Journey Home

On Friday morning we left Guangzhou for Hong Kong. It was a short flight - up, serve a drink, and down - and a good test flight to see how Lucy will do with the big journey across the Pacific. We stayed at the airport hotel in Hong Kong and got the kids their last good nap in their time zone of comfort. After nap, we met up with my old friend, Doug, who has been working in Hong Kong for three years for a quick tour. We met him in Kowloon, crossed into Hong Kong by ferry, walked in pedestrian overpasses through Hong Kong and got to see trolleys and double decker buses - Kai's favorite. Doug found a natural / organic restaurant and we all happily forwent the local cuisine for a big fresh salad. Then caught a cab to train back to the airport.

Now ten days ago, Lucy had never been outside of the orphanage. Then in one day, she was in a taxi, airplane, train, and ferry. She did wonderfully, thanks to some patches to help with motion sickness, I think.

Saturday morning we set out for the airport and check-in. We left Hong Kong at 11:45am and arrived in San Francisco at 8:45am - I love getting three extra hours in life. The flight was long and the kids did great. At one point, Lucy and I were lying together on the seat and she was tapping my chest saying, "mama, mama". I tried to use her Chinese nickname to return the gesture, but she said, "no Lucy!". I'll still keep trying but at this rate, she'll be conversant in English by the end of summer. They all took naps as they would on China time, then when it was time to go to sleep for the night, they were turning on the lights to serve breakfast.


They were exhausted when we landed and went through customs - Lucy actually slept through becoming a citizen. On the other side of customs, my dad, Val, Daisy and Tim were waiting with a 10 passenger van, car seats and a picnic. They took us to Coyote Point to run around and get to know Lucy during our 4 hour layover. Dad said it was amazing how lively everybody was and how much fun it was to meet Lucy and get to know her a little bit. What a treat for everybody!

We all fell asleep on the Denver flight by about 4pm. The kids stayed asleep all the way through the landing, baggage claim and drive home. Will was up at 2am, Kai at 3am, Lorna at 4, me at 5 and Lucy we had to wake at 6am - go girl! And we're off...