Home!!!

After 5 amazing but tiring months on the road (and rail and air and sea) we were very ready to come home for a bit and see our families and friends. But first we had to get there...

25 hours later we finally arrived in London baby! We were very relieved to have survived our journey on Malaysia Airlines (though we definitely got more nervous than usual every time there was turbulence!). We had a nice surprise by being met by dad at Euston station and a had a quick catch up over coffee before he headed off to work. 

And then we had to get used to the weather:

...and the time difference. The first night we made it till about 5:30pm and then conked out only for Andy to wake up at midnight and me at 2am! 

The next day we met up with Andy's sister and her family for Andy's IStructE chartership ceremony and a day around London. Andy looked so smart at his ceremony (and for once actually quite tanned!). 

We had a lovely time catching up with Ali, Mat and our gorgeous nieces who have grown up so much! They had fun on the Tube and then we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.

The next big event after our arrival was mum's 50th birthday! We had a lovely evening having dinner at a Thai restaurant and getting rather drunk together! Hopefully mum had a good day with all her children back home again :) it was so nice to be home again with the family :)

The big birthday bash happened the next day and was a logistical nightmare with a mum who likes to know exactly what's going on and when!

Cover story: whole family coming to the house at 5pm (which dad initially told mum to be 3pm) and that we were ordering pizza in.

Surprise plan: fantastic dinner party at swanky Indian restaurant with Bollywood glam theme

What actually happened: mum and dad went to new house while for a few hours in the morning while sim, jam, Andy and I rushed around the house ironing outfits, blowing up balloons and making finishing touches to the photo presentation. On their return, mum started worrying that nothing had been done to prepare the house (as she thought they were coming round at 3). She had also spotted the ironed indian clothes in Jam's room so we had to tell her that it was Bollywood glam theme but that she couldn't ask any questions and had to leave it to us. A few hours later we all started getting glammed up while mum started wondering why we still hadn't sorted out the house... And then it started snowing...

How mum found out the plan: 1) I started panicking re the snow, 2) mum was pinning up my chunni and as I was in a rush to leave I said 'don't worry I'll take extra pins with me' to which she replied 'take them where?!'... Oops :s in short i was the only one who blew it (I blame the jetlag). 3) when sim, jam, Andy and I left the house and she and dad were left behind!

We had a great night, mum had a lovely surprise, everyone made a great effort in dressing up and jam's presentation was fantastic. Thanks to everyone who helped her by sending in their photos :)

The next 2.5 weeks absolutely flew by with socialising with friends and family, my job interview and Andy's highest-grade-in-the-Midlands award!

There was a lot of eating of delicious home food that we'd missed:

And there was a lot of pre- part 2 shopping to do before heading off. Shopping for a trip to Antarctica and a month in the Central American jungle as well as needing clothes etc for normal travels AND fitting it all into a 65 litre backpack each was no mean feat! However we somehow managed it (most of it at least anyway!) and were ready to start off again on part 2! Dubai here we come!