Home!

We are home! We got back last night, after another marathon journey. We had a direct, 11-hour flight from Paris to Seattle, and then a several hour wait and a last short hop to Portland. Just as I suppose happens on any trip, we had some ups and downs. The ups included the wonderful behavior and patience displayed by our older children on the planes, and the lovely people that sat behind us on the long flight, who spent hours playing with Rosie through the seats.

The downs included Rosie throwing up all over the cab on the way to the Paris airport and the earth-shaking tantrum Mateo threw as we were trying to check in and go through security. People were actually stopping to gape at us.

Also, once we got on the plane, Rosie tuned up her earsplitting shrieking voice and spent much of the flight, when not eating, briefly sleeping, or playing with the people behind us, loudly expressing her displeasure at the situation. Yes, we were _those_ people with the obnoxious baby in tow, for a very long flight. I felt bad for the people around us, but we were doing the best we could.

But, we made it back. By the skin of our teeth, but we made it. We were really happy to see Apa when we got though security!! And, happier still to get home to our house. I couldn't stop humming "God Bless America." thankfully, we got home around 6, gave the kids some time to unwind and play, and were all in bed by 8 or so. Everybody but Rosie (surprise, surprise, I know!) slept through the night, and even she was only up twice.

We were up about 7 this morning, although by that point Mateo had been up since 5 and Rosie since 4, but everybody was mobilized by 7. We went out for bagels, mostly because we had no food in the house, and have spent the day unpacking and managing our crazed kiddos, who are certainly entitled to act a little crazy after all the change they have had in the past couple of days. I thought a big dose of caffeine would help me this morning, but, alas, it had very little effect. Hoping for a better mood and more patience tomorrow.

I spent some time earlier going through all of our photos and remembering the trip. It really was amazing and well worth the challenges that came along with it. We, both adults and kids, had all kinds of new and fun experiences, plus a lot of great family time. I feel like we really made the most of each place we visited, and that we did a good job of focusing on what would be interesting to the kids when we planned out our days.

Here are a few things, big and small, that I learned on our trip:

1. I love European coffee, and wow is it strong!

2. Natalia can sleep anywhere and is immune to jet lag, for the most part.

3. Sacha is amazing (which I already knew, but watching her navigate the trip and all the ups and downs just made me that much more impressed).

4. Going for a run in the south of France has got to be the most perfect thing ever.

5. Our kids are loud. Especially when they are supposed to be being quiet!

6. Tali despises agua con gas (fizzy water).

7. The Eiffel Tower is really very tall and I have no desire to visit the top.

8. One could get very used to regular dining at two- and three-star restaurants.

9. Attempting to visit Notre Dame in the middle of a mass with aforementioned loud children might not be a great idea.

10. Staying at a hotel near the Tuilleries, a massive garden and amusement park complete with trampolines and casual cafes, is an inspired idea (thanks, Mom and Dad!)

11. Our kiddos are flexible enough to hang with a variety of babysitters, regardless of their English abilities. We left them for seven evenings and one afternoon out of the two weeks we were there and they seemed fine with it. We had planned ahead and requested the same babysitter when it was going to be multiple nights in one place, so they had some consistency. It was also good that much of the babysitting occurred near or bedtime, so they were with us for the vast majority of their waking hours.

12. It was fun and good to experience other cultures and ways of doing things, and it also made us appreciate this country all the more.

13. We are ever so grateful to my parents for having the idea and inviting us along and making it all possible and taking such good care of us, and to my sister for making the time to be there. And, to all three of them for helping out so much and spending so much time with the kids. Sacha and I were pretty much chopped liver with Auntie E and Grammy and Grandpa around, which was fine with us!

14. Bringing a 15-month-old, a four-year-old, and a five-year-old on an international journey might have been the craziest thing we could have done, but we made it! (Before we left, I read a blog post that posited that kids who are a year and a half old are hardest to travel with, especially on long flights. That is TRUE. Wow, did Rosie give us, and the rest of the plane, a run for our money! I am endlessly grateful that she will be older next time we attempt a big trip.)

As we were boarding our first flight of the trip, I felt like we were at the top of a roller coaster with no way to get off! But, as Sacha said as we were descending into Paris, if we could do this, we can do anything, travel anywhere. Already, plans are being hatched. Not for anytime soon, though. For right now, all we want is our home, our beds, and maybe even, if we're lucky, a little sleep.

PS: Now that we are back and have a little more time, I am going to go back and add photos and blog about the second week of the trip. Not today - the Olympics are calling, if I can stay up that long! - but soon.

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