Chronicle of Norway (Part 6) Our Trip Home

Well we are home. And tell me why am I up typing this at 5:00 am? Who knows, my clock is off a bit I guess. Or maybe it is because the kids' clocks are off. The boys were up at 2 am ready for the day. I couldn't get them to go back to sleep, so I have been up with them ever since.

Well on Tuesday morning we got up at 4:00 am (that is 8 PM on Monday in Colorado by the way) to get ready to leave. I couldn't believe our time in Norway had already come to an end. We packed up our final items, got dressed, and had a bite to eat. It is about a one hour drive to the airport from where mom and dad live and dad went along to show us the way. He drove his own car so he could get back home. Thanks dad!!

We arrived at the airport at about 5:30, checked our luggage and were on our way through security and passport checks to the gate. Our plane left for London at about 8:00. The flight was packed this time. The kids were pretty crazy, but we tried to keep them occupied. It was only a 2 hour flight to London, but we knew what was ahead. We had a 3 1/2 hour layover in London Heathrow which has to be one of the worst configured airports I have ever been in.

We got off the plane and there was a small seating area there before going back into the terminal and we decided to spend as much time there as we could to avoid the crowds in the main terminal. We spent about an hour and a half there and the kids were able to run an play. Then we headed to the main terminal to wait for our flight to start boarding. Mike took the boys to buy snacks and then I took the girls. As I was headed to the shop to buy treats I noticed it said that our flight was boarding. I said WHAT? we still had about an hour and 15 minutes before I flight was scheduled to leave. We bought our snacks and went to gather Mike and the boys to head to our gate.

What a surprise we had when we got to our gate. We found out we were going to be bussed from this terminal to another, then we would have to go trough the security checkpoint in the new terminal again and walk to our gate. UGH!!!! what a mess. After we finally arrived at our new gate it was utter chaos. Nobody knew what was going on. It took forever for them to get us boarded and we ended up being about 45 minutes late to leave London. With 5 kids this was a nightmare!!! But they gave us a box of chocolates when we got on the plane, so that made everything all better. (not really)

The kids on the bus to "the other terminal".

The plane ride was the longest plane ride ever!!! I swear that 9 hours just absolutely dragged on and on and on. The kids didn't sleep much and I swear Jake and Kyle had to go to the bathroom about every 15 minutes. But I watched most of 4 different movies. We kept the kids occupied with the movies the plane offered, Disney channel the plane offered and our own Ipod movies, Dvd player, DS, and gameboys, and lots and lots of treats. They did pretty well, but it wasn't easy.

We arrived in Denver at 4:00 in the afternoon, but we weren't done yet. We had to go through customs and passport checks and claim our baggage. It took almost an hour before our luggage was all gathered and we headed out to meet Pete and Mel and our car and Mandy. (Mandy was sure excited to see us) Thanks Pete and Mel for coming to get us. We loaded up our 10 suitcases, 6 carry-on bags, my purse and Mike's computer, all the kids and we headed home. We arrived home at about 6:40 pm. All the kids except Kaylee were asleep in the car. We carried them in and all our stuff and everyone fell asleep except Mike and I. We finally headed to bed about 9:30. We had been up for 25 1/2 hours straight. We were beat.

Kyle woke me up about 2 am. I coaxed him into my bed where he slept for about an hour. Then both he and Jake were up for good. No matter how I tried, they would not go back to bed or sleep so I got up with them. I figured if I'm up I might as well be typing, so here I am. I think I am read for normal life to begin again. I am sure I will be tired for a day or two while I get back on schedule. But it will be fine.

Our trip was such a wonderful experience. I am so grateful that we were able to do it. It will be an experience the kids will never forget. Mike and I are already starting to plan our next trip (for just the two of us). Hopefully we can go in about 5 years. That is what we will plan for.

P.S. I ate WAY too much chocolate, ice cream and deserts while we were there. I managed not to gain any weight though somehow. Yay!!!