21 February 2008


Tickets are booked!!
We got the call from CCAI bright and early this morning...our Consulate Appointment is booked for the 25th of March! How awesome! We had such a fast turnaround, I picked up the phone when I was on the way out the door to Piper's swim lesson....once we got home I went online in search of the cheapest tickets! We got a sweet deal directly from Singapore Airlines (my favorite airline)! We are actually going a wee bit earlier than we need to, Mike is going to have a few meetings in Hong Kong and Shenzen and we decided that we'd take Piper to Hong Kong Disney as a last hoorah as an 'only child'
So...we fly to San Francisco on the 9th of March, and take the midnight flight to Hong Kong, we arrive on the 10th and will spend the next few days doing a cross between business & pleasure...then we'll meet up with our agency group on the 14th and fly out to Nanchang on the 16th. No news as to which day we will get Paisley, but it will either be the 16th or 17th of March!
After about 8-9 days in Nanchang, we'll fly to Gunagzhou and stay at the Victory Hotel on Shaiman Island (no White Swan this time too $$$)...go through the motions of getting all the legalities sorted, and on March 26th we'll go to the US Consulate to take the 'oath' to make Paisley a US Citizen! The next day we'll fly to Hong Kong, then catch a plane to San Fransisco and back to the Twin Cities! woohoo.
If anyone has any ideas how to wrangle a precocious three year old and a wiley 11 month old for 17 hours on a plane please feel free to comment.

13 comments:

Carrie said...

Duck tape?

James Michael said...

Yeah! Wow..at first I thought March 25th that's a few weeks but you leave much much earlier than that. Holy Cow! You must be so excited..I have butterflies in my stomach for you as I type this. I have no idea how to keep them busy for 17 hrs since I can barely keep mine contained for 3.5 in a plane. Good luck! I swear I am going to call you. Every free moment I have I am trying to nap..just exhausted right now. Plus a 2 yr old that does not like me on the phone so that is never fun..so I avoid talking on it when she is around.
Anyway, so very excited for all of you. Will you update your blog while there or will we follow you on the red thread kids site again?? I loved that.

kitchu said...

Duck tape- oh that one cracked me up.

Congrats on getting the dates nailed down- it was really good to talk with you today, I am so dang excited to see Paisley home with you all- this seems surreal- I'm sitting here remembering you traveling to bring Piper home - seems like yesterday and an age ago, huh? Wow.

Babbling now. I do that when I'm super excited.

Keri said...

I went to see my husband who was stationed in S. Korea with an almost 3 year old and a 7-8 month old back in 1996. I flew there and back alone and whenever we switched planes I had to give my youngest a nebulizer treatment. How did I do it? I didn't sleep at all. The baby slept great. My 3 year old fell asleep 45 minutes before we landed in the US. He stayed awake for 13+hours! Luckily he liked books and drawing and his magna doodle. Oh yeah, I was only in my 20's then so I probably had a lot more energy then. You will do fine and this too shall pass!

Keri

Patricia said...

WOW!!! So...2, yes 2! weeks from TONIGHT...you go to CHINA!!! Your physical journey to Paisley begins in 2 weeks!!!

Notice I said "physical journey"...we all know you are already there in heart & soul! :)

I am soooo excited for you all!!

Ramona said...

Oh gosh I am getting sick to my stomach just thinking of that 18 hour flight. (Of course I did it unknowingly 6 weeks pregnant!)

I think the Duck tape idea is wonderful! I do suggest, if you don't have one already a travel Magna Doodle and a portable DVD player. Both saved us on our flights last summer. (Granted that was only 7 hours!)

Also, lots and lots of snacks! Nothing shuts a kid up like a full mouth! :-)

Good luck! Can't wait to follow the journey!

Deanna said...

Benadryl! Cackie slept normally most of our flight from Hong Kong to San Fran. But, then after a couple hour layover we had a red-eye flight from San Fran to Atlanta on an overbooked plane. She was 23 lbs at 10.5 mos old and we had a lap ticket for her. I never would have survived those 4+ hours without using benadryl on her. My ped recommended it and I'm soo glad she did!
Just make sure you try it out in advance. Some kids get hyper with it.

Cavatica said...

Woo hoo!

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Oh my... you are leaving so soon... this is brilliant... I say that you have to hit the HK Disney... make sure you say hi to Tink for me... hehe... oh my... just thought of it... not that long until Paisley...

taiwanbaby said...

good choice with the Victory. Some friends just came back and they stayed there and said it was way nicer and way cheaper. Can't wait to hear more!!!!

Susan said...

So exciting! Best wishes for a safe and peaceful transition from one to two children! I had a few tough months in the beginning going from one to two, but its oooohhhh so wonderful now. Blessings ahead!!

Unknown said...

Magna Doodle and DVD are good - of course have something new for Piper to pull out. I have bedded my kids down on the floor with airline blankets if you get a bulk head (which you should if you ask for a bassinet seating).
I always have a ton of little baggies full of different colored snacks - (Yes I know it's not good to snack when you're bored).
Sing Air is awesome as you mentioned - they should give you the hook up!

JMCS said...

Oh honey! I am so excited for you! This is excellent. I can't wait. Not too much longer and Paisley will finally be home and how great that Piper gets to go to Hong Kong Disney...SO COOL! Best of luck and I can't wait to see you holding Paisley finally.

Love,
Jonni
:)