HOME AT LAST.

After 18 hours in the sky, we made it home safe and sound. Let me just stress the sound portion of that statement. Lu did not do well on the plane. I'd venture a guess that nobody within earshot of us did. Pete missed out on sleep the two nights before we left due a very bad cold and Lu would only let Pete hold him on the flight, most of the time screaming, kicking and crying. Nothing seemed to comfort him and only after expelling super human powers of distress, did he finally sleep for about 3 hours. I kept thinking at any moment, these people will unite and throw us out an emergency exit door.

Clearing customs was a breeze and it didn't take long for us to get out of the airport. By this time, I was running a fever having caught the nasty cold going around and Pete and I were crabby beyond belief, any hold-ups or fussy officials would have sent either one of us into a sobbing puddle of despair. It was a happy, reassuring sight to see our friends there to greet us, thanks Ann, Maryjo and Sophia! What a welcome sight you all were!

Ann delivered us to our doorstep and we were greeted with a beautiful sign made by our friends welcoming us home. We were also grateful to Laura and Charlie for filling our fridge with fresh food! Everything we needed was right there for us and it was such a relief knowing we wouldn't need to leave the house.

After the airplane experience I wasn't sure how Lu would do once we got him home. All worries and fears were quickly put to rest as we watched both Lu and Clara come alive, exploring, laughing, playing and enjoying the comforts that only your very own home can offer. We did our best to stay up as late as possible (our flight came in around 12:30 p.m.) so we could get back on MN time, but we were all fast asleep by 4:30 p.m. The kids woke up again about 11:00 p.m. and stayed up till 4:30 a.m., then back to sleep till 7:30 this morning. Everyone is napping now and I'm hoping we'll all go to bed at a regular time tonight and then be well on our way to resetting our internal clocks. One can hope right?

My parents come from that superior generation before mine that gives them the ability to be positive, smile through anything and dole out an unlimited supply of love and care to the four of us. AND they managed to avoid the various strains of orphanage/hotel/foreign city and airplane viruses that have hit the rest of us. God bless 'em. They are doing the unimaginable, hanging out with us for a few more days while we get on our feet. If they're anxious to be rid of us (I'm even anxious to be rid of us!!!!) we'd never know it. They act like we're just the most fun family around and our kids are the most well behaved they've ever had the pleasure to occupy a room with. What good actors they are : )

Tomorrow we'll celebrate Lu's 2nd birthday at home, I'm so glad we'll all be together.