No Fly Zone

We have officially entered the three-ish month period we are referring to in our family as the “no fly zone.” Specifically, the period between me being 36 weeks pregnant and the eight or so weeks past the baby being born when we expect to have the important international immunizations completed and a passport obtained for the little guy or gal. As every flight is international from Hong Kong, (a funny thought that hadn’t occurred to me until recently) the airlines get a little anxious at check-in as soon as your belly looks big.  On our last trip, the woman checking us in looked at me and whispered, “Excuse me ma’am. I need to ask you a personal question. Are you pregnant?” I quickly made a shocked face and replied, “no” but could only keep a straight face for about 5 seconds.  She only found this moderately amusing.  It was funny though as my belly was huge already. 

So, being grounded on an island is definitely a change of pace for us!  I’d say Isla is taking it the hardest though - the kid freaking loves flying.  So, we are improvising!  Nate recently “borrowed” a Boeing 777 Cathay laminated safely card from his latest flight to Singapore  and we build an airplane nearly every morning in our living room for Isla, me or Nate, and a few select stuffed animals to board and take off in.  We rotate who is the pilot, flight attendant, and passenger.  Yesterday, Isla gave a beautiful and almost flawless safety briefing to me, ensured my seat belt was fastened, and then gently touched me on the shoulder and informed me, “Mom, we are now on our way to ‘Gapan.'  I need to know if you’d like the beef, chicken, wine or blueberries?”  I love this girl.  I figure imaginary wine is better than no wine, so I ordered a nice Shiraz and then it was Minnie Mouse's and the kangaroo’s turn to order food.  Overall, we are embracing and enjoying this nice family time in Hong Kong and I’m quite sure Isla won’t be scarred for life only pretend flying!  

It is American Thanksgiving today. We’ll be having seafood lasagna since that’s what the pilgrims and Native Americans...wait, no.... okay, my huge pregnant ass just wanted something cheesy and fatty and it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving at all, but it should be tasty!  Hong Kong doesn’t really have any form of official Thanksgiving, but this city does have a huge appetite for shopping, so there are a hilarious number of advertisements for stores having “Black Friday” for whatever random date range they choose.  It doesn’t exactly make sense, but we’ve been having a lot of fun accumulating Christmas gifts for Isla and even ordering our REAL Douglas Fir Christmas tree from the US to be delivered in two weeks' time. Given the journey by boat and other logistical challenges, this feels like a little Christmas miracle that you can purchase!  Our apartment has shockingly high ceilings so I had to talk Nate down from dipping into our daughter’s college fund to pay for the 15 foot Christmas tree.  The argument that finally got to him agree had nothing to do with money or practicality, but simply, “Babe, you know we don’t have a ladder here as it’s it Mom and Dad’s basement. We wouldn’t be able to decorate the whole thing.”  And so, a 7 foot tree has been ordered and hopefully will be handled with care all the way to our living room.  We are stoked for a magical holiday season full of pretend Black Friday sales, a new baby, and imaginary flights to Gapan! 

Wishing all our amazing family and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving a legitimate Black Friday!!  We love you.