Groundhog Day

It felt like the movie Groundhog Day.  250 tired passengers wearing the same clothes and trying this all over again. Everyone looked familiar and was understanding due to the day before.  We were all in the same boat.  That was a relief for this mama who only gets anxious in one type of situation:  When I feel that my children may bother others. Otherwise, I'm not too much of an up and down personality. I'm a steady line.  I did not feel anxious one bit.  People recognized each other in the check-in line and casually asked how hotels were.  How the kids were.  It felt comfortable.

Back through immigration, we waited at the gate.  Our names were called over the loud speaker and I quickly approached the desk thinking something was wrong.  They upgraded our seats as a thank you for Brent helping out. Goodness, we didn't expect that.  He was just doing his job, but boy were the larger, plush seats helpful on that long flight!  It allowed me to camp out on a blanket on the floor and allowed enough room for E to stretch out and actually fall asleep untouched at both her nap time and bedtime.  I'm sure everyone seated around us was thankful!  

Flights went off without a hitch and we arrived in Florida just after midnight.  There was no welcome committee to greet us.  It was too late and honestly, we just wanted to land and be a family.  That's all.  Jonnie (the greatest father-in-law on the planet!) picked us up at the curb in our own car so we'd have a carseat and off we went.  Everlee fought us on the seat for about a minute.  She's never been in one before.  I handed her a snack and she was content. These kids just travelled halfway around the world and were still pleasant!  Here's E waiting at Orlando's baggage claim.

And her citizenship in Newark was a simple handing over of her passport and a New York accent saying "You're good."  Our friends, the Fogartys, were on the Hong Kong-turned-groundhog flight with us, so we experienced the goods, the bads, and immigration for our girls together.  I was glad to be with them.  It's fuzzy, but Beck took this picture of our two new American citizens.