Off to the Big Smoke

Yesterday we spent the day unpacking from camp and then repacking to come up to Sydney to spend 5 days with Chrish. We booked cheap tickets back in August and ever since we have been hanging out to come up. We haven't had a big holiday like this as a family since Noah's Make a Wish trip two years ago, so we have been very excited.

For weeks Harri has been so excited about coming on the plane (he can't remember going on one before) but as it has gotten closer he has become a bit nervous. Yesterday morning he said 'we're going to drive to Sydney'. I told him that we had to catch the plane and he started to cry and said 'no, we will walk to Sydney'. All day he kept talking about not going on the plane and that it was 'scary', so all day we had to sing The Wiggles song to him about 'flying in the sky' to cheer him up.

When we got to the airport he got out of the Bailey's van and said 'we are going to see the Wiggles now?', thinking that they were going to be coming on the plane with us! As we sat in the waiting lounge and he saw the plane outside he started to panic. We kept trying to play it down by going on about how fun it was, but Jay didn't help the situation as he started to get nervous as well (he gets sore ears every time we go on the plane).

Lucky for us Noah had decided to be happy for the first time all day. He had literally been screaming all day long and was the worst he had been for weeks. For some reason he seems to settle down around 6pm every night though.

Because of the wheelchair and Noah having to use his carseat on the plane, we are always the first ones to get on the plane. As we started to walk out Harri started to freak out and started crying! He hated the sound of the engines and kept saying 'it's too scary, I want to go home!'. As we walked up the stairs to the plane I kept saying 'wow, isn't this fun!?' and he just kept crying. The flight attendants were so nice and asked the boys if they would like to see where the pilots sit before everyone came on the plane. Jay was so excited and got to sit in the pilots seat but Harri just kept screaming that he wanted to go home!

He settled down when we got into our seats and as the plane started to take off he hung on really tight and kept saying 'I don't like it!'. Finally when we were right up and all the turbulence had stopped he was happy - especially as we pulled out a Wiggles magazine for him to read and lollies to eat.

Jay loved looking out the window and watching the sunset.

Noah was great on the plane and slept most of the way. We were dreading the flight thinking that he would scream the whole time.

Both Harri and Jay got sore ears on the way down, but they weren't too bad. Harri kept saying when we arrived 'I can't hear you!' and was cracking up laughing. We were very excited to see Chrish at the airport with Daniel Rance and another friend. The pilot was lovely and helped us carry the carseat and organised getting the wheelchair for us. The boys were so excited as we drove to Chrish's house and went through a huge big tunnel.

When we got to Chrish's house (about 11.15pm) the boys were so excited to see his house and big plasma TV. They jumped at the chance of sleeping in Chrish's room with a TV.

Uncle Chrish has spoilt the boys already by stocking up on yummy cereals that they don't usually get to eat at home. They are both very excited to be here. Hopefully Noah will have a better day than yesterday and we will be able to enjoy our first day in the 'big smoke'.