Vietnam 2006 - Hanoi to Home

The next day we checked out of the hotel. As we were waiting for our taxi to the airport I realized that I had left my cash in the safe. Fortunately I got the room key and retrieved my cash without a problem. Hanoi to Taipei was uneventful. I was hoping we wouldn't hear "baby cold" in a new country. We heard that the entire time we were in Vietnam. They thought Grace needed a coat and hat because it was only 80 degrees. The airport in Taipei is huge. Even though we had an adequate layover, the long lines took forever. We had to run through the airport to make our flight. We had cameras, carryons, paintings, diaper bag, etc. and we last saw our stroller in Hanoi. We were a sight running with all this stuff and Grace. We literally thought we would die. Where are the people who drive the golf cart through the airport when you need them?

We made our flight and Grace was awesome the entire flight from Taipei to LA. However there was this one passenger on the flight who was unbearable. He was so rude to the flight attendants telling them they should speak better English and demanding to see the pilot. Everything out of his mouth was rude and he was loud. He complained about the food and anything on the flight you can imagine. And we were in business class so everything was wonderfu. He was like this the entire flight. Terri cannot block things out like I can and she looked like she was about to explode. I kept expecting her to jump over the seat and choke him. Thankfully she had gone to the bathroom when we were waiting to get off the plane. The man looked at me and said "there is something wrong with that baby, her eyes are all funny. You need to take her to St Jude because there is something wrong with her." He kept saying this over and over again. Terri would have clocked him if she had of heard this. When she was a baby it was very noticeable, but Grace has a pseudostrabismus. That is when eyes appear crossed because of the flatness of her nose. It goes away as she grows.

Immigration was a breeze, it just took a few minutes. Then we headed to McDonalds. We had to go from the international terminal to the regular terminal. We had two carts full of luggage. We were very inventive and unzipped Terri's large duffel, laid it in front of me in the little basket on the cart and lined it with blankets. I pushed and held onto her. It was like her own little cradle for the long walk between terminals. She never complained.

Again Grace was good from LA to Chicago. She was kind of restless from Chicago to Nashville. But she was still pretty good. Eddie George was sitting in front of us. The flight attendant was adopted from China as a baby and it was nice talking to her. We arrived in Nashville and were greeted by my dear friend Susan, my dad and Terri's husband. We were finally home.

I was glad to see my family, but it was so special having Susan there to meet us. I guess this is because she could understand my emotions and we had been waiting together for our girls. I had Gracie and I had held Petunia while I was in Vietnam. It is like we shared the crappy days and now we were sharing the joy. When we got home everyone was there and we were so glad to be home. There were signs and pink balloons all over the place. I immediately abandoned Grace to take a shower. She had plenty of attention. Our long journey had come to an end and our new life was beginning.