Calgon, take me away!

We got home, unpacked a bit, played a bit... then AB took a bath and we crashed out around 5:30pm. AB loves her bubble baths!

back in China

Our flights back were pretty good - we had the bulkhead seats just behind business class (and no one in that section of business class, so no one cared if the kids played with the curtain) and we had all three seats, so we had plenty of room. AB fell asleep before takeoff and slept for the first 4.5 hours of the flight. We had a really early start this morning so it was a good thing she was able to get some more rest. When she woke up, she was happy through the rest of the flight, though she didn't want to sit in her seat. We walked around the plane a lot and found some other kids to play with. The only time she cried was when she fell asleep later in the flight and I tried to put her in the car seat - no go! So I just held her for most of it, until we got close to landing and I needed to arrange our bags and stuff so that we could get off the plane in Beijing.

After landing in Beijing, we should have just had to take our luggage through Customs and then put it back on the conveyor belt to be sent on to Chengdu - it was already tagged all the way through to Chengdu. But no. Beijing airport doesn't do it that way. We had to take the luggage upstairs and stand in the regular domestic check in line, where I was told that it was too early and if I checked in my luggage then, that it would be lost. (how's that for optimism?) I said my bags were already checked all the way through to Chengdu and would she please take them from me (I had 4 suitcases, plus carry ons, a car seat, and Alana!). She said I could check them in at 5:20 (it was about 4:40). I said, "Okay, then I'll stand right here until 5:20. Finally she agreed to check in the luggage (we didn't have to wait 40 minutes) and we went on toward our gate.







We were still very early for our flight, so we stopped and played at the children's play room for a while. AB had a blast and it was good to put everything down for a while and just relax. When it got close to the time for our flight, I gathered everything up and we went to the gate.

There was snow and fog in Beijing, and every single flight out of Beijing was delayed. The waiting room was COMPLETELY PACKED - not only could I not possibly have found a seat, but I could barely maneuver myself through the waiting room with the car seat backpack and my wheeled carry on! And, the room was filled with smoke. It was terrible. I don't like smoke when I'm healthy and well-rested, but with a cold and completely exhausted, it was really intolerable. I asked about our flight and was told that our plane to Chengdu was still in Chengdu, and they had no idea when it might take off. This, together with the smoky room and AB already asleep in the wrap, convinced me to change our flight to the next day and just get a hotel for the night. Unfortunately, there was no one that could help me change the flight anywhere other than the main ticket line back on the other side of security... so we went and stood in a long line to change that. It took a long time but worked out fine.

We went to the hotel nearest the airport and just crashed. It was freezing in the room (until I figured out how to work the heat, AFTER we woke up) but we stayed under the covers and got some rest. We got up about 2:30am but that was fine, since I needed to dig out warmer clothes for AB and rearrange the bags so that my carry ons would be a bit lighter.

We checked out of the hotel about 6:30am and went back to the airport. My backpack car seat holder strap broke (grrr!!!) but I was able to tie it back together so that I could still manage the car seat and AB and everything else. AB napped while we waited for our flight to be called. Our flight boarded on time but was then delayed about an hour for de-icing. We boarded from the tarmac and it was snowing - AB's first real snow! (There was some snow in Oregon but we were in the car - this was the first time she was outside with falling snow). I was a little disappointed that no one offered to let us board ahead of them or help us with our stuff - we were the very last people on the plane and an airline employee finally came to help me get the rolling carry on up the stairs onto the plane. Anyway, we finally got settled on the plane and had some really nice people sitting near us - AB played with them for much of the flight!

Finally - about 1pm on New Years Eve, we made it back to our apartment in Chengdu. Whew! Amazing that the last short leg of the trip could be so much harder than the whole rest of it put together!

neat pics from the air

They were showing a movie when I took these pics, so the map of the flight was not available... but I think we were over Siberia. Looks pretty cold down there!

final pics from California

Final pics of the vacation... with two of AB's favorite relatives and biggest supporters! Love you Auntie and Uncle! :) (she's pretty tired, that's why I am in the pics too...)

cute AB pics

can you tell we're siblings? :)

I'm the photographer here... :) Love this pic - that's definitely my brother! :)

visiting family in Atascadero

We stayed overnight in Camarillo last night, and today, our last full day in the States, we drove a couple hundred miles north to Atascadero, where my dad's uncle and his wife live. We had another wonderful family gathering, with the Camarillo gang joining us for the day, and some other cousins too! It is really special to get to spend time with my grandmother's siblings and to re-connect with cousins we haven't seen in a long time! We left in the afternoon in order to get back to Montebello at a reasonable hour so that I could finish packing, taking into account possible traffic and AB's need to get out of the car seat now and then. She did pretty well - even managed to sleep a bit on the way down!

Here are the pics from our visit. :)
AB loved this toy kitty - press the tail and she'd meow!
ooh, what does he have there?
AB is really interested in her third cousin's game
no, I mean REALLY interested!
can't get enough of Cousin A and his game!
asking Grandma to wind up the dancing mice music box
look, they're dancing!
the family enjoying a great meal
AB giving Grandma peanuts - Grand-Grand-Auntie R in the background :)
My grand-uncle and aunt, their son, and neice
sharing peanuts with Grandma - how sweet!
first shot at a group photo - too dark in the back row!
my second cousin and one of her boys :)
my grand uncle and aunt - my grandmother's brother and sister
the whole gang (my brother as photographer) - my parents, my dad's uncle and two aunts, his sister, three cousins, one of their kids with her two kids, me and Alana.
same group as before with me as photographer