Day 17 - Friday - We're coming home!

Erich and I were up before both kids today. We got ready and worked on packing some more. Finally, we had to wake them up for baths before the long journey home. At breakfast, I tried to eat a lot and just couldn't. I tend not to eat much on the planes, but still be hungry. Erich finished the last of the packing and sent me out to spend our last RMB. I was still hoping to find a vest which I did along with a scarf. Then I went off to Jordan's. It was great to see him one last time. He said he put us in his daily journal. The first day we were there I complimented him on not being pushy like a lot of the other folks. I said we like to just browse without someone standing over our shoulder. He was so tickled with that comment that he wrote us in his journal. He also likes Erich's hat. I wanted to get Erich one of the lucky frog statues. It is a frog with a coin in his mouth. It means wealth. I also was able to afford a beautiful turtle statue that I've eyed since the first day we went to Jordan's. It has a sea shell for the shell and the rest of it is a wooden carving. With a last hug to Jordan, I rushed off to have Erich pack our last goodies. Not all of the stores were even open yet as it was just before 10 AM. Not that they all open at 10. I think it depends on when they get there in the AM, what day of the week it is, weather, and what is going on. Most families leave on Friday and are not in a rush to buy more stuff (unlike us!). It is also the day before the trade fair. There are more business people and not so many tourists and adoptive families. Agencies try to schedule adoption travel around the trade fair as the cost of the WS hotel goes up by at least 4 during those 2 weeks in April and in October. Anyway, they were due to pick up our luggage at 10 AM so I had to get back in a hurry.

They came shortly after 10 for the luggage and we went down to the play room for the last 45 minutes or so. I got us checked out of the hotel and hit the bookstore in the hotel for a couple of children’s books with Chinese folk tales. Then Erich went out to 7-11 store for water. In the play room I got to see Rose and Autumn, Priscilla and husband, and both babies. They are from the same orphanage. Logan and Autumn were playing ball with Pricilla’s older adopted Chinese daughter. It was good he was spending energy. Maelynn was off playing on her own and having a great time. It was good to see them one last time. Then it was off to the airport with Shirley.

On the way, we saw a building structure. Logan asked if that was where the Bengals played. We all got a chuckle out of that one since it was on the other side of the world. Concepts of a 5 year old. At the airport, Shirley was with us the entire time. It was good to because we had issues and tempers. At the security gate, they wanted to see Maelynn’s boarding pass. She doesn’t have a ticket, but should have a boarding pass. We didn’t have one. It was very crowded and we had trouble locating Shirley. After all the families were through and we still weren’t there, she found us arguing with security. Not a good image. After a few words (some good, some not so good), I took Logan and the carry-on’s and went through. Shirley, Erich, and Maelynn went back to the ticket counter. Luckily, we still had plenty of time and they caught up with us. Logan was asleep before the plane even took off. Maelynn ended up sleeping most of the way and did well with the change in air pressure using Cheerio’s. We did not have an extra seat for her. She just sat in my lap. Erich had more issues as the flight attendant bumped his arm and spilled Sprite all over him. Ugh! That was the flight from Guangzhou to Beijing. Once in Beijing, we had to collect our luggage and go to the international part of the airport. There, we went through customs and checked our bags again. Yet another issue. First, the girl was a trainee and had lots of questions for her co-workers. Then, our last bag weighed too much. Our other bags were already sent to the plane. Now what do we do? God bless the Chelgren’s! We were able to take out a very heavy souvenir (Erich’s mahjong set) and put it in one of theirs. Once we went through security the last time, we left Shirley. She certainly helped us a lot. She had a couple of days off and got to go home.

We did have a seat for Maelynn on this flight. It was by far the longest at just over 11 hours. After serving drinks, dinner, and drinks, they turned out the lights. This of course, not before Erich spilled another 8 oz of sprite all down the front of him. It is a long journey home. The kids each slept well. Well, sort of. Maelynn constantly shifted. If we were holding her or she was on the seat, we had to stay awake so she wouldn’t fall. Logan was out for a long time. Erich was soggy and uncomfortable. Needless to say, Mom and Dad did not get any useful rest. Each time they served drinks, I would ask for a drink for Maelynn and the flight attendant would only give me one drink for me and none for Maelynn. She always gave me these horrible looks. We were warned not to expect much reception on the Chinese flights. We were on China Air for this one. One hour before landing, they started a 2 ½ hour movie and served breakfast. Go figure.

Anyway we got to California and were very grateful to be back on US soil. We even arrived a little early. At this point it was about 4:30 PM CA time on Good Friday. Our flight to Cincinnati would leave at midnight. We went through immigration first which took a while. We were right by baggage claim so the allowed us to go ahead and collect our baggage while we waited. The girls are now officially US citizens! We were traveling with 3 other families at this point. One had an overnight lay over and would fly to Atlanta on Saturday and then on to Baton Rouge. From there, they had a 2 hour drive home and would get home late Saturday night. In all, they were gone for 20 days. They went on to go to their hotel. The other 2 families were the Kings and Chelgren’s. We stuck together. Customs was a breeze. We checked in with the airline and checked our bags. Then we went in search of dinner. We had to walk 2 terminals down to the international terminal for most of the restaurants. We were at Los Angeles airport (LAX). We found good old McDonald’s. We also spent time feeding the babes. In all, we took our time since we had so much time to kill.

When we did get to the gate, we still had over 2 hours to wait. Logan colored and played his game boy. We walked the girls around and just tried to tire them out as much as we could. We flew Delta for this leg of the trip. The people were so nice! They checked our stroller at the gate. They actually noticed us and approached us to get the tags done early. Erich and I asked for bulkhead seating. The lady at the ticket counter recommended it. She said it is really nice for families with young children. The Chelgren’s didn’t like it on one of the earlier flights, but we thought we’d try it. Maelynn was asleep before we even boarded and Logan fell asleep before we took off again. The flight attendants were really great. Erich and I didn’t sleep. Maelynn woke up with 2 hours left to go. We entertained her and fed her a bottle. We were out of hot water in our thermos. No need to worry, the flight attendants gave us some hot water to steep the bottle in and heat it up. We arrived in Cincinnati at little early. We waited for our strollers to come up and freshened up a bit. The Chelgren’s stroller had the wheel torn off and couldn’t use it. The flight attendant took them up to the counter for a report. I guess they’ll get a check in a couple of weeks to replace it. It is now Saturday at 7 AM.

Then, it was off to see our families! Oma and Opa, Grandma, her friend Joanne, Lori, Chip, and Aunt Patty were all waiting for us. We all had a great reunion. Mom and I cried as we hugged. I was and am so thankful to be back safely. I missed everyone so much. They all helped us with the luggage and Logan. We all went out for breakfast. Maelynn did really well. She didn’t want anything to eat or drink, but would take Cheerio’s. On to home.