Shanghai with Kids

The two best options to fly to New Zealand is to fly through Fiji or fly through Shanghai.  We decided on Shanghai...slightly longer flight, but we figured it would be neat to visit Shanghai and Shanghai Disney!

The flight from Chicago to Shanghai was 14 hours.  It was a long 14 hours, but we survived.  The boys did amazing and Hallie....well, she was Hallie.  She slept only about an hour and a half.  The rest of the time she was walking around and smiling at people.  We are lucky she is cute and people love her!  

We had about 6 days in Shanghai.  Typically you need a visa if you are visiting China.  We were able to get a free 144 hour visa because we had a flight moving on to a different country.

We spent our first day visiting the city of Shanghai.  We wanted to check out "old China" so we went to the YuYuan Garden.  It was SUCH a cool area!!  Just getting to the garden, you were surrounded by some really neat old China architecture.  I LOVED it!  The garden was really neat to walk through...a little confusing...like a maze.  I strongly recommend it if visiting Shanghai!  You take line 10 and get off at the YuYuan Garden stop.

Also in the area, was the City God temple.  The boys really enjoyed going inside and seeing all the "golden" statues!

The issue we ran into.....we were celebrities there.  We were a family full of blondies and they loved us.  If we stood still longer than 15 seconds, we would draw a crowd.  They would take our picture, point at us, stare, and just stand by us in close proximity.  

For the next two days we went to Shanghai Disney!!  See the post "Shanghai Disney" for details on this adventure!

After two days at Disney, we ventured back into the city of Shanghai...this time in search of seeing more modern Shanghai.

We took the metro to The Bund.  It is a walkway with an awesome view of the city!  Where we got off at the metro to see The Bund was East Nanjing Road.  This was a fun little area with shops and restaurants.  

The Bund and this area were a bit more touristy where you could find people from different parts of the world.  We still had people looking at us and taking our picture, but not early as bad as Yuyuan Garden.

After this area, we went on one more adventure to see the Longhua Temple.  It took a little while by metro and then a bit of a walk.  Eventually we found it.  Unfortunately it was no longer open to go inside.  It was still cool to check out on the outside, though!

The metro in Shanghai is amazing.  Clean and easy to navigate.  I also felt generally safe and the price wasn't too bad.  The signs are in Chinese and English.  It is color coded and arrows on the floor showing what direction to go and arrows to tell you what direction the trains are going.  VERY easy to navigate.  With that being said, I felt we spent a lot of time on the metro.  It just seemed to take quite a bit of time to get places.  There were also a lot of transfers where you would have to walk through a station to get to another train line.  Thankfully the kids were generally pretty good.  They enjoyed riding the trains.

Strollers were okay to navigate on the metro.  Unless it was super crowded, we were able to push it right on.  This was especially nice when we had napping kids.  Usually there was a handicap entrance big enough for our double stroller.  Occasionally we had to find a worker to open an a gate.  If you do this, make sure to still scan your card otherwise you will not be able to get out at the other end.  Generally there were elevators for the stroller.  Occasionally, we had a tough time finding one and would just carry the stroller or fold it up.  Overall, it wasn't too bad!

I am so thankful we checked out some ancient China areas and more modern areas.  It was neat for the kids to be exposed to another culture, new food, new architecture, and just a different way of life than what we are used to.  Not to mention it was neat for Chris and I to see such a cool place.  It wasn't always easy with the kids...the crowds we would draw, the tears, the heat...but in the end I am so happy we did it.  Always an Adventure! 

The Move to New Zealand

Imagine 9 years...3 kids...and a wife who is sentimental.  This equals one packed to the brim house.  Preparing for an international move seems IMPOSSIBLE.  What do you bring?  What do you do with all the "stuff"?

We started out really well.  We were going through our house and getting rid of 1 trash bag of junk a day.  Then life happened and we got busy just taking care of the family.  Some days it seemed impossible to do anything besides take care of the three kids.

Eventually we were able to throw together a garage sale.  My goal was to get rid of things, so we priced everything super cheap.  People were stoked to get such a good deal.  I had a bit of anxiety letting go of things...but I knew it had to be done.  It was a little stressful throwing it all together and figuring out what to do with the kids...in the end I was really happy with how it all turned out.  One of my favorite parts of the sale was all the people I met.  I felt I talked with some really neat people.  I wish our paths had crossed earlier!  When we closed up shop, we put the rest out for free.  We had some people come by and take things, but still ended up with a load to take to Goodwill.

Next step, preparing for the shipping container.  I have to say I am so thankful for family and friends.  There is no way we would have survived without them!  There was so much work to be done.

Late into the evening (the night before the shipping container), Chris started looking up rules on importing our things.  He came across a list and on that list it said BOOKS and TOYS were not allowed to be imported!!  I started to panic!  Chris called New Zealand and thankfully we are allowed to bring those in.  Looks like the list was more for things being commercially imported.

The night before the shipping container came, I did not go to sleep.  I stayed up all night packing boxes....so...much...to....do.  I felt terrible because it was our last night in our rooms...in our beds....but things had to be packed.

I watched the sun rise and started to panic again because there was still so much to pack!  The shipping container showed up shortly after 10am and I packed the last of boxes...I hoped that I had everything I needed!

We had 2 hours to pack the shipping container.  It was about the size of a half of a semi.  It was a mad dash of people running and rushing to get it all in.  Once again it was amazing to have the help of family.  We are SO lucky to have them!!

 We were skeptical that everything would fit, but it did!  We had a little room to spare so we threw a few more things in.  We probably are taking more than we need....and should probably purge some once it arrives in New Zealand.  It's hard going through the process.  We know things are more expensive in New Zealand so we wanted to bring the things we thought we would need....but who really knows what you need.....

Now that the shipping container took a lot of our stuff...it was time for a deep breath...but not for too long.  We had three days to clean out the rest of our house.

Why was there still so much in it!?!?  Eeekk!

Earlier we decided to get a storage unit to store some of our things that did not make sense to take and couldn't let go of.  The night before we left, we loaded up a Uhual and drove it to my parents house, which is near where our storage unit will be.  During this process we were taking care of some last minute sales...we had a mattress we needed to get rid of and a freezer.  I threw it up online and within a couple hours they were gone.  That was a relief because we didn't know what we were going to do with them otherwise.

We had a blessing show up late into the evening...Chris' brother.  Such a big help as there was still so much to take care of.  I eventually drove the kids up to my parent's house, while Chris stayed behind to clean out the house.  It is absolutely crazy how much a little house can hold and how much there is to do!  It is hard to enjoy your final days in your home...in your community when you are working like crazy to get things done!

Our final day in the US.....during our final day, we had to unload our Uhual into the storage container.  Again we had some great help of family!!  We then had to pack our bags for the plane and shop for some snacks.

On our way out, we said goodbye to some family and headed down to St. Joe for a final clean out and goodbyes.  It was so sad for me.  It was our first house.  The house we brought 3 kids home to.  The house filled with so many memories.  The house we love.  But I keep telling myself that it is okay to let go of something good because something better may be right around the corner.

Our parents drove us down to Chicago and we stayed in a hotel.  Our flight the next morning was at 9am.  We were still working on last minute things late into the night.  It seems like there was always something to do!  Tomorrow was a big day!

Preparing for a Move to New Zealand

Preparing for a move to New Zealand is daunting.  There was so much that goes into it. 

The House
The most important thing we had to figure out was our house....do we rent?  do we sell?  The idea of getting our house ready for the market was extremely overwhelming......a full house and 3 young kids makes it seem impossible.  We were lucky enough that the market is hot and we live in an incredible location.  To top it off, we knew our neighbor who invests and rents properties would probably be interested.  We had a few realtors come in and give us an idea of what they thought they could sell our house for.  We shared that with our neighbor and he came up with an offer we were happy with. 

It feels weird and sad to sell our house.  We LOVE our house and LOVE the location.  We are so close to the beach and all the wonderful festivities our town has to offer.  Our future in unknown, but we have faith that it will bring something incredible.  No matter where we are, we have to focus on the good and look forward, not backward.  We can't dwell on what our new life does not have.  We need to focus on the incredible things it has to offer!


The Visas
Visas are confusing.  The good news is that New Zealand's immigration office is super helpful.  We made many Skype calls.  There are several different types of Visas available.  We were able to get Work Visas.  Hobie received the Student Visa so he could go to school.  then the 2 little ones received Visitor's Visas because they are not of school age. 


Getting There
New Zealand is probably as far away from Michigan as you can get.  We got creative with our flights.  If you were to search Chicago to New Zealand, the flight is slightly expensive, super long, and inconvenient with awkward layovers.....5 hours here, overnight there.  We soon realized it was better to book the segments separately.  This would also give us the opportunity to explore an area.   The cheapest options we could find were Chicago to LA, LA to Fiji, Fiji to Auckland OR Chicago to Shanghai, Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur to Auckland.

Chris preferred to go to Fiji, but Hobie and I wanted to go to Shanghai Disney.  Chris so graciously accepted going to China.  We don't know any Chinese, nor have we had much time to do research...but should be fun!  Usually you need a Visa to go to China, unless you are like us, you can do a 144 hour free Visa, which gives us 6 days to explore.

Our next stop is Kuala Lumpur.  We were going to spend a couple days there, but opted for a 12 hour layover.  It gives us just enough time to see one or two things....then we can head on to New Zealand.

The flights will be long.  I think our 6 and almost 4 year old boys will do great.  As long as they can watch TV, they will be fine.  Our 17 month....that's another story.  She just likes to move and walk around.  Hopefully the people won't mind too much.  She is a super happy girl and smiles at everyone.  Fingers crossed we will survive!!


Our Stuff 
We are doing a variety of things with our stuff.  The most important thing we did was purge.  I don't think we did enough, but it was a start!  9 years of marriage and 3 kids....and no garage sales during that time.......we have accumulated a TON!

We decided we wanted a shipping container....and a good size one so we could fit our kayak and boards....plus some household items, toys, and furniture.  We wanted to make sure we took plenty of our things because the prices of them in New Zealand are significantly more expensive.  The shipping container will be roughly half the size of a semi.  It should only take about 40 days...so we shouldn't be without our things for too long.

We have some things that don't need to be sent over...silly mementos and items I used when teaching.  We decided to leave those here in a storage unit. 

We are taking a minimum amount of things with us on a plane.  Just a few carry-on backpacks.  It is such a hassle traveling with too much luggage.  We found we are so much happier when we pack light.  We will figure it out when we get to New Zealand.  We will survive with just a few small bags of things....we're going to have to ;)

The Backstory to our New Zealand Move

For the longest time wanted to gain some international work and living experience.  An opportunity came up in New Zealand that Chris was qualified for.  He said he was going to apply.  I said, "Whatever, go for it, but we are NOT moving to New Zealand.

Not long later, he was contacted for an interview.  I told him not to waste his time, but he wanted to do it.  He said it was good practice.  Once again, I said, "Whatever, go for it, but we are NOT moving to New Zealand."

The interview went well and they wanted another interview.  Once again, I wasn't too excited and kept telling my husband, "Whatever, we are NOT moving to New Zealand."

The second interview went great.  At this point, I started to think about life in New Zealand.  We began doing more extensive research on the country.  We watched YouTube videos, read articles, looked up the cost of living and housing.......we started to think....yes, maybe we do want to move to New Zealand.

......then Chris has another Skype conversation with the company....he did not get the job.  They decided to go with someone who already lived in New Zealand and had previously worked for the company.  BUT they said they really liked him and were going to try to find a position for him.  They said they would contact him in 2-3 months.

We were bummed when we found out.  We realized that maybe we really DID want to move to New Zealand.  We got over it and moved on with our lives.  The door for the opportunity was shut.

Less than a week later, Chris receives an email offering him a job!  We were super excited!!  The door opened back up!

We did some more research and the salary just wasn't feasible to move and support a family of 5 in New Zealand.  We formally declined the job offer.  The door for the opportunity was shut again.

We then received an email respecting our decision, but was wondering if there was anything they could do to make him reconsider.  The door opened back up.

We were a little caught off guard and didn't know what to think.  It seemed liked the door kept opening back up for the opportunity and is something that is meant to be.  We did the math to figure out what it would take to be able to support our family.  We gave them the number.  They accepted it, but needed to do another interview because it would bump him up another level.

The interview went wonderful once again and they formally offered him the position with the salary we needed to support our family.  We were excited, nervous, anxious.  Our brains were spinning thinking and wondering if we should move and change our lives so drastically. 

Our life is amazing right now.  We have great jobs, great friends, great community!  We love our house, our location, being so close to the beach.  The schools are excellent.  It is such an incredible place to live.  It is the type of town you settle down in and raise your family.......

......we just aren't ready to settle down yet.

We prayed and did a lot of thinking and decided that we should just go for it!  We only live once and we want to live life to the fullest.  Have no regrets!  We want to learn and grow as people.  We want to show our kids that the world has so much to offer!

 

Always An Adventure With Kids

I feel like life with kids is always an adventure.  Some days and moments are amazing, while others are super stressful.  I try to constantly remind myself of our family moto....through the good, the bad, the crazy, the fun...."Always An Adventure".

I decided to create this blog as a way for me to preserve our memories.  I was not blessed with a great memory so pictures and writing things down helps me relive all the adventures!

I also wanted a way for our families and friends to stay connected with us!