The Trip Home
We waited in line at the airport for 45 minutes or so. When we got to the front the lady behind the counter needed the boys' adoption decree. I gave it to her and she printed out our airline tickets. It is easy to get into a country but alway hard to get out. We first headed through security-you know the deal: laptops taken out, belts and coats off-the US is the only place where I have had to take off my shoes. Then we go through Customs: are you taking anything out of the country like art, antiques etc. Then passport control, show your passports, adoption decree, new birth certificates. She stamps our passports and we go get in line to board the airplane. The first flight lasts three hours, from Kiev to Amsterdam. They served us an omelet and some fruit, Jack and I ate ours, Sasha only at the candy bar they gave us. The boys slept most of the way right on top of me, I couldn't even get my arm out to scratch my nose. When we landed everyone applauded, that's a Ukrainian thing. We meandered our way through the Amsterdam airport to our gate for another security check and more passport controls. This second plane was huge. The flight lasted almost ten hours, the boys were a bit antsy. I watched 3.5 movies-more than what I normally watch in a year. Sasha refused to watch the movies because I told him no rated R. He pouted most of the way. We sat next to a very nice man who worked for Polaris in Minneapolis ( or Many apples as Sasha called it). They fed us an interesting spread of food-of which Sasha ate none except the cake and ice cream. I spoke to a lady who was on her way home from adopting two cute little ones from Ukraine. I guess they were at the embassy when we were, but in the playroom area. She said Jack helped her fetch her daughter out of the men's room when she ran in. We landed in Minneapolis and were pretty tired, none of us slept at all on the long flight. We had to go through Immigration which can take a long time. We handed over the brown envelopes from the embassy, both boys were fingerprinted and declared new citizens of the USA. I think they missed the significance of the event. Then we had to get our luggage and recheck it-something that has to do with Homeland security I think, or maybe customs because they check you for food or agricultural items. We had to go through customs and security again, then we headed for our gate with a stop for a slice of pizza on the way. We were able to use my cell phone so we talked to Jeff, Laura and my Mom. The last flight was an hour, the boys slept the entire time. We landed and were so happy to see Jeff and Matthew. Matthew's first words to me were "Why did you take to LONG?" We talked about staying in a hotel, but Jack and Sasha didn't want to. So we started the two hour drive home. Jack and Sasha slept most of the way, I ran into the grocery store for a few things. That was a mistake, I was so tired I couldn't remember what I was in there for and I felt drunk. When we got home the boys ran all over the house, played with some toys, had a snack and we all went to bed. It was great to be home!