We are going home!! (otherwise known as the endless day!!) We got up at 5:30 today - and found a note slipped under our door warning of a cyclone and high winds to hit Hong Kong in the next 12 hours so to check your plane schedule. Can you imagine the sinking of our hearts as we began to pray that we would be able to take off as scheduled?? We were at the airport by 7:00AM and very happy to note that our plane was scheduled to depart on time at 9:00 although the winds were starting to pick up. Unfortunately, our seats were split up on the plane - so Kim and Kristi were together and Paul was in the row behind. We were going to switch off during the flight, but Kristi was being difficult and decided that she would not sit by Paul.
After 9 hours of pushing buttons on the TV screen, spilling food and drinks, and visiting the bathroom every half hour (have I mentioned we have visited every bathroom between Tianjin and Hong Kong? - ah yes, the old boredom trick!!), Kim had about had it - and still 6 hours to go. Paul tried to amuse her for a while but no go. We are so thankful that God strategically placed us behind a mother who was a pediatrician that specialized in international adoption. She was traveling with her husband and twin girls (they had adopted from China 5 years ago). She was so understanding of Kristi's wiggles and pushing on the seat. She offered us a natural sleep agent to put Kristi to sleep. So at around 7PM we gave that to Kristi and she fell asleep at 7:30. She slept for the next four hours until they served us the pre-landing meal. We landed Detroit around 12:30 (in the morning for Hong Kong time and noon for Detroit time - 12 hour time difference). We then spent the next two hours going through immigration and customs. There were a couple of other families coming from China with adoptions as well so talked with them while in line. We had to stop to talk to someone from the Center for Disease Control because of Kristi's positive TB skin test. Finally around 2:30 we rechecked our luggage and headed to the gate to wait for another 6 hours. All things considered, Kristi handled this leg of the journey surprisingly well. She played with her sticker book for an hour and then we put the bad wolf and the pleasant goat cartoon in the computer and let her watch. Mom and dad were exhausted!
Around 7:45 PM we boarded the plane for the flight to Bloomington. Kristi fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the plane. It was a one hour flight to Bloomington and Kristi did not wake up happy - but we didn't blame her - we had all about had it! We had to wait for half an hour for the luggage. Then we made the hour and a half ride home. We pulled into the driveway at 10:30, 30 hours after we got up. We were a little worried about how it would go meeting the kids with her so tired. But the instant we walked in the door she perked up. She took to the kids right away - but her real attraction was to the cats. They learned to run away fast! She pulled out her photo album and pointed to the pictures of the kids and the cat. She ran around the house like a whirlwind. Finally around 11:30PM we put her in the bathtub and put her to bed - a situation she was not happy with. However, she went to sleep and seemed to be okay with sleeping in a room by herself, although Kim stayed with her until she fell asleep. What a day!
No comments:
Post a Comment