We're home, totally exhausted

Where to begin since our last post?? I guess I'll start where we left off -- Friday in Guangzhou. We woke up to the dreariest, rainiest, foggiest morning in 10 days and went down to have our last (thankfully) breakfast at the big 'ol buffet. Afterwards, Melissa, Henry, Mae and I took a cab back to the department store we visited earlier during our stay to get a couple things we still needed, as well as a promised toy for Henry. It was actually quite enjoyable -- much less crazy than the first time we went. Afterwards, we got fries and drinks at a MacDonald's in the store, and then ventured outside to a street vendor to buy a needed suitcase. Outside, we saw some apparent department store security guard trainees getting briefed by their boss, all lined up military style. Hopped a cab back to the hotel and began packing while Mel went back out with Mae for last minute gifts and Val and Henry played with Henry's new toy. Then Melissa, Mae and I took a bus with the rest of the adopting families clear across the city (45 minutes away, and still in a huge, gleaming, skyscraper-filled part of the city) to finalize our adoption of Mae at the American Consulate's office. While we were there, a nice guy who was part of our group and who was there with his wife adopting their second daughter described some sobering facts to us: 200,000 to 300,000 babies, mostly girls, become orphans each year in China. Only 10 to 20 percent of them are adopted each year. So many families in our group were returning for their second daughters and we were able to see first-hand what their beautiful 5 and 6 year-old first daughters had become. Incredibly bright, funny, perfectly well-adjusted little American girls. It's really eye opening when you think about these facts. So easy to see why it is so difficult to NOT return to China to bring home another miracle. Said goodbyes afterwards to most of the families who had to take a bus to Hong Kong for their departure, and then three families, including us, took our own hotel shuttle back to the hotel in the dreariness at around 5:30. The rest of the evening and night consisted of pizza and ravioli take out from Danny's Bagels, packing, packing, and more packing, last minute souvenirs and gifts from downstairs at the hotel, and other t-crossing and i-dotting. Got up at 4:45 the next morning (arghhh!!) for a 5:40 bus ride to the Guangzhou airport in the rain. This was the beginning of our travel home day from hell.

At the Guangzhou airport, said goodbye to one of our reps, Maggie, and then everything went smoothly until we had to wait in a creeping, Disney World-like winding line in an under-air-conditioned room that smelled like paint remover. We had an 8:25 flight to catch and this made us really pushed for time. So, we had to hightail it to our gate, dragging all our pounds and pounds of carry-on luggage to the gate while also pushing a stroller. It seemed like it couldn't possibly be any farther. We checked the stroller at the gate (to never see it again -- seriously), got on the plane with all our gear (and a baby this time, for the first time!), then proceeded to wait on the plane for at least an hour because of the foul weather in Hong Kong. We finally took off and the ride, although a bit turbulent, was pretty uneventful, considering it was Mae's first plane trip ever, until we arrived in Hong Kong airspace. A monsoon, more or less, was in full bore. The plane taxied, then stopped, about two hundred feet from the terminal. Everybody immediately took their seatbelts off and stood up and got their carry-ons. Then everybody waited. And waited. And waited. Mae started crying. We looked outside and the rain was blowing sideways. Melissa said a shuttle bus had just pulled up along side the plane. It was excruciating. Then, almost unbelievably, the crew began passing out clear plastic disposable rain parkas!! They were going to have us descend the stairs of the plane, into the monsoon, carrying all our carry-ons, babies, etc., to get in the waiting shuttle bus! What a nightmare. Why couldn't the plane stop at a terminal gate, I asked, but got no answer. Due to the huge winds, rain came in to the plane, rain parkas blew off the second we stepped onto the staircase, and we all ended up soaked. When we finally got on the shuttle bus and were taken to the terminal, a Continental person was waiting for us to usher us, at lightspeed, with all our stuff, through the Hong Kong airport to the Continental ticket counter, and then even faster to the gate for our next flight. Second flight of the day, second time running through the airport, sweating like mad. We had thought we'd have at least an hour at the Hong Kong airport to get a drink and relax. Boy were we wrong. I and my carry-ons got checked three times as we negotiated the Hong Kong airport, the last time halfway down the plane's gate tunnel. I don't know what the problem was -- maybe I was sweating too much and they were all suspicious. We finally got on the plane with no time to spare, and began our 14.5 hour long flight. The flight to Newark from Hong Kong was only slightly bearable, as this time, we had to endure it holding a baby (and again in the ridiculously tight economy seats). It was cool looking out the window at one point of the flight -- it was like a perpetual sunset or sunrise on the horizon -- I'm not sure which since we were looking north somewhere over Alaska. Really gorgeous. Mae was really great on the flghts (but was obviously very uncomfortable anytime we landed -- most likely from the pressure in her ears, what with a cold she had developed and all), and amazing Henry slept for more than half of the flight. Speaking of Henry, he was really, truly great during this adventure of ours. It's easy to expect a lot from a kid and forget that he just turned 5. Like any 5 year old, he had a few moments, but there were only a few, and we just had to remember that he was 6000 miles outside his comfort zone, jet lagged, and doing stuff many adults would themselves get tired of doing. We are very lucky to have him. He took to Mae immediately and she to him. So, back to the trip. We landed in Newark, not a moment too soon, and negotiated our way to immigration and customs no problem. Mae became an American citizen when the plane's wheels touched the ground. Because our bags had to clear customs, they were removed and we had to get them and then recheck them. We thought we'd have like 2 hours in Newark to take a breath, get some sodas, etc., but NOOOO. Instead, we spent over an hour waiting for one of our 5 checked bags to show up on the luggage carousel, to no avail. Come to find out, some of the bags back in Hong Kong never made the flight. We wouldn't know if ours was one of them until we arrived in Raleigh (it was, and we've since retrieved it from the Raleigh airport). So, by this time, we were about late for our flight home to Raleigh and now had to hightail it, yet again, for the third and final time to make a flight. 3 flights, 3 times pouring sweat as we bumped our way down the plane's aisle to our seats. Melissa had been dreaming all day about our stop in Newark, freshening up, a Diet Coke with actual ice, maybe a bagel. It took all of her willpower not to jump the man who boarded the plane in front of us carrying a huge Starbucks bag. Anyhow, we must have had a wicked tailwind from Newark to Raleigh because we made spectactular time and arrived a half hour early. Finally home!! As we descended down the escalators to the baggage claim area, we saw the massive welcoming committee for Mae, made up of our family and friends. What a great sight to behold, signs, balloons and all!. After a while trying to figure out where our last bag was (and one of Val's, which didn't make it from Newark to Raleigh), we piled into the cars and made the long awaited drive back home. Three very, very, very tiring days later, I'm just now getting to writing up this last post. It's been hard since we've been home, with way too little sleep being had by all (and for Melissa, on top of a bad cold she picked up a day before we left), but things will of course get much better. Melissa and I got to bed at 12 am on Saturday night, and Henry and I were up at 3:30 (for good), watching a Best of Country Music infomercial. The next night, we got to bed at 1 am and were awoken (again, for good) by Mae at 3 am. Two nights ago was a little better (relatively speaking), with all three kids in bed asleep by 7:30, Melissa in bed asleep by 8, and me in bed asleep by 8:45. But then Mae was up at 11 (graciously falling back asleep until 5), Charlie was up at 3:30, Henry was up at 4:00 (for good), Melissa was up for an hour or so with Henry, and I was up at 4:45 (for good). Last night was still better, with Henry sleeping from 7:30 to 6:45 straight. Us and Mae, not so much. Everyone but me is asleep now tonight, at 10:30. Hopefully no one will wake up in the 3s, 4s or 5s. I'm not optimistic, though.

Anyway, it's fantastic to be back in the comfort of our own home, with our family complete. We are printing this entire blog out as a journal of our trip. Mae should enjoy having it someday. Sorry for boring you with every last detail, but we want Mae to have every detail we can muster up. So long for now, reality awaits. We'll update sporadically as life soldiers on. Thanks for all your love and support. We are so blessed and lucky.

And here is the last round of pictures -- sorry so many seem the same. We were obviously trying hard to capture good ones. http://www.flickr.com/photos/caira/sets/827898/