We finally made it

After staying at Jeff's all day Saturday, we went to the correct Qantas terminal that night at 9:30, two and a half hours before take off. We thought it would go smoothly (since nothing could be worse that what we'd already been through) but we were wrong. I didn't have a paper ticket that I needed for Ashley (I thought we were all on e-tickets). They insisted that I "must have the paper, where is the paper? you can't board without the paper", etc. etc. So dumb. I booked my tickets directly through Qantas, you would think they could easily verify my payment, etc. and we would be good to go. No. This is the most disorganized, chaotic, non-sensical process I have ever observed. It was like every passenger was having a problem trying to check in and every employee seemed confused. After finally getting a new paper ticket printed (which took 45 mintues), we were able to get through and go to the gate. (By the way, the passenger checking in next to us had the same problem and they ended up making her pay for a new ticket for her baby). The whole time Diane and I were checking our watches so we could compare and note what time we boarded, how late the other passengers arrived, and when the flight was closed. At 11:05 we hadn't even begun boarding yet- which was the same time they denied us the night before saying "the flight is closed". There will be a long letter written to Qantas in the next couple of days. Not happy, not happy at all.

Anyway, the flight went well b/c we boarded at midnight so the kids were wasted. Austin slept about NINE hours! I had to keep checking to be sure he was there. Olivia slept about 6-7 hours, the first half of the flight, but was awake alot of the second half. Ashley slept about 4 hours or so then napped a few times after that. I was able to sleep a few hours with Austin since the flight wasn't full and the two of us spread out on three empty seats across from our assigned seats. It's funny how there is a mad dash for the open seats once the seatbelt sign is off. Diane was about to throw punches with the guy behind us if he even tried to take those three seats. Later she laid over there with Austin and got some rest too. It was unfortunate that we took off about an hour late (we taxied forever) and landed about 30 minutes late. When the flight time is 13 hours, any delay feels like FOREVER.

We got through customs just fine even though we were loaded with food and candy. No problem. It still takes a while so the whole process from landing to home was 3 hours. Jared had the place nice and clean but we destroyed it pretty quickly opening suitcases, playing with toys, and eating lunch. It was so good to be home. We just wish Jared was here to greet us! He left for his trip at 7:15 am- our planes probably passed each other in the air. He will be back on Saturday, hopefully and plans to take Monday off to spend time with us.

BTW- Blogger no longer even shows an icon to upload photos. Is this the subtle way they are forcing me to Beta? Has this happened to anyone else? Weird. My mac has never had a problem.