26 Hours of Travel and Back in the US

Mary's stay in Malaysia was one day longer than planned.  We were to fly out on Wednesday night, but  on Tuesday night Justin got a message saying our flight had been canceled because of a union strike in Paris.  He spent A LOT of time on the phone trying to rebook everything, but he did it!!!  So we had an extra day of pool, playing and going to the movie Epic.Thursday at 7:15pm we headed to the airport.  Justin helped us check in our 9 bags(8 for us, 1 for Mary) and then sent us on our way........... At 10:40 PM we were on our way....... We had 5 tickets in business and 1 in economy for Mary.  The plan was to just have her come up and use Whitney's seat.  Luckily, there were a few empty seats so we had a full row with 6 seats.  Shortly after take off, it was just Whit and I awake...she napped in the car and wasn't quite ready for bed.  After food service, she went to bed and slept for a majority of the 13 hour flight.Everyone slept well and had the bedhead to show for it: Decorating herself kept her busy for a bit........Movies at her fingertips for 13 hours.......AWESOME!!!!! Kaylee was a huge help to keep Whitney quiet and entertained!!! Right from the plane in Paris, we had to board a bus to get to the terminal.  When we got off, I asked about the strollers I had checked at the gate.  I was told I would need to go to baggage claim to collect them......This wasn't going to happen since I didn't know where that was, we still needed to get our tickets for the connection, go through security, go potty, get a snack and maybe even shower!  So..............we left the strollers behind.  Leaving them wasn't too bad since the Graco was broken and the umbrella one was just a cheap Wal-Mart stroller.  However, now all 4 kid had to walk...or be carried....and we had 4 rolling backpacks for them, a bag for me, Mary, snacks and iPads.  After a LONG visit at the ticket counter(they could only find 3 of our names at first), a few shuttle rides and a bit of walking we got to gate M27.  We opted not to shower, but just brush our teeth and change clothes!  The 5 hour layover went by pretty quickly and we were ready to finish our journey with a 9 hour flight.The flight to Minneapolis boarded on time, but once we got on they needed to put air in the tires so we waited about an hour.  Shortly after take off, Whitney napped.  The girls did really well and took turns napping.  With about 3 hours left, I was counting down the mintues until we touched down.....Many people in our area were sleeping--including 2 of my girls and I think Kaylee wanted to be---Whitney was still up and not to excited about sitting on my lap.  I kept sending her up to Kaylee so I could shut my eyes for a few minutes.  With about and hour and a half left, we finally all fell asleep............Next thing I remember, they asked us to put our seats up and I had to wake up all the girls.We had an uneventful time in customs and baggage claim!!!!!At this point, Mary went to catch her flight and we exited to find Grandma Carol, Grandma Patti, Aunt Ellen and Cousin Morgan.....What a great welcome home crew!!!!!  Everyone came back to my parents to swim and have dinner.  Our guests headed south after dinner and I headed to bed.  At 8:15, I turned over responsibility to my parents.  Hannah was asleep on the couch and everyone else was in jammies.  It took about 1 minute to fall alseep.  At 11:47, Whitney woke up and I thought this was going to be very long night!!!  She went back to sleep with me and got up about 4:45am.This was the scene at 5:15 this morning:Lucky Charms!!!!!  Not sure who had more---them or me!!!!!Hoping for a mid morning nap and then haircuts for the girls.  Then, the first trip of the summer to TARGET!!!!!The girls did a really great job with all the hours we spent in the air, walking through airports and standing in lines with bags.  However, I am glad we have 6 weeks of summer before we need to do it again.  On the way home we will also split the trip up with a few days in Paris between flights.Life is Good when traveling with 4 little ones goes smoothly!!!!
Source:http://sewsassysweetpeas.blogspot.com/2013/06/26-hours-of-travel-and-back-in-us.html

26 Hours of Travel and Back in the US Images

... us two hours through Santiago and along the Maipo River where we
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Half-hours With The Best American Authors, Volume 2: Anonymous ...
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... Hours Of Lemans Preview Audi Number 2 Racing In The Morning Photo 26
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Young at heart ... Boston Harbour at twilight. Photo: Getty Images
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