We are home!

I should have blogged that we made it home in one piece, but  1. I can't tell up from down since we are all so jet lagged and 2. I have wanted a little time to pass before I wrote about our trip home.

In hindsight, flying home went really well and Lulu was a doll. In the midst of it all, I silently cried and wished I was still single. So, the good news is that even at the worst moments, it was never Lulu who had my anger, it was the whole family. Is that good news? It was a long trip home that was exacerbated by my not being able to sleep the night before we left (I was too worried we wouldn't get our wake-up call and would be stuck in China for eternity) and my control issues. I was convinced that if we all slept on the nighttime Beijing to Seattle portion of our flight (11 hours), we could just skip the whole jet lag thing all together. Which seemed like a very good plan when I was booking our flights several weeks ago, but wasn't a plan that the whole family bought in to.

And, while it is understandable that Neal would read, eat and sleep on the flights since Lulu would cry if he got near her, it didn't curb my misery at watching him happily enjoy the in-flight entertainment while casually eating his dinner with a complimentary beer while I was stuck with squirmy Lulu on my lap grabbing at everything she could see.  Lulu didn't cry as long as I didn't put her down, and being happy, clapping your hands and squealing for joy is very sweet at 30,000 feet in the middle of night -- even if it didn't seem so cute at the time.

But, we are home! And, so happy to be home. Lulu fell asleep in the car on the way home from the airport (all that partying in the sky wore her out) so there was no issue with strapping her in to a car seat (one of my concerns). And, upon meeting Apple, Lulu gave her a good smack on the nose when Apple put her nose in her face. Now the two of them seem to be getting along just fine (another of my concerns). Apple clearly remembers the joy of sitting under a high chair from when cousin Charlotte visited. And Lulu likes to gnaw on Apple's old chew bones. So, it all works out in the end.