Penguins, Push Chairs And Puddings

the sopata family adventure on the other side of the world

Mahalo!!

July 18th

After more than a year of researching, planning and second-guessing we now find ourselves getting ready to board our first of six flights on on the way to New Zealand. The ever present list of items to complete, pack or purchase is beginning to fade and the excitement of sharing this adventure with Lilly, Jack, Mere and Will is coming into focus. From the moment when we determined that when was now, the challenge of prepping the house, packing up the family and transporting the three kids (Will had yet to announce his arrival) and the two of us to the other side of the world seemed daunting on the best days. If not for the helpful hands of so many, I estimate we would have missed our first flight, by roughly 29 days.

In the weeks and days leading up to our departure we were blessed to have lots of family visit our bed and breakfast work camp. Early in June, Granny Marilyn and Papa Bruce arrived and were quickly put in charge of entertaining children, feeding William, running Lowe’s errands and engineering a shed foundation. It was a wonderful visit that left Meredith asking for many days thereafter, “Where Granny and Papa go?” A statement that we often repeated when trying to simultaneously pack and manage the young ones busy lives.

Uncle Chris and Aunt Sheryl, or as Mere referred to them “Other Daddy” & “Other Mommy” soon swooped in to help care for Will and Mere, build a storage shed in three days, answer all questions related to insurance and find Virginia’s sauna like climate to be best combatted with Bold Rock hard cider, Blue Mountain brews and Cub’s baseball.

Mimi and Papa Bob arrived in time to celebrate the 4th of July before being tasked with odd jobs around the house and taking Lilly and Jack to visit cousins and go camping at Hungry Mother State Park.

At the end of their visit, Mimi and Papa Bob were also placed in charge of transporting our dear Koa back to Maine for his year-long apprenticeship as a stern dog on Uncle Christopher’s lobster boat. Be good Koa!!

With less than 10 days til our departure, our to do list was growing as quickly as the days were dwindling. Luckily, Mr. Joe was ready for a visit and some intense cross-training. In what had to be the hottest stretch of Virginia summer in some time, he agreeably assisted with moving furniture and countless boxes, building, painting and hanging shed doors, hauling debris, and keeping the kids entertained. Thank you Mr. Joe!!

Now, when prepping for a normal vacation, Carrie and I usually divide the labor equally. One of us will pack the family, load the car, clean the house and feed the kids, while the other is responsible for following Jack around and picking up after him. The long straw selects packing and loading. As I am typing this, I believe the airline just assigned one steward solely to Jack’s seating area.

At one point, one of us was wearing Will in the baby carrier while on a ladder dismantling a trampoline. Getting down to the business that required two hands often involved strategically timed naps, sitters and playdates. Thanks so much to The Karaolis, The Sullivans, The Breaults, The Rowes, The Stans, and The Ibekkens for taking on our children and/or sharing theirs. A huge Mahalo to Alex and Norbert Leitenger for having Jack over just about every waking minute these last few days. Who know Camp Leitenger included t-shirts!

A special thanks goes to Frederick Nolde, Trip Walker, Brett Larson and Adam Goldberg. These fine gentlemen were kind enough to free up their lovely wives schedules and support them in bringing to life their shared vision for an awesome and touching “See You in a Year Party!” Courtney, Ashley, Katie and Rebecca thank you for marrying so well! Through this process of celebrating friendships, Carrie and I have become convinced there are few things more entertaining and endearing than watching two rising 2nd grade boys figuring out how to say ‘Goodbye’ for a year.

A huge Thank You to Melissa, Avery and Skyler Powell for planning and organizing a surprise send-off party for Lilly. It was a joy to see all the girls celebrating their friendships and making plans to keep in touch over the upcoming year. The timing was perfect and it provided Lilly with a night she won’t soon forget. Thank you!

Two days before our departure, the Karaoli family, best neighbors ever, offered to take Will off our hands for a couple hours in the morning. We were looking at a long list for the day and had already entrusted them with our fish and plants, so we quickly took them up on the offer. A few hours turned into a whole day as Will got to coach Themis up on the art of napping, Denise got to broaden his music appreciation and the girls, Lia and Nikki, took him out for an evening on the town. This was a huge huge help!!

Thank You All!

Cheers,
The Sopatas