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It’s a strange thing – to live the same day twice – and it is absolutely exhausting, especially when you do it with a grieving baby. This was the final leg of our adoption travel and we were finally coming home!
So we had a taxi scheduled for 6:00 for a 10:40pm flight and we had time to do everything we needed to do, but there wasn’t much extra, which was so different from last time. It was about an hour and fifteen minutes trying to get from our hotel to the airport which is only 22 miles away. There was a whole lot of bumper to bumper traffic trying to get out of the city at the end of a workday and a huge lightning storm was developing the whole time which was phenomenal to watch.
We were about 20 minutes too early to the airport to check in to our flight which actually worked in our favor because we were able to get in line with only a few people ahead of us. Check in took a while and we were questioned about Mia and our relationship, so I’m happy I had her paperwork nearby.
On to security (which had me thankful for the first time to be leaving Asia – can I say that? The Thai people are sooo gracious and kind, but there was another group present that doesn’t really get common courtesy or personal space and my skin was crawling with anxiety to leave quickly) and then passport control. Again, we needed Mia’s paperwork and were sent over to immigration where it felt like we waited forever and no one seemed to be in any kind of a hurry to get that paperwork moving. By the time we made it through, we only had about an hour to grab some dinner, find our gate, get Mia into her pj’s and ready for the first leg of our journey coming home.
This girl was super brave and held it together through all of the crazy. I was feeling a little less than enthusiastic and could already start to feel the tickle of a sore throat coming on and some aches. We sat down at our gate with about 10 minutes to spare before boarding… another frustration when we were able to board priority with a little girl, but had people (who were very much not with a child or handicapped) racing around us as our little girl held our hands and walked down the jetway. So inconsiderate and abrasive.
She did ok for her first time flying. We got lots of little naps in and she was happy any time that she was eating. With about 6 hours left on the second leg, she determined that all she wanted was Aaron, and this girl attempts to get exactly what she wants through screaming. This is not how we parent, but we felt like our hands were tied all through Thailand and especially on the flight coming home with an adopted daughter.
We saved our sanity and other passenger’s ears and Mia spent the last 6 hours on Aaron’s lap. Quite a few bursts of screaming throughout 33+ hours of travel, but no worse than other kids around us. We flew out of Korea at 10:40am on Tuesday and landed at 9:25am in Chicago… Tuesday morning. That means that we actually lived Tuesday twice, landing before we even took off. US customs was great to us, in spite of our screaming kid with E V E R Y O N E in the waiting room staring at me, and before long, we were on our way and coming home to Ty.
And then there was Ty. Goodness it was so great seeing this kid again! My solid little boy that I can squeeze with all my might, the kid who smiles without end, my funny little man who is truly a great encourager. We came home first, dropped off Aaron and Mia, and then I drove over to my parents to see my favorite boy. I was greeted with a ginormous hug and the words “I missed you so much, Mom!”. Right back atcha kid. He was so excited to see me (truly a concern of mine – how he would react after being gone so long) and he verbally unpacked 2 1/2 weeks of adventures in 10 minutes and then declared that we had to leave so he could go see Mia.
We pulled up to our house and Aaron and Mia were waiting on the front porch for us. Ty ran up and gave Aaron a giant hug and was absolutely overjoyed to meet his sister for the first time. She did not share his sentiments. The initial moments were full of tears for the little lady, but before long, she had warmed up to the idea of a boy.
Ty held her hand as he walked her into the house and led her into her room for the first time. Tears gave way to giggles as they built towers of blocks and knocked them over together. Grandma and Pa brought us dinner and got to meet our girl. She was awesome playing with bubbles and hanging out in the backyard. Ty and Mia were besties at dinner and then getting ready for bed. And then it all fell apart… for weeks… but that’s another story for another day. 🙂
So happy to be home and to finally have our family of 4 together!
Tools to document your day…
- Camera Phone (for easy pictures and handheld video)
- Wide angle moment lens (for wide angle interiors and tight moments where you want to fit more in)
- Mini Tripod (for putting yourself in the space)
- Osmo Pocket (for adding smooth movement to your video)
- GoPro + Accessories (we stuck it to a window to record our kids meeting for the first time)
This was the last leg of our adoption trip and we were finally coming home! For most of these days, we were in travel mode, so stick with light, easy, and accessible gear. When we made it home, we had a couple of cameras set up to record our kids meeting for the first time.
This is how we roll, but it doesn’t mean you have to. Mix and match what is going to give you the best experience and level of documentation that you are comfortable with. Technology changes quickly, so we’ll try to keep you up-to-date with what is currently in our camera bag and the tools we are now using to document travel.
