Travel Day

We got up at 0330 Wednesday morning at the hotel in Guatemala City. Took our showers and got ready to go. Got Alaina up, changed and dressed and saw that everything was packed. We checked out of the hotel and took the shuttle to the airport. We waited in line for over an hour to check our bags in. Then we were told that the flight would be two hours late because they got in late the night before. I assume that has to do with the number of hours a flight crew is required to rest between flights or something. Eventually we got on the plane. It was not crowded so we were able to move over to a row of 3 seats and Alaina could move around some. We fed her on the plane and she did well. Then we touched down in Miami. Alaina was officially a citizen!!! We celebrated with her, but hurried to get off the plane and through imigration and customs etc. so we wouldn't miss our connecting flight to Frankfurt. Well we were delayed at immigaration. They were not as pleasant as they might have been. By the time we got to the counter to get our boarding passes we could have made the flight but they wouldn't escort us through the lines to get there on time and then of course Luftansa was also on strike so they were short handed. So, then we had to wait and try to get another flight. It was a mess, but we finally got on a flight to Dusseldorf. We only waited in the airport like 8 hours. I was so glad I had packed extra food and diapers than I thought we would need. Did I mention that Alaina got attacked at the Miami airport? Alan had run on ahead to hopefully get us on our plane and Alaina and I were waiting in line to get on the elevator. (she was in her stoller) There was a lady in front of us with an airport employee. I noticed that she seemed to have some sort of skin problem but the lighting was poor and I paid little attention untill...The lady backed up without looking and backed into Alaina's stoller. She turned around and hit her on the foot and leg, yelling at both of us. I moved to protect Alaina and let her know quite loudly that she backed into us and she doesn't need to hit my kid. She didn't hit her hard enough to leave a mark but with that wierd skin I didn't want any rash or anything to develop either. And for the love of mike who hits a baby? The airport lady said that she is crazy etc. She did seem to be escorting her somewhere but she should have kept better control over her if she is unstable. The lady is lucky Alan wasn't there. He would not have responded as well as I did. Anyway, the evevator came and I warned a new couple that had come up not to get on with her as she was loco. I hope I spelled that right Jungle Mom. So the transatlantic flight went well. Alaina caused very little disturbance and was kind enough to poop only in airports where her diaper could be disposed of better. We let her know that we appreciated it. We got off the plane in Dusseldorf and waited at the entrance to the plane for our stoller. They had taken it and put it with the checked luggage. This meant that we had to carry her through the whole airport. This was not good. She is heavy and we had carry ons. Then, we waited to get on a plane for Nurnberg. They gave us a hard time about what flight we could take because of all the mix up in Miami and we waited quite some time before we finally got the boarding passes. Oh I forgot to mention that for the big flight they were very kind to us and only charged us for a lap ticket but they gave us a 4 seat row all to ourselves. Ok so waiting for the trip to Nurnberg they told us that there would be no drink service on board and provided us with warm drinks to take on board with us. Well, when we got on board they did have drink service so that was interesting. But, they made a big deal over Alaina and she went to sleep after we took off and slept all the way there. When we landed in Nurnberg, Alan played a very unkind trick on me. It was already about 36 hours since we had started at the hotel and neither of us had had much sleep. He said, "Well, we're in Frankfurt. Now we just have to get to Nurnberg and then we can get in our car and head home." I didn't recieve that bit of false information well. So we get our bags and wait as Alain gets the car and we head out to it. Alan had not installed the car seat before he left for Guatemala. It was raining and we were tired and it took quite some time to figure it out. Turns out it wasn't right but we made it ok. We retured home to a house I had never seen and a town I had never been in. Alan had gotten quite a bit done as far as setting things up. Only the kitchen and decorating remained and a little rearranging, but not much. We got some take out pizza and fed us and Alaina and we all went to bed. Until Alaina decided that she was not happy about being put in a crib in a different room. We let her cry it out and within a few days she was fine with it.

So that is our story. I'm sure I've left a few things out but that covers most of it.