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One of the most wonderful things about traveling, is coming home again.  At the end of a long journey, I'm grateful for being able to unpack, put away the suitcase and reacquaint myself with my home and my belongings.  The moment I arrive, there is no greater relief like a shower in my own familiar bathroom and no comparison to the quiet excitement of slipping between my own comfortable bedsheets to rest.  Then comes the fun of visiting all the family and friends I'd left behind and sharing the photos and stories from our adventures.

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The view of the wing from our airplane window.  

It still amazes me that we can travel from one end of the earth to the other in less than a day.  I'm not quite sure if the girls can comprehend the distance yet.  They understand that the flight is really, really long - so long, that we can't see our family and friends that often.  We've even tried to explain the flight with maps and the inflight entertainment system's flight tracker.  But sometimes they pretend that they can see Abu's house in Miami from our living room window in Singapore and I wonder what they must think.  

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I love afternoon tea.  It's probably my favorite of all the British customs - especially when it includes scones.  Auntie Dini and Cousins Loren and Brandon came to visit, so Abu whipped up enough scones, sandwiches and fruit to feed a small army and we spent the whole afternoon grazing on finger foods and lifting elegant teacups with our pinkies raised.  Such a lovely way to spend an afternoon with family, reclining into comfy chairs and catching up on each others' news.

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Coco, waiting for Abu to come home.

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Sunset seen from the passenger seat on the way to Miami Beach.

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Swimming on a sunny afternoon - the best way to ensure that the kids go to bed early.

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A gorgeous Father's Day morning.  

Abu treated Auntie Gladys and us to a lovely brunch buffet in Coconut Grove.

I often giggle to myself when I choose and edit photos for my blog.  I wasn't able to take that many photos of this meal, and I was delighted that these turned out so wonderfully!

Abu's home security system had been sounding false alarms all weekend, and she received another call while we were eating.  By the end of brunch, Ruby had made a mess of her lentil soup, and was getting grouchy and demanding as her nap time approached.  She fell asleep in my arms, which kept me from picking up my camera again.  The restaurant kept getting more and more crowded as other families poured in to celebrate their fathers.  Somehow, I ended up capturing two beautiful and serene moments in an otherwise hectic morning.

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Zoo Miami

Our June vacation took us south to Miami, Florida.  One of the things that we do there every year is visit the zoo.

The landscape is flat and easy to navigate by foot or by family-cycle.  There are 4- and 8-person cycles available for rent, which are great for wheeling the whole family from one enclosure to the next.

Our most favorite stop is the giraffe feeding - buy a bucket of greens, and let the giraffes pluck them out of your hands with their long, black tongues!

This year, we invited our old friends, Chris and Jen, along for the ride and the girls were thrilled to show them around.

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Cousin Max and Ruby together.

When we stayed at Auntie Marisa and Uncle Adam's place last summer, Max was going through a phase where he was experimenting with his physical strength and its effect on others.  Before leaving Singapore this year, we were telling Lily and Ruby about our travel plans and who we were going to see.  We talked about visiting Max again and they remembered him very clearly as, "The Pusher."

Max's phase was long gone - this time it was Ruby's turn to show off her assertiveness as the second youngest of the cousins.  I'm pretty sure she claimed every item as hers, simply because she is now strong enough to keep hold of it.

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Cousin Eva hugs Uncle Stevie goodbye.

We talk to family members on Skype almost every day, and it's truly amazing that our children can know their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who are continents away.  Even though it's so easy to video chat with people long-distance, it's nothing like spending a weekend with them.  This was the first visit that the cousins really all got to play with each other!  Now that they are mostly past the tearful, toy-snatching toddler phase, it was really lovely to sit back and let them play for hours.

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We stayed at Auntie Natalia and Uncle Jason's home in Ottawa for a few days.  The last of the spring's chilly weather was a wonderful change from a year of endless summer - we got to snuggle up in sweaters and under blankets for the whole weekend!  Cousin Noemi was so excited to show us their new garden with the first tiny squash of the season beginning to grow.

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Look!  A friendly Canadian. :)

Our adventure included a day trip to Le Parc Oméga in Quebec - one of the coolest family destinations that we've ever been to.  Cousins Eva and Noemi raved about this magical place!  There are both driving and walking paths within the sprawling 1,800 acre park where families can discover many species of native North American wildlife.  Bags of carrots are sold near the entrance, so visitors can roll down their car windows to give some of the animals a little treat.  We didn't realize that the deer (Wapiti, like this guy above) would be so BIG!  Other awesome sightings included bison, wolves and black bears.  

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My view from the passenger's seat on the way to the Great White North.

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Driving across the Brooklyn Bridge.  

I've driven, biked, jogged and walked across this bridge countless times.  One of the last times that I remember was when I was hugely pregnant, days before Ruby was born.  While living in New York, it had become just another part of my playground.  It's amazing what some time away will do - with fresh eyes, it looked majestic.  

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Checking out one of our old haunts, The Westchester Mall.

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A gloriously sunny day in Prospect Park.  We joined a family picnic organized by families from cousin Max's school!  Lily and Ruby were watching other kids' tongues turn colors after eating Italian Ices so, of course, they wanted some too.  

We also played with Auntie Romina who happened to be visiting from Argentina.  We hadn't seen her since Lily was about 2 years old!

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It was delightful to arrive in Brooklyn while the summer was just warming up.  I remember it being my most favorite time of the year in New York - the whole city seems happy to walk in the sun, having finally shed their long sleeves and pants.

 

Cousins Max and baby Sam played with us all day and helped to keep the jet-lag away. 

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Hello everyone!  We're back from our great North American adventure.  The month of June took us to New York, Ottawa and Miami where we spent time with many of the friends and family members that we've been missing. :)  I promise to post plenty of photos.

Here's a photo that I took just before we left Singapore in May.  Lily plays guitar to her favorite tunes whenever Steven isn't around to fill our home with music.