O'Hare to Heathrow

We were packed. Every inch of the house was scrubbed clean. Travel documents and itineraries were checked and rechecked. At precicesly 11 AM,  I pulled into Liesel's school and her teacher walked her out to the car. It was time to go. As the Pilot zipped down I-80 I put on a cd my dear friend Laney burned for me. Pompeii by Bastille filled the speakers and I couldn't help but grin. Oh yes, I was definitely going to be an optimist about this!

I can usually pack for myself and the girls in about 40 minutes. For this trip, it took both Brent and I a whole Saturday of configuring, weighing and reconfiguring luggage. In the end it came down to this: 2 suitcases and 2 backpacks. That suitcase on the left has another suitcase inside it. The suitcase on the right has two more empty backpacks inside it.

Meeting Brent at the airport went smooth as butter. Because it was a red eye, we dressed the girls in their Christmas pajamas. That proved to be a wise decision. Everyone was incredibly kind to us (strangers took pictures!) and when one got bored and ran off, we had handfuls of people telling us where the wayward girl could be found. One man told us we should have more babies.

Watching the luggage being loaded into the plane.

When we finally boarded, one of the airline attendants welcomed me to British Airways and I kid you not I very nearly said, "WOW! Your fake accent is really good!" Then it occurred to me her British accent was, in fact, authentic. Brent had put the boarding passes in the front pocked of his jeans but his hands were full with Brigitta. Another airline attendant hesitated to grab them and she looked at me, as if for permission. Surrounded by our slew of girls I said, "Just be careful, he's frisky." She laughed heartily, "I can see that!" We found our seats and settled in for the 6 1/2 hour flight.

A word about our seats. One woman who had asked for a photo of our family (and took the one of us all, above) was delighted to find she was sitting kitty corner to us. She offered-- almost demanded -- to help with one of the girls and after shuffling a bit, Ireland sat next to her. If I ever meet this woman again, I'm sure I will kiss her feet for watching over Ireland for the long flight.

An angel disguised as a business traveler. She and Ireland were fast friends.

Liesel was far too engrossed with Frozen to even look up for a photo.

We were seated right behind the bulkhead which had two shelves they unfolded after takeoff and strapped on two car seats. For quite some time, Brent and I were able to enjoy the flight while the babies slept in front of us. Dinner was lovely, complete with Eli's cheesecake for dessert. Every seat had it's own screen with an array of options for entertainment. Liesel and Ireland were beyond thrilled to find they could watch Frozen before the DVD was released in the States. Lights went out, and all was right with the world. Then there was turbulence.

Brigitta just chillin' in her seat.

For some reason, the babies could not be in the car seats if there was turbulence. We had to wake them up to unstrap them and hold them on our laps. Brigitta was just dozing off and well, she really never settled back down. The rest of the flight was a battle trying to keep her calm and quiet. A man from the forward, nicer section of the plane came back and told us he was a "baby whisperer" and he would love to help out. He gave us his seat location and insisted that even if he was sleeping to wake him up. With the next wave of turbulence, I handed over a sleeping Sydney so Brent and I could focus on Brigitta. The man positively lit up and while he cradled her, bragged to his neighbors, "Look what I have!" If I ever meet him again, I'm sure I would kiss his feet too.

Sydney in her seat.

I didn't sleep a wink the entire flight, but we made it to London. The girls were quickly learning that international travel means standing in a lot of long lines. At border control, I kept Liesel busy by asking her to try and find someone who wasn't wearing any black. The girls really stood out in their brightly colored pajamas. I tried to hide my smile when I saw the passports stamped for the first time.

A blurry photo but you can see how the girls were the most colorful people in those long, long lines.