What a long day... a really, really loooong day.
We were up at 5:00 am to catch a van that took us on the three hour drive to the Hong Kong airport. It was a long drive with a stop at Hong Kong customs.
The kids did okay on the flight. Steven somehow lost his last pacifier 3 hours into the flight. We tore apart our section looking for it, but we never found it. Steven won't sleep without a pacifier... so it was a long flight for that little guy.
Fortunately, our flight arrived ahead of schedule in Seattle, which gave us extra time to go through customs and immigration. The Embassy sent us with a do-not-open, sealed envelope filled with Steven's immigration paperwork.
The lines for customs were loooong, especially since we were directed to the foreigners side with Steven's Chinese passport. Fortunately, Melinda flagged a worker and explained that we had an adoptive child and some extra complicated paperwork. The customs team had a little spat over who got to process us (Window 13 won) and we were sent to the front of the line. After we got through customs, we were sent to immigration where they went through Steven's sealed envelope, stamped his passport and made him an official US Citizen!
With our flight arriving early, and customs skipping us to the front of the line, we still had a couple hours before our next flight. Plenty of time to buy an over-priced (but worth it!) pacifier from Hudson News and some food. A wilted, soggy salad never tasted so good! At last fresh (sorta fresh) vegetables! It was dinner time for us, but just 9 am in Seattle.
Our last flight was uneventful, except for a few tears from Eleanor and Steven who were just done - DONE with traveling. Adelaide remained a trooper, trying to drag wheeled suitcases and keep everyone moving, despite being so tired she was almost falling over. Uncle David picked up our ragged bunch and drove us back. We pulled up to our drive way at the 24 hour mark on our journey.
We found a wonderful surprise waiting for us. Eve and Jed had gone grocery shopping and stocked us with the essentials, as well as dinner in the fridge. And, family and friends had arranged an online shower for us. There were birthday presents for Steven all over our table. We have never felt so loved or blessed. Thank you everyone!
As a present to Mom, the kids slept in until 9:30 am on Mother's Day. We were all pretty weary.
Once we had all, eventually, dragged ourselves out of bed and cobbled together breakfast, Adelaide gathered all the welcome home balloons and put them on the table to decorate for Mother's Day... and wrapped several of her own things to give to Mom. The kids also had chocolates that Dad had helped them buy before the trip. Very sweet.
It was a low key Mother's Day with lots of napping, recovering and enjoying fresh fruit and vegetables.
We're so happy to be home, in our own beds, and starting to get back into a normal routine. And, of course, we are so happy to have Steven here with us AT last. The real thing is way better than the pictures on our mantel. Welcome home little boy!
We were up at 5:00 am to catch a van that took us on the three hour drive to the Hong Kong airport. It was a long drive with a stop at Hong Kong customs.
The kids did okay on the flight. Steven somehow lost his last pacifier 3 hours into the flight. We tore apart our section looking for it, but we never found it. Steven won't sleep without a pacifier... so it was a long flight for that little guy.
Fortunately, our flight arrived ahead of schedule in Seattle, which gave us extra time to go through customs and immigration. The Embassy sent us with a do-not-open, sealed envelope filled with Steven's immigration paperwork.
The lines for customs were loooong, especially since we were directed to the foreigners side with Steven's Chinese passport. Fortunately, Melinda flagged a worker and explained that we had an adoptive child and some extra complicated paperwork. The customs team had a little spat over who got to process us (Window 13 won) and we were sent to the front of the line. After we got through customs, we were sent to immigration where they went through Steven's sealed envelope, stamped his passport and made him an official US Citizen!
The newest and cutest American Citizen!
With our flight arriving early, and customs skipping us to the front of the line, we still had a couple hours before our next flight. Plenty of time to buy an over-priced (but worth it!) pacifier from Hudson News and some food. A wilted, soggy salad never tasted so good! At last fresh (sorta fresh) vegetables! It was dinner time for us, but just 9 am in Seattle.
Our last flight was uneventful, except for a few tears from Eleanor and Steven who were just done - DONE with traveling. Adelaide remained a trooper, trying to drag wheeled suitcases and keep everyone moving, despite being so tired she was almost falling over. Uncle David picked up our ragged bunch and drove us back. We pulled up to our drive way at the 24 hour mark on our journey.
We found a wonderful surprise waiting for us. Eve and Jed had gone grocery shopping and stocked us with the essentials, as well as dinner in the fridge. And, family and friends had arranged an online shower for us. There were birthday presents for Steven all over our table. We have never felt so loved or blessed. Thank you everyone!
Our welcome home surprise!
As a present to Mom, the kids slept in until 9:30 am on Mother's Day. We were all pretty weary.
Once we had all, eventually, dragged ourselves out of bed and cobbled together breakfast, Adelaide gathered all the welcome home balloons and put them on the table to decorate for Mother's Day... and wrapped several of her own things to give to Mom. The kids also had chocolates that Dad had helped them buy before the trip. Very sweet.
It was a low key Mother's Day with lots of napping, recovering and enjoying fresh fruit and vegetables.
Adelaide was very concerned about making
sure Mother's Day was special to Mom. She's a sweetie.
Spent a lot of the day doing this...
Boxes - fun at every age.
I am so happy for your family. I have been following your saga via your blog and facebook. Steven is so lucky to have such a great family to be a part of. We miss you guys.
ReplyDeleteScurvy averted! Glad you're all back.
ReplyDelete