• What we did: Drove and flew from Boston in the north east to the home of the Civil Rights movement in the Birmingham, Alabama.
• What we learned about travelling with kids: Jetlag sends kids loopy which takes a few weeks to settle down.
• Overall rating:
  • Adults: 3
    (+) Wonderful fun and food with family and friends
    (-) Infant jet lag struggles and grim immigration service hiccups
  • Kids: 3
    (+) Playing with all our friends and family
    (-) Temporary insanity brought on by extreme time zone shifts!

An unwanted and uncharitable encounter with the U.S. Immigration Services leaves us with a mountain of red tape to cut before we can move back to San Francisco...

But something has changed.

Since our last holiday together Po, Marijke and we have swapped woks for wee-uns.

But you can't take a love of tractors out of the boy!

Maxwell, Zoe and Kai take to fruit picking with a plum (Ed: aplomb, surely?)

Zoe and Maxwell take in the sights and sounds of a long drive across the actually surprisingly diverse and cosmopolitan south.

With a dad boasting a rock 'n' roll name like Roy Mars, it's no surprise that Sybil and Roy came up with a cool name, Terra, for their gorgeous girl, who we met in steamy South Carolina.

A hyper-productive couple, Roy threw up a quick guest cottage in the back yard while we sipped coffee fresh roasted by Sybil on the veranda.

Jet lag mania finally eases off as our crazy little kids settle into a routine with Gramma and Poppa and their ginormous RV.

Gramma introduces Zoe to the best way to engage with the ocean, one tippy toe at a time!

Maxwell the Merman explores the depths while Zoe prefers to float serenely on the surface.

Zoe's can't quite differentiate real from pretend tigers just yet, so she set to work taking down this mighty beast on the local mini-golf course.

Our U.S. trip ends catching up with Leah (Cheryl's lil' sis) and Ryan in Alabama.

Also a chance to check out the home of the Civil Rights eruption of 1963 and to chow down on scrumptious southern seafood.

Go Tide!

If you want to see even more photos of our trip in the USA, check out the Full USA Album on our photo album site.