We began our trip home from Guangzhou on only 2.75 hours of sleep. Derek and I figured we would catch our sleep on the taxi ride to Hong Kong--since the trip would begin before sun-up and the children would sleep during the ride.
The driver came from Hong Kong (a 3-hour trip) to pick us up at our hotel. I noticed instantly that he was glossy-eyed but just figured he was tired. (He probably left his house around 2 a.m.--getting up even earlier.)
As soon as we left, Cherish and I got motion sickness. I "happened" to have children's motion-sickness medicine available, because Cherish gets sick while riding in a car. Andrew then announced he was sick to his stomach. I gave him medicine. Then, Daniel threw up. I gave him medicine. The trip continued.
The driver continually drove with hitting the acceleration and then hitting the brake. Continually! Hard acceleration. Hard brake. Hard acceleration. Hard brake. Every few seconds!!!!! With no cars in front of us! After about 45 minutes, Derek asked the driver if he needed to stop for coffee, etc. The driver said he was "OK." Derek asked him not to keep jerking us, because we were so sick.
So, the driver let off the brake and began swerving in and out of lanes. As the traffic started to build, he was swerving in and out of traffic. Then, he began driving on the edge of the outer lane--just resting the wheels on the bumpy outer edge. After a while, he began driving lane by lane, leaving the vehicle between lanes--with the dotted line riding down the middle of our car.
Derek asked if he was OK. He said, "I OK. I OK." Derek told him we really wanted to live to make it home.
We arrived in Hong Kong and were seriously thankful we were being prayed over. And, we were thankful to get out of the van!
We boarded our international flight and were surprised to find that Daniel had absolutely no intentions of sleeping on the plane. He screamed a lot and refused to be comforted. We were sure that the pressure was killing his ears and his stomach was bloated and hurting. We tried all we could do to comfort him (giving him Advil and Pepto Bismol)....
The other children did GREAT!!! No complaining. Just playing, watching TV, and sleeping. Since our attention had to be on Daniel, they grouped together to play, eat, and sleep. <3
We laid over in Chicago where Daniel became a US citizen =).
While we were waiting to take off for our final flight, Daniel finally gave in to his tiredness. He slept in Derek's arms and didn't even know we had taken off once again.
But, then the pressure got to him, and he screamed and screamed! He refused to eat or drink and was just completely miserable (and his Advil was in the bag that was taken below the plane during the boarding process). Poor guy!
When we landed, we apologized to the people on the plane. They were understanding and gracious after they heard how long he had been traveling.
Sweet family and friends met us at the airport to welcome us home--with hugs, posters, balloons, and cameras ready to roll. Our sweet friend, Kristi, made us food for dinner and breakfast, and her children made us gifts. Our precious neighbors, Cheryle and Mike, mowed our lawn and gave us adoption photo gifts, while Derek's parents had shopped to fill up our refrigerator. WHAT KINDNESSES when we were feeling so beat down, hungry, and tired!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our jet-lag and transition time are in full swing. Daniel is not comfortable at the house, but he's at least taking catnaps (30 min. to an hour) in his crib.
Here's Cherish trying to stay awake by watching a video:
By 4:40 p.m. she was out for the night--well, until midnight.
The children are troopers! They have been holding up so well!!!!
This trip to China has probably been our easiest yet! Thank you for all your prayers!!!
Side note: Daniel still has diarrhea (along with possible ear infections). I can hardly wait to get him to the doctor!
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