Yesterday was a long, exhausting day. We awoke at 4:00 am to begin our journey home. Our driver picked us up promptly at 5:00 am to drop us and our large array of luggage off at the airport.
Each step at the airport seemed to take foooorever. There are 8 of us so 8 different people to check passports PLUS our Colombians who need their Colombian birth certificates PLUS Sam who also needed to show his adoption decree. It was a lot of paperwork for us to provide and a lot of items to be verified by the Delta employee.
We finally got past the first Delta employee and moved forward to the counter to check our baggage. I unknowingly said yes to the question, "Have you packed any batteries in your checked luggage?" I had a few AA batteries hiding somewhere in all our bags, and unbeknownst to me, you must carry on AA batteries, not check them. Shane quickly recovered and said he had them in his backpack. Phew!
After finally getting our luggage checked, we were off to immigration. Again - so many passports - 7 US plus 4 Colombian, plus birth certificates for our Colombian kids. The officer was nice but didn't speak a word of English. After going through all the passports and birth certificates, he waved us on, and we were on our way to security.
Trying to get through security while holding 2 large non-mobile kids, plus having to pull out numerous iPads and computers and the added scrutiny of traveling with liquid medications and food for Aria - it is quite a struggle. Just as we were getting ready to walk through security, the immigration officer who had previously checked our passports appeared. He had forgotten to give us Cole's passport!! EEK! That could have been tragic but thankfully he found us and returned the precious document.
Finally we were through all the steps with time to spare. We grabbed some drinks and treats at Juan Valdez while waiting to board our plane.
It was Sam's very first plane ride and he did really well. Before we knew it, we were landing in Atlanta!! Sam was officially a U.S. Citizen upon our arrival. Immigration was a breeze and we were on our way in just a few minutes. After grabbing dinner at the Gordon Biersch brewery, it was time to board the last leg of our journey.
Once again, the flight went fairly smoothly considering how long we had been traveling and soon we were landing in Minneapolis. We landed around 8:30 pm and made our way to get our luggage.
Shane's family welcomed us home at the airport and helped transport a couple of our crew plus some of our luggage home as we can no longer fit in our 7-passenger van.
It was way past everyone's bedtime by the time we got home. But we still needed to get everyone fed and ready for bed. After our very long journey, everyone conked out for the night. We are finally home!
It is the end of our adventure to Colombia, but just the beginning of our lives together as a family of eight.
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