Plane rides - and crying and tantrums and jet lag

And the kids weren't very good either! But, we are finally home, er, um, as home as we are getting until May (and Scott is still in Singapore - we miss you!). So, as some of you may know, we had a little immigration issue that got us changing gears - the school had originally said they would sponsor the kids and I (Scott had a student pass), but then when it came time to get the documents, the school wouldn't do it. Needless to say, a brief trip to Malaysia gave us a few more weeks, but we ultimately made the decision for the kids and I to head back about 3 weeks early. So, here we are, and I finally feel like I can sit for a few minutes without falling to sleep.

*Note: I will do some blog catch-up, but I am going to post it in the correct dates, so look down through some of the other entries to find new stuff. I know, not so good for the blog reader, but good for me. Sorry.

**Another Note: Terribly boring post to follow - mostly flight log - but in case anyone has an extended brain issue that leads you to believe that traveling for a total of over 24 hours by yourself with 2 little kids might be okay you may want to read on - let me warn you!!!

So, we got up at the crack before dawn - about 4 am, to get ready and get our luggage downstairs for our taxi to pick us up at 5 am. Then it was off to the airport. We checked in and even requested an escort to help us in Singapore as well as our transfers in Hong Kong and LAX. Okay, I thought, this won't be so bad - I can stay calm and we will be home in not time. (This was kind of my mantra as I was bracing for a very long ride.) We even had some extra time to go get some breakfast and hang out. Then our escort got us around 7 and took us through security and to the gate. Now, this was an amazingly nice thing - we got to walk right up to the front of the line and scoot on trough. We got on the plane, things were going well, and then we were off to Hong Kong. This flight wasn't too bad, Drew just whined a little because he felt yucky (he's had a cold), but mostly he was just so excited to be on plane. And, there were a number of buttons and what-nots to push, poke and prod.

We got to Hong Kong and had an escort that helped us off the plane and get us through security and on to the next plane - also not too bad. At this point I was pretty proud of myself for staying calm and in good spirits. This time we had to settle in for about 12 hours to LAX. Honestly it wasn't too bad, but the kids decided that they could only sleep one at a time, so I couldn't sleep except for about an hour and a half. Drew mostly watched movies, but he also developed a fever and pretty bad cough. Taylor decided that he was not a fan of his car seat and wanted nothing to do with it, but for the most part if he had attention, he was okay. (Aside from the diarrhea) About half way through the flight he started playing catch, using his binkie, with the guy behind him. We retrieved it the first few times, but then it got lost - probably on some poor snoozing persons lap. No worries, I brought a spare. After what seemed like an eternity that involved some 10 trips the the bathroom, we finally landed on US soil. The landing was a bit rough and Taylor puked all over, but luckily we were getting off the plane. We were tired, but still okay.

After some searching, we got our escort who took us down to baggage claim - because, yes, you have to get your bags off the plane, just to walk past someone with a clipboard and then put them back on another plane. Oh well, it went quite smoothly. But, that is about where it ended.

We left the international terminal (6) and headed down to terminal 1 - on foot - thanks for the shuttle tip, buddy! I guess it was good to stretch our legs, though. We got checked in to our flight to Phoenix and went to go wait out our 4 hour layover. We went and found a place where the kids could get our their toys and run around a bit. I sat down and kept dozing off. I think at that point I was just so tired (because also, the night before, due to packing, I got about 3 hours of sleep). The bad thing was, is that I think I was a bit delusional, because I would be dozing off, and think for some reason that Scott was with me, and I found myself waking up talking to Scott about 4 times. That was a little unnerving that I was falling asleep with my kids playing in LA - not the best combo.

The next bad thing was that somehow, between the terminals, Taylor had lost his other binkie - no more spares. So, when we got on the plane, and I stuck him in his car seat, he screamed. And screamed. The flight attendant came and shoved some cookies at us and that calmed him down enough so that a few minutes later he fell asleep for about half an hour. Then he woke up screaming - loudly. The flight attendants kept walking past me and giving me dirty looks, as did the passengers. His screaming continued for about 45 minutes total. After about 20 of those minutes, I joined in on the crying. Seriously, just past reason at that point.

We finally landed, and I felt somehow totally relieved because I knew Mom was standing there at the security gate waiting for us. I wiped away mine and Taylor's tears, woke up Drew and headed out into the very dry air.

So, here we are. And, since that is really boring, here is a picture of the boys and their fancy new haircuts.