European Adventure: Fly away home

 We adored our time in Europe. We were so excited to get home. Home to our own rooms and beds. To our house and Auntie Nini and our dogs. To work and school.... well maybe we weren't excited for everything. While our flight over was direct, we had a connection in Chicago with a two hour layover on the way home. Our first leg was aboard a 767. A bit smaller than the 777 we'd gone over in. So instead of the on demand entertainment, there were several movies to watch but they were on a loop and only Bolt was on for the kids. We were glad that we packed word searches (Thanks MAGA!) and books and iPods. An hour or two in, I asked a flight attendant (who's voice had a slight Hawaiian accent) if he'd worked for United for long and if he new my cousin, Keenan. He not only knew him, they were good kine friends. After that discovery, that Aloha spirit found us over the Atlantic. Bruddah Dave hooked it up with a few minutes of chatting each time he came by, bottled waters and even ice cream for my kiddos! It's such a small world.

We landed in Chicago and got an express pass to get through customs. We got off the plane, went through customs, baggage claim to collect our luggage, customs again, took the tram to a different terminal, checked in for our next flight, re-checked out luggage, went through security again and walked up to the gate after they'd already begun boarding the plane. So much for grabbing a bite to eat during our layover. We barely made it in time!
This last plane was even smaller. A 757, no personal entertainment center. And we were in row 38. Yup, there in the back. On our previous flights we'd done Select seating where you had a little more leg room and space. Apparently we hadn't done it on all the flights and this one was full so there was no changing anything and getting our four seats together. So we dealt with it. We could not have gotten off that plane soon enough. There was no sleeping due to the constant flow of traffic in the tiny aisle between myself and Mr. B... seeing as how close to the bathroom we were. No bueno. JT FINALLY fell asleep about an hour before landing. He'd been up for 20 hours with no rest. Well, we start to descend and the pressure took its toll on his ears and he woke up hysterical. In that terrible "in-between" where you aren't quite asleep or awake, accompanied with the lack of sleep, the ear pain and the sudden need to pee but unable to get up because the fasten seat belt sign is still on, poor JT had a full on panic attack, frightening several of the people around us and treating me to one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. It is what it is and we were all very tired by that point.
We were over the moon happy to see Auntie Nini as we collected our luggage, very happy to drive our car, very happy to walk into our home, and very happy to have as much ice water as we'd like to drink. The next 4 nights, we were all asleep by 8pm.
The jet lag is starting to wear off.
What a fun time.
Love,
The B's