the crescent moon canyon with the buildings carved into rocks, yeah, that’s Petra. If that doesn’t work for you, google it. Using the day to plan my next adventures and also get off my lazy arse and join Katie for a run, ok, lag behind but try my best, it was Katie’s home made schnitzels that made pounding the pavement worth it. I’ll add her cooking to all the things I’ll miss about being in Maryland. And the thing I’ll miss the second most (after Katie!), are these three. They are all such different personalities but all so smart, loving and a lot of fun to be around. And another hobby I might take up once home, building train sets!!

Friday was another day to get our arses into gear and enjoy the Maryland sunshine. What was supposed to be a leisurely stroll with the neighbour Casey ended up being a 10km walk around the burbs and main stretch. No complaining here, exercise yay! Chatting with friends yay! Sunshine yay!! Laughing your arse off cos Casey is hilarious, yay!! With Jules having been away since Tuesday, it was at the Friday night pub dinner with all the expats community that he returned home to a family that really missed him, many many hugs. Defs made the right choice to go back to AUS, I want little kiddlywinks to have my own little family, that hopefully love me enough to miss me. Was also awesome spending my last night colouring with the kids, chatting to Katie’s new friends and seeing the local town of, crap, can’t remember the name, where all the fancy people live apparently. Unfortunately being the last night meant I had to get packing, 2 weeks of an ever expanding pile of my mess in the basement was not gonna be easy to get back into one case.

With cuddles, goodbyes and hopes to see them all soon, it was at the airport giving little Drew bear a cuddle in the back seat the tears in the eyes welled up then hugging Katie goodbye was what nearly broke me. Being part of her family for the past few weeks really was one of my greatest experiences. And yes, the tears toppled for a few minutes when checking in but I guess it was off on my next adventure, in more ways than one now that the decision was made to return home. You realise that in life you can see amazing things, be in beautiful places but what you remember most is how experiences made you feel, and my two weeks with the Costa’s was what real love and friendship is all about. Tears welling again…and an unusual amount of snot, have a feeling that Moroccan flu was just in hibernation….

January 15, 2020 0

Living in the USA

Monday 4th – Thursday 7th November 2019

God I love a Monday morning when the rest of the world gets up for work and I get to sleep in!! May have mentioned that already! But this was a special Monday, Jules’ 40th birthday. Katie and the kids got up early, or normal time, and did the presents and birthday yay… while I slept, as I do. One of things Katie loves to do is run, she’s competed in a half marathon and casually runs around 15km a couple of times per week, you know, as well as taking care of 3 kids, and a household!?! She’s kinda Wonder Woman is you didn’t realise already. Anyhoo, she’s part of a running group Couch 2 5k, where mainly women train to run 5km. While Katie can easily smash this she’s met like minded runners and new friends through the group, and today was their final day of training, where everyone was running 5km, myself included apparently. You may have noticed that in the last 3 months of travels there have been zero mentions of exercise. I was pretty fit before leaving AUS but 3 months is enough to see you go from fit to flab. Yes I can easily walk 25,000 steps in a day, probs around 12km but run??? Body says NO but today’s activities said get off your arse and give it a go!!! Once there the lovely ladies, some with prams to also push were off on their final 5km run. I started with a brisk walk then felt the personal guilts, all these women have had babies and are making an effort, I better get moving! I’ll be honest, it hurt and I felt unfit but also felt pretty damn good running again and doing some real exercise. The cheer squad along the road presumed I was a mum and cheered on my half arsed attempt to run with “Go mamma, you can do it!”, I was too out of breathe, and possibly shamelessly so unfit without a birth for a reason to admit I wasn’t a mum, just an unfit nomad. Crossing the finish line, quite literally with a ribbon across for each runner, it felt good to move my arse but kinda embarrassing too, no one had a clue who I was or why they were cheering for me, I’ll take the cheers anyway!!!! Even if there were pictures, they would not be posted on this blog, some things don’t need permanent evidence! Anyhoo, back at Katie’s and online to buy me some real running shoes, the £30 ones I picked up in London looked good but were in no way running shoes.

After a fun afternoon of school pickup and games with the kids it was time for the 40th celebration. For someone who loves food, still have no idea how I’ve gone my whole life and not been to a Japanese teppanyaki joint! Overdressed in my pink getup Penelope picked out we amassed around the hot plate for a one of a kind experience. We were joined by Katie’s neighbours Casey, husband Steve and kids Ryan and Zac, who we’d also hung with for pumpkin carving and Halloween trick-or-treating, an awesome fun family, Casey is hilarious, could instantly see why her and Katie had hit it off so quickly. Our chef was bloody funny, had us chanting “yum yum sauce”, the kids were cracking eggs onto the hot plate and we all had a turn to catch the yumminess in our mouths. The chef took a special liking to Pen who is too cute for words and the night was a blast, lots of laughs and delicious food, as every birthday should be!

After stuffing ourselves silly it was back to Katie’s for a delicious Oreo birthday cake and one of my favourite, and Jules’ too, cannoli! Being an Italian dessert, it’s fair to say I’ve eaten a fair few in my life, if you don’t know what a cannoli is, google it, I wouldn’t know how to describe it except to say pastry custard yum. And these ones were right up there with the yum!!

I think it was the Tuesday morning that the jet lag really hit but having jumped back on the exercise band wagon I thought I could sweat it out joining Katie in a workout proudly presented on Amazon Prime by some ladies in too much makeup and unsuitable exercise. Should not have judged before I started, karma bit me in the butt cos the workout was brutal, we felt it for days. But another reason for the workout, burn the calories before consuming them… we were off to Kylie’s to attempt to make our own key lime pie. Kylie lived about 30 minutes from Katie on a gorgeous lake, in a gorgeous house with a gorgeous deck and gorgeous kitchen overlooking the gorgeous lake. It was all a bit gorgeous. Apparently there are sharks in the lake and the undercurrent can kill you but no ones perfect. Was trying not to be a tourist in someone’s home so here’s just one pic from the kitchen…

After a lunch of veggie soup and fresh bread that Katie somehow found time to make from scratch, one of her Wonder Woman powers, it was onto pie making. Of us three, I was the least proficient in the kitchen by a long way so after grating lime rind (too coarsy as later discovered), I mostly watched while Katie and Kylie got their pie making on. Once baked and still warm we delved in and by gosh I get what all the fuss is about!!! I love lemon meringue so finding another equal is a pretty big deal in my books. Yum yum, so much yum!! Besides the eating, also loved the chatting and being around smart like minded woman, must be something with the name Kylie, haven’t met one I haven’t liked.

Picking Mr Drew up on the way home, we played games while waiting for the big yellow bus to deliver the other kids home. Drew is a property mogul in the making, kid beats me every time at Monopoly. Yes it’s the kids version, but somehow I end up in jail 5 times and broke while he’s swimming in cash. And he doesn’t even cheat. No idea how he does it but I think it’s me, once Penelope was home she kicked my arse at Cluedo. I guess with two parents with degrees in Maths and Science, it makes sense. Just didn’t expect them to be smarter than me already!!! I buried my sorrow in Katie’s delicious cooking, homemade burgers and more key lime pie for dessert. Not sure how I’ll survive back as a tourist having been so spoilt with Katie’s home cooking.

Wednesday morning was another attempt to stay on the exercise band wagon, I usually fall off pretty quickly! I downloaded the Couch 2 10K app and kicked off my mission, run 10km by the end of Jan 2020. The app started with walks and sprints which suits me fine but lured me into a false sense of accomplishment. Having thought I hadn’t worked too hard, I also did a boxing workout from Amazon Prime. Too hard too fast, by the time Katie was back from her massive run I was exhausted. Lucky for me it was a cruisey day, our first stop was a little Japanese lunch spot that made a bento box that was all kinds of delicious, way beyond what I expected when we walked in.

The next stop was Walmart. It may not sound like much but I was pretty damn excited. Having had a fair few laughs at pictures aptly titled “The People of Walmart”, I was keen to see what type of people would be kicking around. Unfortunately, only normal people were at Walmart that day, no care free people like these…

There may not have been people watching to keep me entertained but something else caught my attention, the guns. To us Aussies, having an everyday store selling guns and ammo is like trying to buy a vacuum at McDonalds, it just doesn’t happen where we come from. I actually would have no idea where to buy a gun in AUS, I guess there’s gun shops somewhere?? Anyway, being in the land of the free and home of the brave where every person has a right to bear arms, it’s nothing special, pick up a gun with your milk and eggs. Of course I had to get sneaky video…

After Walmart was Marshall’s, another place that was kinda legendary for its dirt cheap active wear. Starting to feel the chill of winter, I was keen to pick up a proper winter coat. Of course I walked out with a coat, snow shoes, adidas tracksuit and a luggage weigher thingy. And I happened to pick the same jacket as Katie’s but in black, can’t help good taste! School pick ups and back home, there were errands to run in the form of dropping off thank you gifts to neighbours for their recent baby sitting efforts. With kids on scooters, we trekked around the neighborhood, really did feel like another scene from an American movie with kids playing basketball in their driveway, a lady trimming her hedges, kids and parents at the playground, if I were bringing up kids in any neighbourhood, I’d want it to be this one!

Before dinner there was Pictionary, needless to say I got my arse whooped yet again, knew I couldn’t draw but liked my chances anyway!! Once it was bed time, I once again got to partake in one of my favourite parts of every day, good night hugs and kisses with the kids. Have a really big soft spot for these three. It was chatting over a cup of tea that Jules asked about when I thought I’d head home. That’s when gut instinct kicked in. I’d been toying with the idea that maybe I’d be ready to head home at the end of January 2020, having spent 6 months traveling. When I left I said it’d be that or spend 18 months traveling and working in London. Sometimes all it takes is someone to ask you the question to find your answer. And I knew that what I wanted was this, a family. I had absolutely loved every second of the travels I’d done and knew there were more adventures to come in the next few months but that would be enough and I’d be ready to head home to begin the next chapter of my life, starting my own family. I’ve scooted around the topic of age but I’ll be honest, I’m in my late 30’s and the clock is ticking. I’ll be real honest, I’m 38, have eggs on ice and have wanted kids always, I don’t remember a time I didn’t. I don’t regret the decision to pack up and leave Adelaide, I needed to do that to work out what I really wanted and remove myself from a situation that was affecting my mental health. I was free to work in London, I could get back from travels in January, work and live in London for a year and travel some more but I don’t feel like that’ll add the value and joy to my life that heading home, finishing my psychology thesis then finishing 2020 trying for my own fam. The idea of that excites me more than anything. So there it is, the decision that after Christmas in Canada with the family and a wedding in Mexico, I’d head back to RADelaide. Even writing this a fair while after e decision was made, it still feels right. I don’t doubt a thing. Might be a different story when I’m drowning in a thesis or have a baby and I’m all on my lonesome but what will be will be!

I’m not one to dwell on decisions, once made I jump into action. So with the decision made to return home in Jan, the next morning the only thing left to do was book a flight. And with funds already dwindling, it’s was a Qantas rewards flights booked for 29th January, homeward bound, in a few months!! Of course once the decision was made to leave, I immediately felt extreme FOMO, where were all the places I had to go and all the things I had to do before leaving?!?!? And the list started… but before I went on a booking spree, we were off for a leisurely nature walk at the Calvert Cliffs nature park. After my run and over enthusiastic boxing workout, just walking up and down the stairs to my bed in the basement was ouch ouch ouch so a walk and connecting with nature sounded perfect. The drive there was once again gorgeous, eagles gliding in the sky, woods along the road, love this being chauffeured around!! And someone taking me to exercise otherwise I’d be on the couch eating Halloween candy! Arriving at Calvert Cliffs it was pretty, then down and around and wowsers, it was absolutely stunning! Autumn has to be one of the prettiest seasons and being smack bang in the middle of a forest meant sunburnt leaves amongst the green on the trees and a carpet of fallen red. The woods reminded me of the arena in the Hunger Games, but not sure anyone else is geeky enough to make the comparison…

The pretty just got prettier as we wandered down a board walk and over a marsh where one wrong step and it would have been head over into the water, one more rain fall and I’m not sure there would have been a board walk left!

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more breathtaking, the trees cleared opening to my favourite place, the beach. Woods and the beach?? Can I just pick up this place and take it back with me to OZ? Pretty please??

Katie had been to this particular beach once before with the fam and had managed to find shark teeth amongst the shells. We joined the other scavengers, and I mean tourists, looking for the teeth, unfortunately we weren’t as lucky. Dang, would have been awesome chrissie presents for Marcus and Annabelle, and damn cheap!!!

So it turns out shark teeth don’t actually look like shark teeth when they wash up on the beach, they look nothing like the ones you sea attached to a leather necklace worn by random surfers in B grade American movies, they are actually more grey and weird shaped, looked more like this (obvs not my hand!):

Hmmm, maybe if I’d been looking for weird black things too we would have had more luck! Heading back through the woods was just as beautiful, and after a pit stop for lunch, it was back over the big arse bridge with gorgeous views for miles, and strangely not enough railing…

And then once again, we stopped at an American institution, Harris Teeter. Ok, it’s just a grocery store, but grocery store on a whole other level to what you’d ever find in AUS! The ice cream aisle for one, never have I seen so many flavours to choose from, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese, who knew this many types existed?!? And the Oreo’s, don’t get me started…

After a Drew bear pick up it was home for more Cluedo, Pictionary and Monopoly, where once again I got my arse kicked, and I really really tried!! After a FaceTime home to see the gorgeous faces of my fam it was pack and bed cos tomorrow it was all about the new, New York that is!!

January 5, 2020 0

Happy Halloweeeeen!!

Wednesday 30th October – Sunday 3rd November 2019

After a week or so checking out the sights of London but mostly recovering from the Moroccan flu, I was off to the U S of A to visit my bestie Katie and her family in Maryland. Katie I’ve known since, well, let’s just say over half my life! They moved to the US for one hell of an adventure, and for her husband Jules’ work.

I’d love to say the trip was off to a brilliant start but besides the pain in the arse checkin cos I’m a rampant over packer AND the 7 hour layover at JFK AND the three gate changes for my flight, there was some confusion (my fault) about my arrival date. Katie being the brilliant friend she is drove an hour and a half to pick me up from Baltimore, only to hear I wasn’t arriving until the next day. Major travel fail!!

Besides all that, seeing the smiling face of a friend you’ve known forever is one of the best feelings in the world! Once my head wrapped around being on the other side of the road, I could take in the lay of the land. Maryland to me looked a bit like Forks from Twilight, yes I’m way too old for those movies but whatevs. Woods bordering the highway, trucks in every lane and good ol’ American style diners along the road. Our stop off for real Mexican food, real because the chefs actually looked Mexican, was a welcome change from my diet of donuts and airport coffee, the only thing open between midnight and 7am at JFK. There was gin on the plane though, did I mention that??

Poor Katie had to sit next to my stench all the way back to their place in California, a suburb of Maryland which is quite confusing when googling the place. There weren’t any objections to me showering before picking up her youngest Drew from preschool. Little Drew is the cutest and funniest little dude you’ll ever meet, only after not seeing him for 6 months, he ain’t so little any more! It was on the way back from his pick up that I really opened my eyes and checked out the neighbourhood. Massive three story houses, all decked out in Halloween decorations. No tall fences blocking out the neighbours, literally an open white picket fence suburb. I absolutely loved it. And when the big yellow school bus stopped out front for all the kids to hop off, it was like a scene from an American family movie.

It didn’t take me long to love the neighbourhood. But that aside, seeing Hugo and Penelope, Katie’s older two and being part of their lives again was the best thing for my jet lagged arse. Alas, arriving on Halloween eve, it was pumpkin carving time!! My lack of skills was more than evident, carving BEFORE getting all the seeds and gunk out, rookie mistake. Should have just copied the kids, they seemed to know what they were doing! Have to say, was pretty impressed with all our handiwork and add the tea light candles to the pumpkins and god damn they looked spooky!!

My crash course in American culture started with an intro to their most favourite sport (I think?!?), baseball. The local team the Nationals (Nats for short), were in the final game of 7, winner takes all for the uh, I want to say premiership?? No wait, it was the World Series. Which is mighty confusing considering only American teams were playing… Anyway, wish I could say I watched history in the making but my jet lag kicked in and after pumpkin carving those eyelids just wouldn’t stay open, I think I nodded off even before the first home run. But no need to worry, the Nats won so there were lots of replays over the coming days!! And have to say, I may have actually understood the game by the time I left!

After a much needed 12 hour sleep, I awoke to the kids all off to school and a patient Katie waiting for my jet lagged arse to get out of bed to head off on the start of our key lime pie hunt. If you’re wandering what the hell key lime pie is, don’t worry, I was too!! Since arriving in the US, Katie and her friend Kylie (snap!) had been hunting down the best key lime pie in Maryland, which gets me to what the hell is key lime pie?? Think lemon meringue pie but more limey, with the meringue bit optional. Heading to a place that claimed to have the best in the state, you can imagine the severe disappointment to find they had none left… grump. The hunt quickly turned into a coffee gathering of every female Aussie in Maryland when one after another the Aussie’s walked in, greeted with “fancy meeting you here!?!”, our party of three quickly turned into about 10ish. Loved meeting all these wonderful ladies from all over AUS, with a couple of Americans thrown in for good measure. Quickly learnt that I was saying Maryland all wrong, it’s not Mary-Land, more like Merry-Lnd, and life in the US is busy as hell, kids doing 10 sports each, vacation planning, social and craft groups… or maybe not that different to life in AUS but as someone who had been off traveling solo for a while, it was nice to just listen to normal life conversations, and it was mostly listening, I was so jet lagged I could hardly string a comprehensible sentence together. Lucky for me, the day was about to get to extreme excitement levels, nothing like Halloween to wake you up!! First of the hallowed eve festivities was Trunk-a-Treat, a smart take on Trick-or-Treat where parents and friends of Drew’s preschool open up their trunks, a boot of a car in Aussie lingo, decorate them spooky and hand out candy. The cuteness levels of preschool kids dressed up in Halloween costumes is extreme, of course with Drew being the absolute cutest ever little minja (as he pronounces it!)

To get into the Halloween spirit, Katie took Drew bear and I through a tour of the local neighbourhoods, stopping off at all the houses who had gone above and beyond to get into the Halloween spirit. Love me a massive Maryland house, add the Halloween fancy and I might just move into one of them…

Back at Katie’s, (or home as I’ll now call it, wherever I lay my head at night is home being the homeless nomad I am), with all kids home and accounted for, it was time to get into the Halloween spirit. I did find 5 minutes in London Town to put together a lame arse version of a vampire costume. Ok, well, the costume wasn’t lame, my attempt to put on white face makeup which turned into clumps on my plane dried skin, losing the glue for my fangs and having jet lagged size bags under my eyes meant my attempt to look like a scary vampire resulted in me looking more like a tired old lady in a bad wig.

Luckily the rest of the household looked bloody brilliant in their costumes, the house was lookin’ spooky and the candy was ready, only half devoured by Katie and I earlier in the day… or was that the day after???

I’ll give it to the yanks, they know how to do Halloween! Although being unseasonably warm, the neighbourhood was out in force, the candy was plenty, houses turning on the scary and the streets over run with kids trying to look scary but mostly looking happy, who wouldn’t be when you’ve got a bucket of candy bigger than your head??

Not sure there was much tricking, just lots of treating! And as expected, the costumes were epic!! A family dressed up as The Incredibles was one of my faves, as were the inflatable dinosaurs but the best dressed award goes to this little vampire who well and truly showed me how it’s done!!

Not that I’ve done many Halloween’s but that night will go down as my all time favourite forever I think, loved the spirit of the neighbourhood, all the souls dressed up and goulish looking houses, my favorite though was these kids who just made it beyond fun!!

Needless to say, the next day I was wrecked! After a Fleabag and Halloween candy binge in the morning we headed to St Mary’s, an old style American village for the yummiest Bahn Mi I’d had for a while, strangely from an Italian style bakery called Enzo’s, as well as a sneaky doughnut that tasted like Oreo heaven. No photos of the food, eaten too quickly but here’s us, enjoying some sunshine!!

After getting our tourist on, we returned to normal life of Drew’s pre-school pickup around 2.30pm and kids jumping off the big yellow school bus around 4 each day. I say this all with a massive smile on my face, having been traveling for months solo and with friends, which is an amazing life I’m so grateful for, but there is so much joy also being part of a family, being settled in a home, surrounded by people you love and having some routine each day, not to mention home cooked meals!! All this while also getting to experience another culture. While I’d always thought the American culture wasn’t all that different to ours, I’m happy to say I’m mostly wrong, as firstly evidenced with sport. Being a Friday, it was baseball game night for Hugo, and after a Panda Express run it was off to watch the game. Not only is baseball a sport you probs wouldn’t see much of in AUS but the passion of the friends and family who turn out to watch in nearly minus degrees is next level!! Loved every minute and had a few giggles along the way, all while watching Huggie who in a few short months went from having never played before to being one of the stars of the team!!

As it seems to be part of the American culture, and correct me if I’m wrong, but as a parent your weekend pretty much revolves around kids sport. And I’m not complaining one bit, I got to enjoy being part of it all and making the most of Katie’s hard work getting her kids into teams, which is mostly definitely easier said than done in the US. Our Saturday started with porridge (oh my yum!) and we were off to Drew’s T-ball game. I know you shouldn’t laugh at kids playing sport but little 5 year olds in big helmets trying to hit a ball off a stand is just so cute you can’t help but giggle. Add Drew in full catcher gear and the cuteness levels were maxed out!!!

After a cuteness overload it was off to watch Hugo kick arse at baseball again, this time with all the bells and whistles!! Each kid stepping up to the plate with a theme song and announcement, first time I’d actually heard the baby shark song. Yes I’d heard of it but had deliberately gone out of my way to make sure I never heard it. Pretty sure I’d only just gotten The Wiggles out of my head from when Marcus and Annabelle were kids. Two games down and it was time for a pit stop at a quintessential American diner, not sure if it was set up for tourists or for was just like that for reals, either way we all loved the diner experience, the meat ball sub and chocolate milkshake get a special mention!!!

And here’s where you realise I am a bit of an arsehole cos besides the yummy food and cool setup, my attention was drawn to a Dad with his two kids which is lovely but the dad was quite obese and the kids who both looked younger than 10 were not looking very healthy either, all smashing hamburgers, massive sodas and flushing it all down with ice cream. And when I say smashing, I mean it. Probably an American stereotype I was taking notice of but it irked me. Parents have a responsibility to give their kids the best opportunities in life AND keep them healthy. I could say more but I’m not a parent and I know single people ranting about what parents should do is not appreciated so rant over, but still…

Fully fed and satisfied, we were off again to Hugo’s soccer. And yes, it’s called soccer in the US, no being silly and calling it football. Hugo was once again the star of his team and one cool dude pulling off a head band to control his blonde locks. My soccer watching was however distracted by taking on Drew in a friendly match on a nearby pitch. Yeah, don’t try play soccer against an energetic 5 year old, you’ll get your arse kicked!!

All sported out for the day, kudos to Katie and Jules for being awesome parents and running all over town to keep their kids active, it was home and getting ready for more sport, but the viewing on a TV kind. Katie and Jules friends were into rugby and being the World Cup final between England and South Africa we were off to their house to watch. Having been recently schooled in rugby by the Geordie and being a newly minted British citizen, I was ready to go my hardest barracking for the English Lions, Scotland were out so the Lions were my second favorite. Unfortunately the streaming of the game didn’t work but we only cared for about 5 minutes as we all knew that England had their arses handed to them by the South Africans. The rest of the night was spent chatting by a fire pit, eating yummy food and cuddling my new bestie Delta, can’t remember what kind of dog he was but god I loved him. It’s bad to steal someone’s dog yeah????

Being the super Mum she is, Sunday morning Katie whipped up pancakes for us all, I could get used to this!! After a bit of a chill morning we headed off to the Harry Potter corn maze. No you didn’t read that wrong! If you don’t already know, I’m a huge Harry Potter geek and was luckily enough to be joined by a family of Potterheads, well the kids anyway!! After a pit stop for pizza and pasta, the ravioli of which deserves its own picture, as does the sign…

It was then off to the corn maze! Dang, forgot my Gryffindor jumper in Oz! On account of me being a Potterhead, Katie had been nice enough to wait for me to arrive before day tripping to the maze, it did mean the maze had been well and truly worked through by other visitors but the whole setup itself was a whole lotta fun, I think the kids enjoyed it too!! There was a sorting hat (Hufflepuff apparently), a slingshot quidditch, a Nimbus 2000 broomstick swing, platform 9 and 3/4, butter beer and cheesecake on a stick – ok maybe the last one isn’t so Potter but who doesn’t love cheesecake and on a stick??? Was too full to try one but something to dream about…

After living out our Potter dreams we were BITC and homeward bound… with a stop at Coldstone, unlike cheesecake, icecream just melts into the gaps… What an epic start to living in the USA!!!

P.S. Already loving the “trucks” here, check out this beast!