Three More Days

Three more days 'til Rachel and Madison arrive in Washington DC! I've been counting down the days, hours and minutes since I found out that they had bought tickets to depart New Zealand on the 9th of August. I had a nice chat with Rachel on the phone last night and she sounded ready to make the trip over. I think the flight from Wellington to Auckland is like an hour, the flight from Auckland to LA is just under 12 hours and the flight from LA to Washington DC is a little under 5 hours for a total of 18 hours in the air. It isn't an easy trip by any means and I hope Madison behaves himself and helps his mommy out during the layovers in Auckland and LA. If I'm not mistaken, they start their travels tomorrow since tomorrow will be the 9th in NZ. It's a pity they have to leave NZ on BatGran's birthday but due to some quirks in the travel industry, flying out on the 9th saved us all a lot of money (as compared with the 10th, 11th, 12th or 13th).

I have so much to get done before they get here in the wee hours of Thursday morning. I've already paid for an airport shuttle to take me to the airport and we'll probably cab it back home. I was originally going to use the Washington Flyer service which takes us to the West Falls metro station for only 9 bucks each but then that would mean that we'll have to lug all the bags onto the train and then all the way home. Not the best of ideas when you've just spent the last 2 days travelling from the other side of the world!

I know my son is expecting some birthday presents so I'm going to do some shopping for a few pressies after work on Tuesday or Wednesday. I found a bed online and am picking it up tonight with the assistance of a friend from work. I should also try and clean up the place a bit before Rachel gets here although I know she'll still think the place is untidy.