We're Home
Well . . . . we are home and getting settled, but the stories to tell about the journey home.
We woke up Tuesday morning in Moscow at 6:00am to shower, finish packing, clean up the apartment and to get Tyler ready for the big trip. Our ride showed up at 8:40 and we jammed four suitcases into the little compact car and off we went to the airport. An uneventful ride and with a little traffic we arrived around 9:30. We got a cart and stacked all the suitcases and went to the Delta counter. Which is really just a little booth in the airport. We worked through the ticket exchange and headed for the security. The first check point the bags are all run through a machine then re-stacked on the cart. We next directed to the hand searching area, where each of the bags is opened and searched by hand. Reloaded on the cart and finally to the counter where they are taken from us and sent to the plane.
Traveling a little lighter with a roller bag for computers, cameras, DVDs and other electronic gear, a diaper bag and a knapsack with food and toys. We go to the gate area and before going to the final security check we feed Tyler who fell asleep on the ride to the airport but once awake was a perfect little angel. About 11:25 we went through the security to the gate and grabbed a couple of seats. Jeff walked Tyler around for 20 minutes until her fell asleep. Perfect, 40 minutes to the flight and he is sleeping. When we look at the gate, we realize that the Delta plane that was at our gate is now gone . . . and we start hearing passengers talking about mechanical problems. Yikes! We are right next to the Delta flight to Atlanta and Jeff asks a gate agent if we can switch to that flight. He says yes and puts us on the list. It is now 12:25 and we have no plane and we are tentatively on the 12:55 Atlanta. They make an announcement that if anyone on the NY flight wants to switch to Atlanta come to Gate 2. The rush is on, but we are ahead of the madness because we registered our request. Finally, around 1:15 they start boarding the Atlanta flight and we get on board. At about 1:40 they come to us and say the NY flight is going to leave, and if we want to get that flight, we need to get off right away. We grab our stuff and go. We are back outside waiting for the NY flight to board, but at least the plane is there.
Indeed, we board the NY flight around 2:00pm and we actually take off around 2:30pm . . . a little over two hours late. Tyler has been a trooper through all of this. The 10-hour flight will get us into NY with about 40 minutes to make our connecting flight to Baltimore. We know the odds are slim, Tyler stays awake through most of the flight and even though we have the bulkhead seats with the bassinet, he sleeps only for 45 minutes.
We arrive in NY and have 30 minutes to make our flight. We go to Customs and are pulled from the back of the line to the front because we are carrying Tyler. The first good break. We get through pretty quick as the secret sealed envelope is opened. We are told to go to another desk to turn in paperwork. They take the papers and send us on our way. We stop and throw our luggage at the Delta representative who is rechecking it through to Baltimore. We than go through the American security check. Shoes off, computers out, etc. We clear security at our scheduled departure time and now know that our fight is in the adjacent terminal at the far end. We hoof it with Tyler on Maria’s hip. We get to the gate 10 minutes late (5:25) and are told the flight is gone. We are so dissapointed, but we are rebooked on the 8:25 flight. We now have three hours to kill!
We search out a spot in the airport that is not too cold so we can change Tyler and get him some food. We grab some water and camp out. Fortunately, at 7:00PM, Tyler conks out. We notice that our flight is pushed back to 8:40. Not a big deal. At 8:15 we move closer to the gate and at 8:30 Jeff asks why are we not boarding. "The Plane is not hear yet and the departure is now 8:55." At 9:00 Jeff asks what is going on. "We are not sure, it could be mechanical or waiting for a flight crew, but the plane has landed". Departure is now 9:30pm. At 9:30 Jeff is speaking to supervisors explaining that we need to have some better understanding of are we leaving tonight or not. The supervisor says he will find out. What he learns is that it is mechanical and that we are looking at 10:55 for departure. At 10:00pm, we start calling rental car companies looking for a one way rental from JFK to Baltimore. Hertz – NO, Avis – NO, Alamo – Yes (Thanks Jude!!). Jeff has also hit the Starbucks for a large coffee to prepare for the drive. At 10:30 we have a rental vehicle reserved and at the same time, the flight board has changed and the flight departure is now 12:30am. We grab our stuff and leave the terminal. Delta will not be getting us home tonight.
We take the AirTrain to the Rental Car center, get a Chevy Trail Blazer and start the 3.5 hour drive home at 11:00pm. Mercifully, Tyler has slept through all of this rotating between both of our arms. Once in his car-seat, he continued to sleep. The drive was hard. We had been up since 6:00am Moscow time or 10:00pm EST, which is now 25 hours ago and we have to drive 3.5 hours. Neither of us slept on the plane and we are so tired and just want to get home. We stop at the first rest stop on the NJ Turnpike and get some food and cokes. That is not working well and we stop about an hour later and Jeff gets a large coffee. That along with some calisthenics in the parking lot gets the blood going and we cruise the rest of the way home. At about 2:00am Tyler wakes up. We pull into our driveway at 2:30am, 26 hours after we left our apartment for the airport and having been up 28+ hours. Jeff, wired on too much caffeine, stays up with Tyler and Maria sleeps for two hours.
There was no big homecoming! Our family and friends who were going to meet us at the airport with balloons, signs, hugs and kisses were all told to go home because we were driving. The once in a lifetime event was loss thanks to Delta.
Since being home we are all getting adjusted to the time change and trying to catch up on sleep. Both of us have picked up the cold Tyler brought with him from the baby hospital. Tyler wakes every morning at 4:00am and if given his choice would nap three times a day. We are trying to get this down to two naps and sleeping 9 hours at night. Right now it is 9:00pm to 4:00am.
Tyler had his first doctor’s visit yesterday and he did great. He weighed in at 20lbs 13oz and is 31 inches in length. That puts him in the 10 and 50 percentiles, respectively. The doctor wanta to due a full battery of blood, urine, stool tests as well as a chest x-ray to get as much info on him as possible. Tyler and Jeff did well with the blood test . . . Mom not so well. Tyler is also getting an antibiotic for his cough, just to be sure it is not anything more than a cold virus.
We are working on the untold story of the adoption and will post that in the future. Right now we are still trying to find a spare minute to take a shower and clean the house. We know the excitement of the trip is over, but our life has just begun with Tyler.
Maria, Jeff and Tyler
Well . . . . we are home and getting settled, but the stories to tell about the journey home.
We woke up Tuesday morning in Moscow at 6:00am to shower, finish packing, clean up the apartment and to get Tyler ready for the big trip. Our ride showed up at 8:40 and we jammed four suitcases into the little compact car and off we went to the airport. An uneventful ride and with a little traffic we arrived around 9:30. We got a cart and stacked all the suitcases and went to the Delta counter. Which is really just a little booth in the airport. We worked through the ticket exchange and headed for the security. The first check point the bags are all run through a machine then re-stacked on the cart. We next directed to the hand searching area, where each of the bags is opened and searched by hand. Reloaded on the cart and finally to the counter where they are taken from us and sent to the plane.
Traveling a little lighter with a roller bag for computers, cameras, DVDs and other electronic gear, a diaper bag and a knapsack with food and toys. We go to the gate area and before going to the final security check we feed Tyler who fell asleep on the ride to the airport but once awake was a perfect little angel. About 11:25 we went through the security to the gate and grabbed a couple of seats. Jeff walked Tyler around for 20 minutes until her fell asleep. Perfect, 40 minutes to the flight and he is sleeping. When we look at the gate, we realize that the Delta plane that was at our gate is now gone . . . and we start hearing passengers talking about mechanical problems. Yikes! We are right next to the Delta flight to Atlanta and Jeff asks a gate agent if we can switch to that flight. He says yes and puts us on the list. It is now 12:25 and we have no plane and we are tentatively on the 12:55 Atlanta. They make an announcement that if anyone on the NY flight wants to switch to Atlanta come to Gate 2. The rush is on, but we are ahead of the madness because we registered our request. Finally, around 1:15 they start boarding the Atlanta flight and we get on board. At about 1:40 they come to us and say the NY flight is going to leave, and if we want to get that flight, we need to get off right away. We grab our stuff and go. We are back outside waiting for the NY flight to board, but at least the plane is there.
Indeed, we board the NY flight around 2:00pm and we actually take off around 2:30pm . . . a little over two hours late. Tyler has been a trooper through all of this. The 10-hour flight will get us into NY with about 40 minutes to make our connecting flight to Baltimore. We know the odds are slim, Tyler stays awake through most of the flight and even though we have the bulkhead seats with the bassinet, he sleeps only for 45 minutes.
We arrive in NY and have 30 minutes to make our flight. We go to Customs and are pulled from the back of the line to the front because we are carrying Tyler. The first good break. We get through pretty quick as the secret sealed envelope is opened. We are told to go to another desk to turn in paperwork. They take the papers and send us on our way. We stop and throw our luggage at the Delta representative who is rechecking it through to Baltimore. We than go through the American security check. Shoes off, computers out, etc. We clear security at our scheduled departure time and now know that our fight is in the adjacent terminal at the far end. We hoof it with Tyler on Maria’s hip. We get to the gate 10 minutes late (5:25) and are told the flight is gone. We are so dissapointed, but we are rebooked on the 8:25 flight. We now have three hours to kill!
We search out a spot in the airport that is not too cold so we can change Tyler and get him some food. We grab some water and camp out. Fortunately, at 7:00PM, Tyler conks out. We notice that our flight is pushed back to 8:40. Not a big deal. At 8:15 we move closer to the gate and at 8:30 Jeff asks why are we not boarding. "The Plane is not hear yet and the departure is now 8:55." At 9:00 Jeff asks what is going on. "We are not sure, it could be mechanical or waiting for a flight crew, but the plane has landed". Departure is now 9:30pm. At 9:30 Jeff is speaking to supervisors explaining that we need to have some better understanding of are we leaving tonight or not. The supervisor says he will find out. What he learns is that it is mechanical and that we are looking at 10:55 for departure. At 10:00pm, we start calling rental car companies looking for a one way rental from JFK to Baltimore. Hertz – NO, Avis – NO, Alamo – Yes (Thanks Jude!!). Jeff has also hit the Starbucks for a large coffee to prepare for the drive. At 10:30 we have a rental vehicle reserved and at the same time, the flight board has changed and the flight departure is now 12:30am. We grab our stuff and leave the terminal. Delta will not be getting us home tonight.
We take the AirTrain to the Rental Car center, get a Chevy Trail Blazer and start the 3.5 hour drive home at 11:00pm. Mercifully, Tyler has slept through all of this rotating between both of our arms. Once in his car-seat, he continued to sleep. The drive was hard. We had been up since 6:00am Moscow time or 10:00pm EST, which is now 25 hours ago and we have to drive 3.5 hours. Neither of us slept on the plane and we are so tired and just want to get home. We stop at the first rest stop on the NJ Turnpike and get some food and cokes. That is not working well and we stop about an hour later and Jeff gets a large coffee. That along with some calisthenics in the parking lot gets the blood going and we cruise the rest of the way home. At about 2:00am Tyler wakes up. We pull into our driveway at 2:30am, 26 hours after we left our apartment for the airport and having been up 28+ hours. Jeff, wired on too much caffeine, stays up with Tyler and Maria sleeps for two hours.
There was no big homecoming! Our family and friends who were going to meet us at the airport with balloons, signs, hugs and kisses were all told to go home because we were driving. The once in a lifetime event was loss thanks to Delta.
Since being home we are all getting adjusted to the time change and trying to catch up on sleep. Both of us have picked up the cold Tyler brought with him from the baby hospital. Tyler wakes every morning at 4:00am and if given his choice would nap three times a day. We are trying to get this down to two naps and sleeping 9 hours at night. Right now it is 9:00pm to 4:00am.
Tyler had his first doctor’s visit yesterday and he did great. He weighed in at 20lbs 13oz and is 31 inches in length. That puts him in the 10 and 50 percentiles, respectively. The doctor wanta to due a full battery of blood, urine, stool tests as well as a chest x-ray to get as much info on him as possible. Tyler and Jeff did well with the blood test . . . Mom not so well. Tyler is also getting an antibiotic for his cough, just to be sure it is not anything more than a cold virus.
We are working on the untold story of the adoption and will post that in the future. Right now we are still trying to find a spare minute to take a shower and clean the house. We know the excitement of the trip is over, but our life has just begun with Tyler.
Maria, Jeff and Tyler