Froggy and Little Panda liked the view too.
The grounds are so lush!
Hong Kong Disney is on the same island as the airport, so it was not a long trip. We enjoyed seeing it in daylight.
Arriving at the airport.
We had so much baggage that we had to put Therese on the luggage cart and leave the stroller folded up until we checked in and got rid of most of the luggage.
After all the security and immigration checkpoints, we had several hours to wait for our flight. The Hong Kong airport is huge, but well-organized and easy to navigate. Our terminal had huge windows so we could enjoy the views while we waited.
The kids entertained themselves by watching the planes coming and going. The windows near where we were sitting gave an excellent view of the runway so we could see all the planes taking off. The first few times it happened both kids were extremely excited.
We had snacks and then the kids entertained themselves by climbing on the stroller,
And wedging themselves in between the rows of seats.
Eventually, our flight was next.
We saw them tow in our plane.
We got to be among the first to board, so it was really easy to get settled. We had the middle row of 4 seats, so we trapped the kids in the center. We had to sit on the ground an extra hour while they fixed a mechanical problem. I think I speak for all air passengers when I say that I do want all mechanical questions to be resolved before leaving the ground, but it is hard to add an extra hour to such a long flight.
The kids did really well on the plane. I think John Francis was more appreciative of airline food than anyone I have ever seen. I thought some of it was fairly disgusting. He welcomed each round of food with great joy and thankfulness. Our worst problems were that we had one child who was suffering from gas, and it was amazing that such a small and cute person could emit such pungeant odors. The other worst problem was the in-flight entertainment. They showed a movie that was a sci-fi story about aliens attacking earth, with lots of explosions and violence. Therese didn't seem to notice it, but John Francis' horrified gaze was drawn to the screen like a magnet. He dozed off and woke up crying and scared, and I thought he must have had a nightmare. We put the blanket on the seat backs in front of us so he couldn't see the screen through the seat, and then he kept looking at the screens to the sides of us. Finally, I figured out how to make a tent over the kids. They thought it was very cool and neither one could see the screens. Helped by doses of melatonin, they both slept a lot of the flight. We gave them a second dose after the main meal and Therese slept until we got to Chicago. She was sprawled out with her clothes messed up, and I didn't wake her up for breakfast since she looked so relaxed. John Francis enjoyed his breakfast very much.
I was so happy when we were in US airspace. The thought of being so much closer to my family and home made me almost weep for joy, and the thought of getting off the airplane made me giddy with joy. I looked at my new sleeping daughter, and thought, "you have rights now, and you will get the all the care you need."
As we got off the plane we saw this poster--and Froggy and Little Panda had to have one last photo op.
It took quite awhile to get through immigration, get our bags, wait for the kids to be processed as new citizens, go through customs, re-check our bags, go through security again, and travel through miles of terminals to the gate for our final flight. Here are the two new citizens, having a snack while waiting for the flight HOME.
There were weather delays but the wait didn't seem that long because we met some really nice people. It was almost overwhelming to hear so much English, and to no longer be a minority. People were very interested in the kids, but it was a kindly interest and no one glared at Therese's feet, or asked why we would want to adopt a child like her.
We finally got on our toy jet for the last flight, and got to see a very pretty sunset as we flew through the layers of clouds.
John Francis has been conditioned to expect to be fed on plane rides, and he was disappointed that no food was served on the short and bumpy trip. He slept the rest of the flight. Therese was excited and played her favorite in-flight game, 1001 games with the airsickness bag.
