Part 2 of our homecoming-traveling with the amazing Wonder Twins!

So, after the twins gave the thumbs up and activated their super powers (read the last post, lol!) we made it to the airport nearly four hours early.  It is good to be early in terms of getting on the airplane but all of you that have small children will recognize that this is also an additional challenge. 

How do you keep active four year old twins from being:
A. Overstimulated from the airport environment which leads to difficult behaviors
B.  Understimulated and bored which leads to difficult behaviors

Well, we decided to eat (remember my last post about our favorite restaurant?)  They had a smaller version of the best restaurant in Eastern Europe inside the airport.  So, I slowly savored my last bites of chicken shish kebabs and barley mashed potatoes with fresh squeezed carrot juice.  The twins were really too excited to eat much but we managed to get them to eat a little and then decided we had better wait in the long line to get our baggage checked.

Sounds horrible, right?

Nope!  The twins were fascinated with the belts that carried the luggage:

Next was the security check point....oh man, did I dread that!  It is hectic and people behind you want you to hurry up and we had several carry on bags and two lap tops and coats to remove, *and* twins!  I had envisioned them running around or tantruming while I was trying to throw miscellaneous items in grey bins with my hair standing straight up! 

However, there were no issues whatsoever.  Once again, they were fascinated by it all!  We even had airport security that demanded to search K. (I had forgotten that her coat was still on and had a metal zipper....and you know she looks like a seriously scary terrorist!)  I opened my mouth to protest but she was already standing with her arms out and looking like a cheerleader with a huge smile while the metal detector scanned over her tiny little frame. 

Next was Wizz Air......okay, I mentioned on a previous post that this is a very "no frill" airline.  It makes Southwest airlines look like first class.  My husband likes to point out how appropriate their name is as his feet were sticking to the floor when he attempted to use the bathroom. 

However, once again, the flight went without a problem!  I. was fascinated on this leg of the trip with the safety features handout. 

He kept pointing to the mask pictures and pointing up at the ceiling over our heads and looking quizzical.  I tried to explain the best I could and used the words "it's okay" a lot in order to help reassure him.  But, he seemed fine with it and just curious more than anything. 

Oh!  I neglected to mention that this was the first time they had *ever* flown in their lives.  And, they merely smiled during take off and then played and looked through magazines the rest of the time.  Can you tell that it was just a bit cold?

They fell asleep approx five minutes before the plane landed in London.

We had two groggy babies when we arrived and we had a fair walk ahead of us to get to our taxi that would shuttle us to Heathrow airport.  I carried K. most of the way and she kept asking to go "home" in her language.  It was so hard to hear those words and know that even when we made it home that it wouldn't yet be home to her. 

As soon as we got into the taxi, I. immediately pointed at the steering wheel in the taxi with a look of surprise and confusion. 

He had noticed that the steering wheel is on the opposite side!  Very observant, especially for a sleepy four year old!  He then shrugged his shoulders and smiled at me as though to say "Whatever! What silly people!"

We arrived at Heathrow a short time later and stumbled through the brightly lit airport to a very unusual but highly appreciated hotel that is located inside the airport.

It is called "Yotel" and reminded me of a room in a train but with a space age twist. 

Robert wasn't too keen at first with the idea of a hotel that charges by the hour!  But, truly, every airport should have this as an option!

This was almost like our room except that we had bunk beds that would sleep two per each bunk....very cozily.  K. was super excited about the idea of sleeping on a bunk bed but not so happy when she learned she needed to share with her brother.  Either way, we had a place to sleep for a few hours before getting up at 5am to head for our 10.5 hour flight on Virgin Atlantic.

Sounds horrible, right?  Well, believe it or not, the twins were so happy with having their own tv and choice of recent animated movies that I was able to watch a Shakespearean type movie called "Anonymous" twice....with virtually no interruptions! 

They kept the food coming during the entire trip....and even offered kids meals!  It was wonderful!  We had two bigger meals and several snacks where they would just randomly bring by ice cream bars or dark chocolate mousse!  We even had scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream. Yum!

When we landed in San Francisco it was 1pm California time and 11pm from the time zone we had just left.  K. did not sleep at all on the plane and I. only slept for about 15 min.  So when my dad came to pick us up they were almost immediately asleep and missed their first look at California. 

I was astounded by how *green* and bright everything was!!!  It was almost difficult for my eyes to take it all in.....I had anticipated loving the warmth but completely forgot about the color green! LOL!

We had a quiet and relaxing two hour drive and the twins literally woke up minutes before we arrived home.

Can you believe how wonderful and easy that trip was....okay, it was long and had a few moments of discomfort here and there but overall it was smooth and pleasant. :-)   I am so thankful for all of the prayers said on our behalf and thankful to our loving Heavenly Father who helped us every step of the way.  AHHHHHH, we were finally HOME!!!!!!!

To be continued.....I'll try to write about our arrival and reunion with the whole family tomorrow!