The more things change...

As I hinted at in my previous post, the past couple months have brought some pretty big changes in our lives. Most significantly, we moved from Jakarta, Indonesia to London, United Kingdom. We exchanged hot, smoky Jakarta, for foggy old England. But, there was one twist: although Gloria and I left Jakarta on the same day, we did not arrive in London together. You see, while Gloria's went straight to London to start work, I had to go back to the US to get my UK visa approved. So I headed back to Philly to submit my visa paperwork. The good thing is that it gave me a chance to catch up with Gloria's side of the family, and I got to see our nephew Alex and give him his belated birthday present.

Lego & block!

I was also able to take the opportunity to head home to Michigan to see my family. As luck would have it, my visit coincided with Gloria's parents' trip to visit my parents, so I would be able to see everyone at the same time. Perfect! (yes, our parents get along so well they plan trips just to visit each other...how great is that?!)

So, after taking care of everything in Philly, I headed off to Michigan for some Helminski family time.

First time I'd seen my parents in a year

And since this is my family, the first item on our agenda was drinking a few beverages out on my parents' deck.

A reason to live indeed...

Lucy was ready and waiting to chase the tennis ball

Immediately getting spoiled by Mom's food

My original plan was to spend most of my time in MI at my parents house, with a couple nights at my brother's place to hang out with him, Tammy, and their boys, then head over to Detroit for the Lions game (my anniversary gift from my AMAZING wife), and finally head up to our cabin for some time with nature. But, as with most plans, things didn't quite work out. You see, my brother & his wife have two little boys: 3 year old Dominic and (almost 2 year old) Ryan. The boys decided that the week of my visit was the perfect time to get sick. So instead of spending time at my parents' house, I got to take care of sick little boys.  It wasn't too bad though. For the most part they were good, and Ryan got to revel in the joys of not wearing pants all day (pardon the vertical video - I'm ashamed of myself).



As you can see I took my Uncle duties VERY seriously. For the uninitiated, here are a few of the key things you must do when taking care of young children:

Make sure they wear adult shoes on the wrong feet

Teach them to copy your goofy faces

If they want to play on stairs alone, go for it! Just take pictures (through the cat door if possible)

No shirt? No pants? Must be dinner time.

Post bath time = put on your brother's pajamas

Uncle duty? Nailed it.

Alright, enough kid stuff. Time to make the most of my anniversary gift from Gloria and go see the Lions play the Vikings in their season opener. Yep, my wife got me tickets to an NFL game for our 1st anniversary. Best. Wife. Ever. True story.

With my buddies Todd & Rich tailgating pre-game

Our view as the Lions beat down the Vikings. Woo hoo!

The trip to Detroit was great because in addition to the Lions game, I had a chance to catch up with some of my buddies I haven't seen in years. Always a good time.

Then it was back to Muskegon for a quick visit with my parents and Gloria's parents before they headed off on their road trip to the UP,

Morning coffee in the Helminski house

and then after picking up my sister Liz at the airport, it was up to the cabin. Ah yes, the cabin. Our rustic family sanctuary in the woods. Basically we head up there to eat, drink, play games, laugh, share stories... just good family time.

Why yes, that is a lens flare over the old outhouse. 

A proper meal at the cabin: steaks grilled over the fire.

Lucy in her happy place.

My Dad, also know as Dzia Dzia (that's Polish for Grandpa), pushing the boys in the wheelbarrow. 

If you're not playing in the dirt, you're not doing it right

This is like looking at a mirror image separated by 60 years. Ryan is pretty much my Dad's shadow

Ryan's trademark pouty lip 

And the flip side, when he's having fun

It's not a proper trip to the cabin without the old red, white, & blue

The spoils of the seafood boil. A ridiculous meal

In the end, it was a pretty typical trip to the cabin. Lots of eating, drinking, laughing, etc. Oh wait, there was that one thing we haven't seen in a good long while. Cardboard box sledding! First up, Liz:



As you can see, we pretty much just hop on a box and cruise on the down the hill. We've been doing this since, well, since my Dad was a kid. The simple things... Anyway, here comes the Moms!



Yep, that's our Moms sledding down the hill, giggling like schoolgirls. So much fun.

After the cabin trip, my time back home came to and end, and it was time to head across the pond to my wife and our new home in London.

Mother nature greeted me with a beautiful sunrise from the plane

With that, the next chapter began. Stay tuned for more tales from jolly old England....