Saturday, September 11th…

First I want to recognize the significance of traveling on this date and remember all of those who perished on that dreadful day.

So.. we got up around 6am and were ready and out the door by 8am. We fed her but we would just get something to eat in the airport. It was close but we made the 8:20 hotel shuttle to the airport. It was raining.. actually heard thunder during the night! It was a quick trip and we arrived at the terminal. FREE LUGGAGE CARTS!!! We found the check in desk.. wow this airport is big! And checked in. All our suitcases were under weight!! Wahoo!! They needed to see the brown envelope and off we went. First through Hong Kong immigration departure. Then Security. Was very easy. We found our gate and David got a bowl of delicious noodle soup to eat and we hung out waiting to board our plane.

I didn’t get many pictures on the plane..the camera ended up in another bag and we just never grabbed it. The plane was the same type as the way out. We had 3 seats together right over the wing. So it was hard to see anything below us. I have to say, Robyn did REALLY well. It was a 14hr+ flight. She slept two times for 3 hours. David got a little sleep, me none.. nada.. zip zilch. We played, we fed her she was a real trouper. David walked the plane with her a few times. She didn’t cry nearly as much as the other little adopted Chinese girl that was on our flight. We got to Newark on time and as soon as we landed I just started crying. We’re home.. well home in the sense it was the United States.. and we could see blue sky, clouds.. and the New York City skyline crystal clear.

It was a crazy long walk to Immigration. We were told by the US Consulate we could choose the foreign nationals line or US citizens line, but that was not true. We were directed to the foreign nationals line. No biggie. We had no issues whatsoever. We handed over the brown envelope. The officer looked it all over. We asked what was in the envelope and he said all our documentation and information for the state to process her Certificate of Citizenship which we should received in the mail in 45 days. He didn’t realize that as soon as we passed him she was a US Citizen! We had her carry a little American Flag. It was cool. Then we had to claim our luggage. Luggage cart…$5. Figures it would cost in US.. was free in every Chinese airport. Anyway, everything made it and we went up to the customs officer. He asked what food we had in the bag, I replied nuts bars and rice puffs for the baby. And in his best Newark/New York accent. He said.. “eh, Go on and Go.” We then rechecked our luggage for our flight to Orlando and headed for the VIP Lounge.

She was happy to move around and we played some. Had some crackers, I ate an apple without having to fear of any tummy issues! Just about an hour before our flight she starting getting really fussy and David held her as we walked to our gate. Our flight was at 6:10pm.. at this point we’d been up for close to 24hrs. She fell asleep on his shoulder. We got on the plane and gently placed her in her seat and bam.. she was up.. and there was no consoling her. Screamed and screamed. Great I’m now those people with a baby on a plane! I leaned over her and talked and talked to her to calm her down.. but she was past tired…just done. As soon as the fasten seatbelt sign was off David walked her around and she fell asleep. She sleep for about 40mins.. and so did I. Finally some sleep.. David too. Then she was up and screamed the entire landing until David could stand up with her and she was back out. Once we got out of the plane, we put her in my kangaroo carrier and left to get our luggage. My mom was right there, we got our stuff.. again everything made it. And we tensed up as we put her in the car seat. She’d been riding in cars for almost 2 weeks in our laps. So.. she made no fuss.. and as soon as we got going, she fell asleep!! Hurrah! 9pm.. in the car and heading home……

We got home put her in her crib and that was the end of that. We were up another hour or so.. a bit wound up and crash. She woke up once hungry and then slept till 5am. Not bad.

And that was Saturday…one of the longest days ever.

~Donna



Some Banana bread before heading to the Airport.

Rain rain rain.

Our newest US Citizen!!!