Day 2559. Yesterday was our last day in the US - day 51. The kids were up early to play with the kids of the house one last time before they had to go to school. Eventually I also got up - after a short night - and started packing right away. Once I was done, I went to the kitchen to have breakfast, eating our leftovers. Randy was loading all our luggage into the car, and the kids were playing with the dog. The dog was playing with Tammy, grabbing her shirt and not letting go which made Tammy laugh. I took one last picture of the parents with the triplets, then it was time to say good-bye. Before driving off, we prayed for them, then we waved them good-bye.
We left just before 10 am and needed just over an hour to get to the airport. We only stopped once to refuel the car and arrived at the Hertz rental car return at 11 am. It was the busiest rental car return I had ever seen, with cars constantly pulling up first behind and then next to us. Randy still had the hard job of taking out the car seats and putting them into the two, big and nearly empty suitcases, then filling the empty spaces around them with the small things that had been in those suitcases. They still weighed less than what they were allowed to weigh, while the other three suitcases were packed perfectly, weighing what they should or less.
One of the employees there saw us with three kids and all the luggage and felt for us. He talked about someone driving us to the terminal but it was not possible to fit another person into the car. He then was so nice to bring us one cart. One cart was better than none. Once we were ready, we started moving in the direction of the elevators. We found another car there which made everything easier. It was quite a long walk, and after the elevator there was more walking until we reached the rental car shuttle that would take us to the terminal. The bus that was there had just been filled, so we were asked to wait for the next one. The workers there were really nice, talking to the kids and giving us free, cold water. It was another really hot day. Once the shuttle arrived, the driver put the ramp out, and I walked in with Sammy while Randy got all the suitcases into the shuttle through the other door. It's interesting how every shuttle driver has been different. This one simply told us to turn on the wheelchair's brakes. Once the shuttle was full, we started our drive to the terminal. There was a navy soldier there that we ended up talking with.
It was noon by the time the shuttle let us get off. Unfortunately they don't stop at the international terminal so we had to walk to it, one terminal over. Luckily there was an available cart right there that we used. A little while later we found another cart that we also used. But it was quite a walk to the terminal, and it was challenging. Once inside, there was more walking until we found the check-in counters. We went to the "special assistance" lane where there were a few people in front of us so we had to wait for a while. There was someone with a cat in a box so the kids looked at the cat.
Finally it was our turn, and the guy at the counter was very nice. We were able to not only check our 5 suitcases, but also the 2 kid-carry-ons we didn't need on the trip. Then he showed us where to wait for the lady that would help us with the wheelchair. After a few minutes she arrived and pushed Sammy all the way to the gate.
After a restroom stop, we first had to go through the passport check. There were no issues this time around. Then we went through the scanners. Sammy had to come out of the wheelchair which he was not happy about. Once our stuff had gone through, I saw that two of my bags had been pulled aside for further scrutiny. I had forgotten to take Emmy's tablet out of the one bag, and it turned out that it was coins in the second bag that had troubled them on the screen. I then got my luggage, and we continued moving in the direction of the gate. That's when the lady left us.
As it was 1:30 pm, and we were hungry, we walked to the nearby food court that was extremely busy and picked KFC - we never go there, and I was positively surprised how good the food was. After ordering, we left Randy and Sammy to wait for it while the rest of the kids and I started walking around to see whether we could get a table anywhere. It took a while but then we did. We then had a good time eating our last American meal. After we were done, it was time to go to the nearby gate. Randy wanted to change Sammy's diaper first, so we waited right outside the restroom, when I heard them call our names. They were starting to preboard! I quickly went to the gate to let them know we were there but that Sammy was still in the restroom. Then we went back to let Randy know he needed to hurry.
When we were finally at the gate, I realized Randy had left his drink outside the restroom so he quickly went to get it, then we could finally go on board. It was so nice to have Austrian flight attendants that spoke our language again, and they were very nice as we walked onto the plane. Tammy, Emmy and I had the three seats by the window, while Randy and Sammy sat across the aisle from us.
The flight was nearly 12 hours long. We took off at 3 pm and arrived at 11:30 am Austrian time which was 2:30 am in Los Angeles. I told the kids to go to sleep as early as possible to help with the time adjustment. Tammy took my advice and impressed me when she went to sleep at 7 pm LA time, and she slept for a long time. Sammy wanted to be with me so he switched seats with his brother who did not want to sleep and slept with his head on my lap. I had to hold him, and he moved quite a big, plus I had to move him to a better position a few times, so I only had short naps of a few minutes repeatedly. Emmy stayed up for a long time before we made him stop watching/playing and told him to sleep.
Two hours before our arrival they served us a breakfast. As always, the kids had hardly eaten anything, whether the dinner in the beginning or the breakfast at the end. All three were awake before we landed. Sammy was really excited to be back in Vienna.
We got off the plane, got the wheelchair back and made our way to the exit. We went through passport control, then walked to the baggage claim area. Our bags were already coming out, and we loaded them onto the one cart we had. Then we continued walking, taking our luggage outside with us. Our friend from church was already there, waiting to pick us up. Sammy was especially excited to see him. We followed him to the church van. It was quite hot, nearly as hot as in Los Angeles. It took us some time to put the car seats into the van, as well as all the luggage, then we could finally start the drive to our house. I sat up front and got to talk to our friend.
By 1:30 pm we pulled up by our house. Again, it was Sammy who was especially excited. I got the kids into the apartment and let Randy bring in the luggage. However, the kids and I all went upstairs to the lady who had my key and the mail. We talked to her for a little bit, then we returned to the apartment.
I was really tired and had a hard time functioning. The boys had each received a birthday present already, but not Tammy, so I gave her one. She was very excited and wanted to try it out right away so I had to read the manual and help her. That had not been on my agenda.
Then they were saying how hungry they were so I made a quick meal with what we had at home. Randy was starting to unpack suitcases. After having eaten, he went to the grocery store to get some basic food. As for me, I was trying to get some stuff done but I was so extremely tired. I finally gave up and closed my eyes. I got woken up a lot but I did get some sleep because I just had no choice. Eventually I had to get up and do some things, and as time went on, I felt better and better. It was 7:15 pm before I started making the kids' dinner. They enjoyed eating Austrian food again. They then had a shower and got ready for bed; it was after 8 pm before they were finally in bed. Thankfully they fell asleep easily. Randy then got himself something to eat, and I had some little things later. I started working on the pictures and the report. Now it's after 1 am, and all three kids have been up already. Randy took Sammy back to his bed, while the other two are in our bed and are struggling with being able to fall asleep again. It's time for me to join them. We do have a busy day tomorrow.
