After a long 20+ hour journey, we are finally back home!! It feels so incredibly great to be in our house again, you have no idea!! It's so funny how big everything seems, I mean, the counters are so high, the ceilings are so high, our car feels ginormous! And driving is a whole 'nother story...the first few times in the car we had to really concentrate what side of the road to drive on, and we kept turning on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker!! It is such a funny feeling!! We got back to the states back on October 21st, and have literally been "adjusting/unpacking/settling in/getting used to everything again" non-stop since!!
Brian's team had a very successful season this year, but ended up losing in the final game of the playoffs, just one win away from going to the Japan Series. It was a bittersweet loss, on one hand we were disappointed not to be going to the finals, but then again, we were so happy to be finally going home! The team literally gave us 2 days from the time we lost the last game, to the time we got on the plane to head back home. It all happened so fast, we had nothing packed up yet as to not "jinx" us in the playoffs, so we had a whole lot of packing to do quickly! You have no idea how much you accumulate over 6 months!!
The kids were actually really amazing on the journey home. We traveled through 4 airports, flew on 3 different planes, went through 3 outfit changes (for Brooke!), got 7 pieces of luggage, 2 car seats, 1 stroller, 4 carryons all through customs, only to have 1 of them not show up at our final destination. Brooke barely slept a wink the whole trip, I think she got in a 35 minute catnap before we even took off from Tokyo to LA and was up the entire 10 hours in the air, only to fall asleep for the last 20 minutes!! Austin got in a great nap, and actually, both kids did great on the planes. I don't even remember what all we did to keep them happy and entertained, I know I had the world packed in my carryons (ie: playdoh, books, crayons, cars, toy phones, ipods, itouches, DVD's, stickers, snacks you name it!) so that probably helped!! We were really proud of them though, they made the journey so much easier on us!
It was so surreal landing in Los Angeles and getting off the plane hearing everyone speak english, being able to read all the signs around you, actually feeling short again!! There's no words to describe that feeling of being back!! And thankfully our connecting flight to Phoenix was on time, we were that much closer to being home!
By the time we actually landed in Phoenix, we were all exhausted, I think Austin, Brooke and I all passed out on the 1 hour drive home!! But driving up to our house, getting out and being home made it all worth it, and man did it feel good!! A huge thanks to Papa Tom for being there to greet us & pick us up, to Grandma Jane for having our house all cleaned and stocked with food ready to go, and to Pop-Pop and Grandma Cathy for flying down to bring our dog Hunter back to us and to help us get settled back home! You guys are all the best, we are so lucky to have such amazing family and you have no idea how great it was to see all of you again :) It feels good to be back!!
The journey home...
(I really wish I had a picture of us wheeling in all of our luggage, and of all the media waiting at the airport to see Brian and his other American teammates off...it was a total circus!)
First flight of the journey...Fukuoka to Tokyo! All's good so far!
Taking the bus from our plane in Tokyo to the terminal...the kids loved it!
Getting checked in for our flight to Los Angeles from Tokyo!
Burning some energy in the airport before the long flight ahead!
Good thing the agent told us what gate we were at!
Which one is our plane?!
Getting ready for take off!
Enjoying the comforts of business class!
Asleep before take off...we thought we had it made right here! Little did we know she would only sleep for 30 minutes and be up the rest of the flight :)
Big fan of the head phones!
Our entire section was fast asleep the whole flight...except for...
...THIS CRAZY ONE!!!!
Whatever keeps her entertained!
At least she was happy :)
My boys keeping themselves busy with their movies :)
Now if only I can figure out what side of the street I am supposed to drive on again...
6 comments:
Do those people just freak when they see the kids in business class? SO glad to have you back;-)
It really is nice to be home again!!! Your picture of everyone sleeping on the plane made me laugh :) The guy next to us slept the entire flight and DJ wanted to punch him because he got to sleep and we didn't! Brooke could have partied with Tessa. She slept about 45 mins the entire day.
Is it bad that I still turn on the wipers every time I make a turn... ha ha!!!
Great pictures! That picture of the Crazy One is halarious! Loved the picture of everyone sleeping but Brooke! It was great seeing all of you again. We had fun playing with Austin and Brooke. We miss you guys already! xoxo :)
I don't know how you do it!!! We are so glad you are home too!!! Hope to have lots of get togethers and a great offseason!!
YEAH!! You're home. Can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks!! I LOVE that you took a pic of everyone sleeping...you are too funny :) I'm with kelsey though...did those people just die when you walk on and sit right in front with 2 kids :)
You and Brian can't feel short even here...you both are giants no matter where you go! :) Glad to have you all home!
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