Back in Beijing

We flew back to Beijing yesterday, arriving on the most auspicious of days, 8-8-08. While the journey wasn't as bad as it could have been, I feel as though Murphy was with us because his laws kept up with us as we went along...

We left my parents' house at 7:oo a.m. and headed for the airport. Each of our 10 suitcases was close to, if not over, the 50 pound limit. I took 2- 10 pound bags of pancake mix, 3 containers of hypoallergenic laundry detergent and many books back with us.

Thanks for your help and sweet understanding, Dad!

AND a million thanks to Mom and Dad for your patience, tolerance of clutter and a wonderful 7+ weeks. It was a great summer.

Also, thanks to Annie (Aunt Annie), the one Ayi has to live up to for Huck. We miss you all already.

We had a 2 hour delay from St. Louis to Chicago. The drama started with only a 30 minute delay in boarding but I knew we were in trouble when our acceleration down the runway came to an abrupt halt. The pilot informed us that the steering system had a mechanical failure so we needed to deplane. Luckily, though, a 2 hour delay still left us with about 5 minutes to dash to our flight to Beijing.

Jack, Jed, Huck and Zeke (and I guess me too) were a spectacle, all in kelly green shirts (not me), as we trudged to the back of the plane with all of our gear. Everyone else was already settled in their seats, waiting for us. They drew smiles from most of the passengers, many of whom turned out to be parents of olympic athletes. We sat surrounded by parents of divers and gymnasts, which was fun.

We took off slightly late but made up time and landed on time. We were seated in the last row of 3 seats and first row of 2 seats on the side of the plane. I thought the best arrangement would be to have Jack, Jed and Huck together and Zeke and me behind them but I didn't take into consideration that Jack and Jed would be tired and crabby and not happy to have to help Huck with his many needs, so after less than an hour we switched so that Huck, Zeke and I sat in front of Jack and Jed. With all of the carry ons already open and items everywhere, this was no easy task. It made for a disorganized journey but with Nintendo DSs and dvd players and Ipods and books and stickers and more, it would have been smooth enough had it not been for a touch of a tummy bug and 2 bouts of vomiting for Jack, poor guy.

Zeke didn't sleep much but I was able to keep him relatively happy for most of the journey. We enjoyed talking with the other passengers as we stood in the back for short periods.

We landed at 3 pm Beijing time. (2 a.m. St. Louis time). We were the last ones off the plane and the flight attendants were helpful, once again, but rushed us a bit because the airport was being shut down in 1 hour for security for the opening ceremonies. We shelpped through the airport to immigration. Thank goodness for the diplomatic lane which allows us to not have to wait in the LONG lines.

At baggage claim, we took 3 carts and planted the boys across from our carousel while I took our bags, one by one off and Jed wheeled them over to the carts. What a big help he was! That is one strong 7 year old.

I retrieved one bag and our stroller from the oversized bag area and then loaded up the carts. A worker helped me put the last bag on top and then asked if I needed help. I said yes and he said he'd do it if I paid him. I said I'd pay him when we got over to customs but he said he wanted it now, so, being desperate, I paid him 50 rmb and off we went. (that's about $7) We bypassed the long line, I flashed our diplomatic credentials and we were waved through the security set up due to heightened alert for the olympics. You now have to get your bags xrayed entering the country but we were able to skip that. Tom, Ayi and Xiao Shang were waiting and the boys were THRILLED to see them. (so was I.)

Last night, we all watched the opening ceremonies until about 9 and then went to bed. (Zeke went to bed around 7:45) Jack and Jed were up by midnight. Huck climbed into bed with us and slept until around 5:30. Zeke woke at about 1 and was up until 2:30 or so and then slept until almost 8 and then took a nap from about 10 until 4, when I woke him.)

It is now 4:30 pm and while Zeke took a long nap and I expect to be up with him in the middle of the night, none of the others slept at all during the day. Tom is making waffles for dinner and then they will go to bed. Jed proclaims, "I think I'm back on schedule!" We'll see about that.