We Made It!!!

It took all 18 bags we were allowed and 4 carseat bags, but we got all of our things packed.  

We had a Justin's dad's truck, our Expedition and my dad's car to get all of our things and people to the airport.

We tagged each bag with a number, took a picture of it and recorded what was in it just in case something came up missing.

 

 The girls were excited about their rolling backpacks.  

 We had a few errands to run before we went to the airport, so having 3 vehicles came in handy!!!  We got unloaded and checked in with only on little hick up....when we told them we had 18 bags they were going to charge us $200 for everyone's 3rd bag----$1,200.....so glad I didn't freak out (I maybe did a little, but I think only Justin could tell!!!)because it turned out all right. Thankfully, Justin travels enough and had a high enough status with Delta!!!

We ate lunch with our parents, went through security and headed to our flight to Amsterdam.

 I wish she had been like this for all 4,000 miles/ 8 hours, but she wasn't!!!!  She did do pretty well for a 17 month old....she wasn't any louder than the man snoring behind us or the other man laughing out loud at the movie he was watching.  The other 3 did really well...watching TV and napping.  The Bigs were funny sitting next to each other because they would try and talk to one another wearing their headphones.

I tried to watch Hangover 2, but didn't get too far---need to watch the original again sometime before I try and rewatch it.  

 The good news about the flight was all 4 girls slept for a bit, the bad news never all 4 at the same time.  Justin and I each had a bit with our eyes closed, but not too sure we ever really fell asleep.  The best comment we got was when I first boarded alone with Hannah, Kaylee and Whitney.  The flight attendant looked stunned and asked, "Do you have any help?!?!?!?!"  I told her my husband and another child were coming..........."Another child?!?!?!"

We weren't really sure how the layover in Amsterdam would be........it would have been from about midnight to 6 am our time with not a lot of sleep for anyone.

The girls did really great!!!  

 We played games, ate snacks and showered.  The shower really energized them!!!!  I am beating the shower area never had a crew quite like ours before!!

Maybe we will make a trip back to Amsterdam again to see more than the airport.  I was there in high school, but don't remember too much of it.

The next leg of the trip was with Malaysia Airlines.  As soon as we got on, everyone fell asleep for at least 4 hours.  It was great since the flight was over 11 hours.  We had all of row 3 and there was plenty of room for Whitney to play and walk around.  

I asked Hannah how she was feeling about the trip and she said, "It is a once in a lifetime experience!"  I guess she has been listening to us talk about the trip to other people!!!

 When we arrived in Malaysia we found 3 men to help us with our bags and loaded our bags in one van and the 6 of us in another.  The van ride was probably the worst part of the trip.  The girls were loud and trying to annoy one another on purpose.

Since our house isn't ready yet we are staying in a "serviced residence."  The girls walked to the McDonald's with Justin and we ate while watching Disney Channel Asia...just like a day in Indiana!!!  Some of the shows are the same as we know in the US, but others have more Asian characters.  We did see a commercial for Disneyland Hong Kong, and the girls thought it would be fun to visit!

 After lunch, they all took about a 10 hour nap!

We were hoping they would sleep until morning, but that didn't happen!!!!

We had a midnight pizza and movie party.

It's now Saturday (Jan 12th)at 3:41 am in Malaysia and the 3 Bigs are still awake.  Whitney finally went back to sleep after playing hide and seek for a bit.

We are hoping to get them to sleep soon and then have a fun day at the pool tomorrow.  Our weekend goal is to get on a more regular time schedule by Monday.

Here are a few things I have learned from this trip:

Don't pack as many activities and snacks for next time---they watched A LOT of TV and movies and didn't eat many of the snacks.

Don't pack a toothbrush for each girl---they got one

Do pack 3 outfits for Whitney--she was very entertained with water bottles and ended up dumping a lot of water on herself.  She wore the 2 tops over and over once they would dry!

Do test Benadryl...My plan was to try it out on our way home from NP, but with the stomach bug we had I didn't think it would be a good idea!

For next trip, I hope we don't have as many bags and that Whitney enjoys watching TV way more than she does today!!!!  She has a few months to work on that!!!

So far....Life is Good in Malaysia!!!