Flight and Arrival to USA

Sooo we’re back from our great summer vacay to the states..   We started out leaving our villa at 3:00 a.m. and headed to the airport for our 6:00 a.m. flight.  We had some super sad goodbyes with daddy and then quickly got into travel mode.  The kids got chicken nuggets and french fries for breakfast, hey why not?! Well actually the Mc’D’s didn’t serve breakfast – so bazaar, but the kids rolled with it.

After bfast they burned some energy on the play ground and then we headed to board our 30 min flight to Doha, Qatar.

Once we arrived in Qatar, we had a 3 hour layover… it was not fun (for me).  At least they had a really nice play ground where the kids hung out for a while.   The airport was crazy packed full of travelers and I had a very huge (very heavy) hiking backpack that I had to lug around the airport while I kept tabs on my two little ones.  {My back was killing me!} The bathrooms here were some of the worst I had ever seen.  There was water and trash all over the floors to the point where I could not put our bags down to help Audrey in the restroom or even a decent place to change Will’s diaper. (no, he is STILL not potty trained ahhh!!).  So now it is nearly 9:00 a.m… a perfect time for an ice cream break…

Our 3 hour wait was over and we finally got settled into our plane where we’d be seated for the next 16.5 hours and travel over 8,000 miles.  The most common question I get from people is “WHAT do y’all do for that long on the plane?!” Hence the need for the Mary Poppins back pack.  I have tons of activities, arts and crafts, new toys, new shows, apps and movies on the iPad and plenty of snacks.  I wrap up most of the gifts in wrapping paper so the kids feel like they are getting gifts sporadically throughout the flight… they love it!  Since we woke the kids up in the middle of the night there was also some napping going on (for them, not me).  The night we left I did not sleep a wink in anticipation of our travel day and then for the next 20+ hours we were travelling I did not get a minute of shut eye.. it was hard but, the kids are AMAZING travelers and are extremely well behaved on the plane THANK GOD. 

The kids both zonked out right at the end of the flight and it was a serious struggle to wake them up.  We had hit some major turbulence and the plane was ROCKING like scary-brace-yourself-like in the movies-BUMPY… As soon as I finally got Audrey awake she had a case of motion sickness and threw up.. I could tell it was coming on so rushed her to the back of the plane, dumped out a container of the moist towelettes  in the flight attendant area and caught it just in time. whew.  I got her and Will changed into regular clothes in just enough time to buckle up and land.  We did it.

We had a pretty long wait for luggage (45 min) and then…

The moment that made it all worthwhile!!

FAMILY!

Happy to be back in the U.S. of A!  We hopped in the car and continued our travels for another 2 1/2 hours from Houston to Lake Charles with a pit stop for some good American food.  The kids were SOOO tired since in our Abu Dhabi time they only got a couple hours of sleep… Audrey fell asleep in the booth of the restaurant and on our way out we snapped this picture of Kari holding her.. check out that drool!

We went back to my parent’s house and went to bed… woke up early (due to jet lag) and were greeted by my in-laws and my precious NIECE!! It was our first time to meet our sweet 8-month-old Alivia! We were all super excited to say the least!  It is hard to explain the feeling you have knowing you are meeting someone that will be a part of your life forever.   She sensed it too and laid her head on my shoulder in the sweetest way… I’ll never forget it.

After all the cuddles squeezing and loving settled down the kids had lots of ‘prizes’ to open from their grandparents… such fun!

Audrey is such a proud cousin! She was incredible with Alivia and the two of them clicked right off the bat.  Audrey can make Alivia laugh like none other… it is adorable!

Their first “Cousin Picture”

I’m gonna wrap it up here for now… lots more to post on – come back for more!  We are getting ready to head outta here and check out the hospital in Dubai that I plan on delivering at.  Charles wants to know ‘for sure’ how to get there and since my delivery is about 3 –4 weeks away It is time to open a file and get all the paperwork ready freddy~!