Hello to them - Goodbye to him
Finally the day of Mum and Tyler's arrival dawned. The kids and I reluctantly went to school and work, whilst Mark took the meet 'n' greet role at the airport.
Mum had sent a text in the middle of the night warning that they had made an emergency landing in Sri Lanka for a sick passenger and had been delayed several hours.
So before setting off for Heathrow, Mark checked the arrivals website where their flight was reported as on schedule. What we didn't know was that Mum and Tyler were supposed to change planes in Dubai. It was only after their flight had landed, all the passengers processed, and lots of texting backwards and forwards with Dad in NZ that we realised they had missed the connecting flight in Dubai.
It wouldn't have been so bad except then the airline, couldn't or wouldn't tell Mark exactly which flight they would be coming in on. Luckily, ex-Dubai flights were due in regularly throughout the day so he decided to sit it out and meet each arriving plane load. They finally arrived three hours later very tired, after being in transit for some 33 hours, and minus their luggage which was still in Dubai :-)
Brannan reunited with Nana and cousin Tyler
The suitcases arrived the following day and we let Mum and Tyler have a few quiet days to catch up on sleep and aclimatise to the British weather.
Brannan is thrilled to have Tyler here, we hardly see the pair of them, always in the bedroom, drawing, gaming,scheming or comdaneering the laptop. Petra loves having Nana about, and proudly introduced Mum to all her friends at school.
At the weekend we took them into the city for an orientation of London and the underground system. The plan is for them to do quite a bit of sightseeing on their own during the week when the kids and I are doing our day jobs.
Doing the tourist thing at Piccadilly Circus
Then it was time for Mark to leave us, it was strange to see him packing. Now half the drawers and the wardrobe are empty (no, I don't have more clothes than him.... something wrong there!!) and all his stuff from the bathroom is gone. We joked about the fact that I hadn't seen any concrete evidence that he was actually going to Oman or that he had a job there, I didn't see his plane ticket, a picture of the house we're going to live in, or a final signed employment contract (on the phone now he tells me he's in Romania...) :-)
Oman, here I come
So far, Mark has been wowed with what he's seen in Oman. He timed his arrival well, starting work on the Wednesday, and then enjoying the Thursday/Friday weekend they have in Middle Eastern countries (Friday is the Islamic Holy Day). He describes Muscat as quite a traditional city with mostly white buildings, and unlike Dubai has very few glass or high rise buildings. Muscat is on the coast with mountains reaching right down to the beach. I promise photos as soon as I get there with the camera. He's currently staying in the Crown Plaza hotel (what a hardship!), and will move into the house just days before we arrive in late March.
Well that's all the news for now folks, last week of work and school for the rest of us. Then we have a few excursions planned (Paris and Rome) before we head off to Dubai and eventually Muscat.
Take care all
Hayls
x
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