The flight was pretty good. We left Liangxiang at 3.30am and got to the airport in an hour. Josiah was wide awake ready for his (special treat) donuts for breakfast. Malachi woke up without a complaint, but took a nap in the car on the way there.
We got through the 50 check-points and to our gate with about 5 minutes to spare before we boarded. We weren't rushed--just perfect timing!
We got situated in our seats--middle row of 5--and I was hoping the 2 seats to the right of me were going to stay vacant. Wishful thinking! They were soon filled. Ah well. The guy right next to me literally slept the entire flight. Even when Malachi kicked him or tried to take his glasses or cried. Incredible.
The boys weren't too bad. Josiah crashed for about 2 hours a few hours into the flight, but that was it. Wide awake the rest of the time. I don't understand that kid! But, he was bearable since he was distracted with playing games and watching shows on the screen on the seat in front of him.
Malachi....he just wanted to get down and crawl! He's a mover. He wanted to move beyond my arms. He wore us out. He slept in 20-40 minutes increments every few hours. By the end, he was not a happy camper! But, he really didn't have any extra-long crying fits. PTL
A few funny things happened in Chicago. As soon as we stepped off the plane, a stewardess had our stroller waiting for us. I said "xie xie." (thank you) She was American. Woops! Then, while we were walking to the train, a Chinese woman came up to me frantically asking me where her gate was. In Chinese. Did I look that fresh off the Chinese flight?! Haha. We had about an hour and a half layover, so we took our time strolling to our gate. When we got there, Josiah saw a little boy. He said, "xiao peng you." (little friend) He wanted to go meet him. I told him, "Sure, go show him your toys!" Michael said, "Ashley, we don't do that in America." Oh yeah...woops.
We arrived in KC to all the grandparents. What a sweet welcome! Josiah still (somehow) had energy and was excited to see everyone. Malachi wasn't about to leave my arms.
We went to Chipotle for lunch with everyone. I think that has been our departing/arriving meal every time we've traveled. I'll take it!! The boys did well through lunch--still awake--but the crankiness was starting to set in. So we hopped in the cars and drove the 3.5 hours to Branson. They slept the entire way minus one pit-stop. Glorious. :)
Everyone slept well through the night (well, Malachi reverted back to feeding once at night, but I didn't care--anything to get him back to sleep!) and took some long, hard naps the first several days. Now, everyone is back to their normal schedule. Hooray!
2 days after we got back was Michael's birthday. We did our best to make it special by surprising him with a few things, BBQ for dinner, and a homemade cheesecake. It was quite the process to make, but I'm just glad it turned out well!
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| Josiah isn't a nature lover...yet. He actually held this tiny lizard, thanks to Uncle Eric's coaxing! |
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| BBQ for Michael's bday dinner. Nothing like KC's BBQ, but a nice welcome back. And we drank root beer. YUM. |
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| Happy 30th!! |
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| Josiah and Grammy playing a game with balloons. Grammy did all of the work picking them up! |
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| Happy boy! |
We've loving being back with family and friends, clear skies, and a car to go anywhere we want. :)
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