Thursday, July 16, 2009

On Our Way

On Tuesday afternoon we packed everything up at the hotel and began our journey to the airport. It took us a while, but we finally got all of our luggage and Peodogi checked in. We said goodbye to Grammy and PopPop and then headed to our gate. We were supposed to leave at 5:50. We were initally delayed by 20 or 30 minutes, but we were able to board the plane and get everyone settled in. After sitting on the airplane for about 25 minutes or so, they decided we could not take the aircraft we were sitting in. It had some radio malfunction so we had to find another aircraft. So we unloaded all of our stuff and headed to the waiting area once agian. The airline did give us free food vouchers to feed everyone dinner, so that was nice.

At about 8:00 they announced we had an airplane and that we would be leaving from another gate. The only problem was it was the gate on the other complete end of the airport. We went from Gate 1 to 39 with all of the kids, backpacks and bags. We made it with time to spare, but the kids were getting pretty tired. They finally boarded us around 10:00 or so and we took off at 11:00 pm. The kids were beyond exhausted. They all fell asleep shortly after takeoff and slept just about the entire flight.

We arrived in Belgium at 10:30 am local time. Folks from the Army were there to greet us and get all of our stuff to Lille. We arrived in leave about 2:30 local time. So all in all, not a terrible trip. I am glad it is over though!


Adalee walking Peodogi to the elevator at the hotel
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The kids playing in Peodogi's kennel while waiting for us to check in at the airport
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Grammy with all of our luggage. We had 10 suitcases, 5 backpacks, 3 carseats, 1 kennel, a camera bag, a DVD bag, a laptop, and 2 adults, 3 children and 1 dog!
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All dressed in their jammies ready to get on the plane
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The boys excited to be on the plane
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Bucked in and ready to go (the first time)
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Sitting in the waiting area after getting back off of the airplane
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Ready to go Round 2
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Ready to go Round 2
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Adam fell asleep right after takeoff
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Alden sleeping on the airplane
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A sleeping Adalee on the airplane
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New York City

On Monday we went to New York City. We spent the night and then headed out on Tuesday. We stayed in Times Square and walked all over the city. We took the double decker tour bus. We saw all the tourist spots and the kids got to see the Statue of Liberty.


Adalee on the tour bus
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Adalee's favorite thing in New York City.
She loved the M and M store. It had videos of M&Ms at the top. We could see the video from our room at the hotel. She would just stand at the window and say M&M&M&M&M.
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I liked this sign in Times Square
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Alden on the tour bus
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The Empire State Building

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Adam and Daddy on the bus
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The Statue of Liberty
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The kids stepping on the chimes at Battery Park
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Adalee at Battery Park
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Adalee watching them sing and dance at dinner.
We ate at a restaurant called Ellen's. The servers sing and dance. Adalee loved it! She would dance and clap to the music. All of the workers there fell in love with her. She had lots of folks coming to the table to cheer her on and fuss over her.
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The Statue of Liberty out of Legos
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The whole gang on the ferris wheel
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The kids on the Toys R Us ferris wheel
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