22 January, we set off

The day started early. Our alarms rang before 6am, and the husband and I creaked about in the bed we just laid in no more than 3 hours ago. Our adventure was about to begin, so up we got to start it!

Luggage, big, small and still unfinished

My father kindly offered to send us, which was such a relief. The kids were happy to see him and were in high spirits all the way to the airport. It was a cacophony of 爷爷this and that, highly adorable - and noisy. It was a tad bit much for 630am but hey - better happy cries than weepy wails. We bade farewell to Dad happily and proceeded to check in.

Riding on the trolleys - always a highlight for the children

While standing in line to check-in, the skies started to brighten and I could also feel the excitement start building up. Surely, it's really happening! Being new Amex card-members, we utilised our vouchers to utilise the Lounge.

Getting comfy, this little Missy

Loud and noisy, this little boy

And then, of course it was all too good to be smooth. 

Soiled bottoms of his - a pee gone awry

Spilt coffee - what a mess (at least no more clothes were soiled, I guess)

And all this, not even an hour into our time at the airport. Groans.

But hey. No point crying over spilt coffee or pee on pants, so off we went to catch our plane.

Putting on our best smiles

We made calls to bid farewell to the Grandmothers...

And off we go!

My children speak loudly. And it's extra-megaloud when we're in confined spaces, such as an aircraft. Everyone, and I mean everyone, can hear their requests.

"Mommy, why got no sound?"

WHY MY TV GOT NO SOUND, says the not-so-wise little man

The boy was having a cough so we told him he couldn't have ice-cream.

"Mommy, can I just smell?"

Sniff.

Amidst changing channels for him nearly a million times, a meal, a lot of peanuts and biscuits, some pee stops, and some light snooze, we made the 8 hours flight to Narita where we transited for 2 hours.

Freshened up into pyjamas, ready for the second leg of the flight.

It was late by the time we rolled into the 2nd leg of flight (11 hours) from Narita to LAX, and thankfully, both children managed to sleep. I was uncomfortable, my (long) legs had not enough space to stretch, I ate the plane food and managed to snooze a couple of hours.... and then we landed.

Hooray to non-full flights that gave us more space

We collected our luggages, caught a shuttle bus to Thrifty (our car rental), and worked with the husband to navigate us to the hotel.

Slightly crazy faces (ok, maybe just mine) after a long-haul flight. This was the shuttle bus to the car rental shop.

It was noon when we landed, and by the time we made it to the hotel it was about 4pm. By then, the husband and I had not slept properly for 24 hours. It was pretty rough. We changed (cool weather!) and decided to grab a bite.

I don't think the temperature was particularly low, but because it was quite a difference from hot, humid Singapore, I was feeling it. We all bundled up before stepping out from the toasty room.

It felt good to walk a bit

Dinner @ The Cheesecake Factory

We stayed at a motel of sorts in Anaheim, just walking distance from Disneyland. It was not too poshy, but it was decent enough. There was hot water, a heater and hair dryer in the room and it felt fine (after we got used to the grimey feel on the carpet. Or maybe that was just me).

That night, as I laid flat out on the bed beside K, I felt my body creak with gratitude. I was dog tired. Our dinner was not even that great because everyone was so tired and could not even eat properly. Sleep. We all needed sleep.

It's been 2 days of non-stop movement in the air/on the road.
Goodnight world, hello America.