Today, Friday May 15, 2009 is the day that our family moves to Belgium! We have packed our suitcases in the van, and layed out our clothes in preparation for an early morning. The girls are so excited that it is not difficult to get them up, moving and out the door for breakfast. We went to the lobby for breakfast, our friend Bill Krohne called Stig on his cell phone to say good-bye. Then when I went to the room to finish getting our things Katie Krohne called my cell phone to say good-bye! It was such a nice treat to talk to both of them just before we left, they have been such cheerleaders for our move and have been great friends over the past few years. We cannot wait until they come visit us in Belgium!
Our neighbor in Alabama, Lisa Anderson was very nice to offer us help to the airport. We needed it! Lisa drove me and the girls while Stig took the luggage in the rental van. We unloaded all of the suitcases at the curb-side check-in and then Lisa followed Stig to the rental car drop-off. Stig was unable to walk back from the rental company because he hurt his bad knee the day before and can hardly walk. He is limping all over! We checked in 11 suitcases and 2 car seats! Not too bad considering we are moving and not just visiting.
We had plenty of time until our flight left Birmingham. The gate attendant called our name and when Stig went to the desk, both Adriana and I had been upgraded to 1st class! It was only for the 30 minute ride to Atlanta, but Adriana was thrilled. So cute to see her face light up when Stig handed her the first class ticket.
We arrived in Atlanta and Stig escorted all of us to the Delta Business Lounge where we could stay during our lay-over. Stig then had to go catch a taxi to downtown Atlanta to meet with the Belgian Consulate to get his passport stamped with his VISA. The girls and I already had ours stamped, but Stig had his in Belgium with him during his two week stay prior to our move. I was so concerned about him doing all of this with his bad knee, but he did manage. The girls and I enjoyed our time in the lounge and we also went for lunch while he was away. The girls watched movies and played games because we were there for FIVE hours!
Just before we boarded the plane Stig and I told the girls that we had a surprise for them. Stig had used his frequent flyer miles to upgrade ALL of our tickets to Business Class! The girls were so excited. Yes, they did know what that meant because of listening to daddy talk about all of his travels and I think Elena also remembered from our trip to Norway. Stig and I shared one business class ticket on that trip. We switched back and forth, Stig let me use it with Isabella during the night portion of our trip since she was still nursing. Anyway, back to our Belgium trip. It was so fun to watch them check out the Business class amenities when we boarded. We had the entire first row to ourselves! We each had our own television screen and could choose from several movies what we wanted to watch. Stig had called ahead and ordered children's meals for the two younger girls so they were happy with the meal they were served. Isabella was really into the little toiletries bag they gave us with toothbrush, toothpaste, mouth wash, socks, chapstick, ear plugs and an eye mask. She kept taking everything out looking at it and then putting it back in the bag.
Will they ever go to sleep? Well....if you give them Melatonin they will! I finally had to pull out the 1g Melatonin that I had brought just in case. I gave it to each of them and told Isabella to let mommy sleep! I put her leg rest up, perched the pillows just right and layed her backward on the seat. She seemed to fit in a laying position better that way, before I knew it...she was out. I did get a little sleep, but not much. When the shades came up and breakfast was served, Isabella did not want to wake up. She went back to sleep and I had to carry her off of the airplane.
Stig's company sent two drivers to pick us up at the airport. He had advised them that we would have a lot of luggage with us. Both of the drivers were very nice, and even pretended that they were going to run away when they saw all of our bags. It was pretty cute.
Sooo....we have arrived in Belgium!
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