So, we slept till around 6 am ...I had assisted my sleep with one of the Ambien I had taken and really woke up pretty refreshed. Addison ate some breakfast and I had some coffee and we sat watching Russian television for an hour or so and there was Oleg to pick us up.
...The ride to the airport was a little busy but we got there by 10 am... (started at 9:00)...Got thru baggage check and passport in a little under 30 minutes...Addison stayed in her stroller pretty well...was only crying as I put her into it...she doesn't like the straps to be put on but otherwise tolerates it pretty well.
...so, now we have until 12:55 to stroll around the Moscow airport...and there is nothing to do there except buy duty free...I had planned on using my left-over Russian Rubles up before I left and I had about $1000 (=$35 USD)...so I went into a shop and decided I should buy a couple of souvenirs for people who had helped me while I went on the trip; then that I should buy the kids a toy; then that I should buy Addison a toy and after that, I had spent my $1000 Rubles and another $200 US (UGH)...but I bought Addison a great toy shape sorter and it was instrumental in helping with the flight!
...so now we had about 2 more hours to wait...we walked up and down the airport for about 1 hour of it until I found at one end a bunch of seats not in a separate gate area...see in the Moscow airport you do your hand baggage (and shoes and coats) check at the gate area and once you enter, you can't exit unless you want to go thru that again...also, the gate area where the Delta Moscow to JFK and Delta Moscow to ATL daily flights both go out of (and within an hour of each other!)...so, there are NEVER enough seats in the gate area!...anyway, we found some seating in the far end (away from the gate) and played and ate lunch and drank Diet Coke and let Addison play with her new toy...
...finally, we went to the gate area about 45 minutes before scheduled take-off and they were still boarding NYC and we waited and got to the gate seats about 10 minutes before ATL started loading.
...got on the plane pretty early cuz of the whole baby thing and got settled. I let Addison stand at the seat and play ...she was good and finally we were in the air. (a little fussing when I put the seatbelt on but otherwise good)...and then ...she fell asleep...2 hours...then, woke up happy and we changed the 2nd poopy diaper of the flight...(the first happened as we were waiting to take off)...and I fed her a banana and some cookies...then she had about 3 hours where she played with the shape sorter or stood up in the seat and played with me...she was so cute, she would sit on the arm-rest near the window, look at me and "run" across the seat and give me a big hug... all the while laughing hysterically...then, I fed her a bottle of juice and some baby food and ...she fell asleep again...for about another 4 hours...and then woke up for the last hour of the flight and was happy playing with the shape sorter for the last hour or so of the flight. During the flight we had about 3 or 4 more poopy diapers but we did pretty well with that.
...So, all in all, an uneventful flight with a very contented baby and a mommy who got to watch a movie or two...the flight was also more comfortable cuz it was a newer jet and had the individual TV's in the back of the seats in front of you and had ...electronic games, Movies, TV and music.
...We arrived in ATL around 4:10 (our flight to Richmond was leaving at 7:10)...after walking a really long way with a baby whose shoes were too big and kept falling off, two carry on bags and another bags of my "duty free gifts" (and forgetting that I had gate checked my stroller and could have waited for it there)...we arrived in passport check and had to collect the rest of our luggage - including the stroller that I had forgotten - walk another mile or so to get to the specially area where they would take her paperwork, declare her a US citizen and let us re-check our bags for the RIC trip. Okay, I was a little tired, but she was a trooper and aside from fussing about me sitting her up on top of the luggage carrier, she did great...
...Finally, we were through and had about 1 hour to wait (and 2 poopy diapers) for the flight to board to Richmond. They were overbooked and offered $400 to people to give up their seats...If I wasn't carrying my precious cargo, I might have done it! Air flights are so expensive these days and $400 would have helped with one of the flights...
...Addison slept the entire flight to Richmond...meanwhile we had the 3 year old twins from "H" "E" double "L" immediately behind us for the flight. When we stood up to leave, all of the people in the seats around us said..."oh my god, there was another baby on this flight, we didn't even know!"
...and then we were home...
So, some of my feelings about the flight.
- I am so glad that she was good during the flight, another one like with Logan and I would have been a basket case. As it was, I was able to (somewhat) be there for my other 3 when I got home...
- I am pretty glad that I won't probably make that flight again for another 5 or so years (or when the boys are in the teens) to go for a "culture" trip (and maybe there will be transporters then)
- I am a damn lucky woman and have truly been blessed by God to be able to have such wonderful kids
- I truly "hate" diarrhea and can't wait till Addison get over this... (and 1 1/2 days into her Giardia treatment I am maybe seeing some signs of improvement)
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