Homecoming

Well, Delta/KLM messed us up again. We woke up at 3:20 am on Saturday in Warsaw and checked in at the Delta KLM counter at 4:15 am for our 6:05 am flight. I was at the desk until 5:50 am, during the ENTIRE time they were working on generating Katie a ticket for her lap seat. Why this was so difficult I don't and never will understand. Mike had reserved this ticket several weeks ago and we already spent hours on this yesterday. But they couldn't generate it in time and we didn't make our flight to Amsterdam. Unbelievable. I had a meltdown in the middle of the airport. They started looking at flight options and told us we wouldn't leave until Sunday. I would not hear it. I made a promise to my kids that we would be home on Saturday. I went to the LOT counter and got a flight out direct for all 3 of us to Chicago leaving at 12:10 pm from Warsaw and getting into O'Hare at 3:20 pm central time. I booked it and they were able to generate an infant ticket right away - how about that! Poor Katie had to get up early and sit at the airport for 2 hours for basically nothing! We returned to the hotel room and I contacted Mike to get a ride from Chicago to Detroit. Poor Mike had a lot of stress dealing with KLM. Now he has to deal with getting a refund from them. Anyway, there was no sense to continue being frustrated - we had to make the best of things. What was done was done. We will never understand why and it is what it is.

So we went and had breakfast in the hotel since check out was not until noon and I still had our hotel keys. We were staying at the Courtyard by Marriott at the airport and it was very nice. Katie played with silverware and ate some bread at breakfast. She is so amazing. You can constantly see the wheels in her head turning as she looks at and learns different things. I cannot believe how good she played in the hotel room while my mom and I laid on the hotel bed from mental exhaustion. Eventually she took a mini nap - we had to get her up after 45 minutes to go back to the airport. Thank goodness the hotel is across the street from the airport.

So - back to the airport at 10:30 am. Got through security, passport check, and a second passport check, with 20 minutes to spare before boarding time at 11:20 am. And then we saw there was no plane. Time passed and eventually the announcement came that the departure time changed from 12:10 to 13:40. It was a bummer to get another delay, but thankfully we loaded up and took off.

Katie was amazing on the flight. She ate some food, drank milk, and played with some toys as well as other items in the plane, such as the headsets, headrest, tray table, and seatbelts. We also befriended another family traveling with a 1 year old boy and 3 year old
girl. The little girl, Karina, would periodically visit and play with Katie. Too funny. I felt like I was still in Poland on the flight because everyone spoke Polish and so we continued as well with speaking Polish to order our drinks, talk to fellow passengers, etc. i was starting to wonder if we really left Poland! My mom got Katie to take 2 naps during the flight - one for about 30 minutes and one for about an hour and a half. My mom is a baby rocking genius! We were both so tired with my mom napping a grand total of maybe 10 minutes and me not napping at all. But thankfully Katie did very well for a 10 hour flight and didn't have too many meltdowns.

We landed at 5:30 pm in Chicago. Then we had to clear customs and immigration. Katie was officially stamped up and made a US citizen. Yeah! We finally exited a little after 7 pm. Mike and his dad drove from Michigan to pick us up. It was a bummer that we couldn't fly into Detroit and have all the family meet us, but we were happy to be on American soil and thrilled to see them . I hadn't seen Mike in 3 weeks and when I hugged him, I just couldn't let go. It was very emotional. We then got the car and loaded up the car with our stuff and Katie. She slept for most of the 5 hour drive home. We spent the night at Mike's parents since our kids were already spending the night there and it was on our way home. My dad was there to drive my mom home. We got there about a half hour after midnight and I got Katie in her pajamas and down for what I hoped would be the night. I then checked on my 2 big kids and they both did wind up waking up when I started adjusting their blankets. We had a lot of hugs and cuddles before they went back to bed. Mike and I crashed at 2 am. Katie slept like a champ and got up at 7 am. We packed up, had breakfast, and finally packed up the entire family and drove an hour home. I am so happy to be home and now get Katie integrated into the daily routine of our family!

Special thanks to my family - words cannot express my appreciation for my in laws for taking care of the kids ad driving with Mike to Chicago and back in one day (11 hours!). And to my dad for letting my mom come to Poland to help me, and of course my mom for spending the week with me - I cannot imagine getting through the drama at the airport without her. I love you all!!!

Pictures - me and Katie at the hotel in the morning before the KLM disaster occurred, Katie enjoying her breakfast, eating yogurt on the plane, waving the US flag in Chicago after being stamped as a US citizen.