09/01/06- We are here!!!! We left the house at 4:30am to OIA. We arrived at Newark airport around 9:30am where we met several of the families in our travel group. It was such a feeling of joyful camaraderie experience to find couples who had gone through the same 18 - 20 month wait. Then what seemed like the longest 13 hours of my life, we finally arrived in Beijing yesterday at approximately 4:30pm. That is 4:30am EST. I did not sleep a wink. At this point, I wanted to take the opportunity to give thanks to my wonderful husband for being the most compassionate travel companion! His flight experience, and disregard for turbulence as we flew over the North Pole kept me sane throughout the flight. Once back on the ground in the People’s Republic of China, our guide Vanessa and our pediatrician met us at the airport. What a wonderful sight! Most families where pretty wiped out from traveling. We got to relax a little bit prior to meeting again for dinner, which was the beginning of a whole other story.
09/02/06- We had a full day today which started by leaving the hotel at 6:30am for a traditional Chinese park overlooking the Forbidden City, followed by an amazingly Western breakfast at the hotel. We left the hotel at 9:00am to the pearl factory for an informational demo, but we avoided any pressured purchases. From there we toured the Summer Palace of the Emperor followed by a buffet lunch. We were given the opportunity to walk our lunch off by scaling an amazing section of the Great Wall. From the Wall our overbooked Presidential schedule took us to a 2 hour meeting about the babies we meet tomorrow accompanied by a diverse dinner served on an oversized Lazy Susan.
We arrived back at our hotel room at 8:30pm. We’re now preparing our luggage for our trip tomorrow to our daughter's province. Tomorrow is G-Day (Gotcha Day), the big day and emotions are running high!
We arrived back at our hotel room at 8:30pm. We’re now preparing our luggage for our trip tomorrow to our daughter's province. Tomorrow is G-Day (Gotcha Day), the big day and emotions are running high!
I won't bore you with too many details. I will post some pictures of what we've done so far. We love reading your messages! We get even more excited that you are all so excited for us. We can't wait to introduce Kylie to our wonderful family and friends.
10 comments:
FINALLY!
We have been going insane waiting for you to post. I was so worried about you flying. I am glad that you both are enjoying your adventure. We are very excited to see your pictures and read all about gotcha day. Rossy sends her love to you and Sean. Dr. Steve is beyond wonderful and he will take great care of Kylie when she arrives. Wishing we were there sharing in your happiness (I knew we should have applied at the same time!!) Sending our love and best wishes! Jeanne, Fred, and Ellie
YAY - you are there and safe. I am so excited for you to get Kylie. I will be stalking until there is an update. Get some sleep you will need it! (but I doubt you will get any...)
Colleen~
I just wanted to wish you the best of luck tomorrow. It is so helpful for us as a waiting family to see that this really does happen. Enjoy!!
Marjorie, WHFC: LID 5/10/06
So happy for you both and glad that you arrived safely. Hope you have a peaceful trip back home too. I've been dreaming about Kylie. Can't wait to get Ani and Kylie together in the next month!
Love you,
Colleen (and Ani, Keane & Rees)
Congrats on arriving! You did it. Sounds familiar, your first day there...brings back wonderful memories! Enjoy every, moment. We're so excited for you to meet your daughter. Following along from N. Conway NH, over Labor Day Weekend! Who is your National Guide? Is it Helen Zhaou?
Wow! Something should be said for the courage it takes you to make a trip like this! Flying over the North Pole! How surreal was that?!! As someone who is not crazy about flying, I have to say.....it must be love!! Cant wait to hear all about your daughter!
So glad to hear you got there safe and sound. Also glad they are keeping you busy and you are getting the chance to see things before you meet Kylie. It will make the time go much faster and after you get Kylie much of the scenery probably won't matter. Get some sleep when you can. As most new parents will tell you, it maybe hard to get some after Kylie arrives. Please give her a huge and kiss for us. We almost feel like we are with you because of the great job you are doing in posting information. Thanks and Love to you both.
Dad & Vicki
the photos say everything,we are
soooooooooooooovery pleased for
all of you .
all our love to the Durney family
from the Andrews family
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sean, Judy and Kylie ... love your blog, and I love the recent pics of Kylie in the pool! How did she react to the water? Our flight home was about a full 24 hour ride too ... we were stuck in Chicago for a few extra hours. Although, Maura's husband Paul flew there to surprise Maura (which he did) and that made things much better. Faith took to Paul right away! So nice to see. Just wanted to say hi ... keep in touch. I'm sure we'll update our blog one of these days too ... all my best! Erin Hughes erinhughes51@comcast.net aka lucyethelandfaith.blogspot.com
Hi Sean and Judy! Love your blog. Kylie looks adorable ... how did she like the water? Our ride home was similarly L-o-n-g we spent a few extra hours in Chicago. Which ended up being alright because Maura's husband Paul flew there to surprise Maura! Faith took to Paul right away, nice to see and we eventually made it to Boston around 1 am. My kids and husband were there too, which was great. I think both of my kids grew 3-4" while I was away!! It goes fast!! Anyway, just wanted to say hi, keep in touch, all that. We'll prob update the blog one of these days. Hope you are all doing well. All my best, Erin Hughes, erinhughes51@comcast.net Norfolk, MA
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