Well, spring break for the kids was upon us so it was time to fly back to the good ol' US of A and start Ally's citizenship paperwork.
We took the train up to the Brussels airport (1 1/2 hour commuter train) and Ally was simply fasinated watch everything go by. The look of pure awe was funny to watch everytime another train would go by or when we would go through a tunnel.
Not knowing how long the train would take us nor what to expect enroute, we ended up arriving 2 1/2 hours early. This put us right around noontime, so I was really glad I packed some sandwiches to bring. We ended up sitting next to a couple of older gentlemen who were returning to the States after visiting some of the WW I and WW II sites. Turns out we ended up on the same flight to JFK.
Once we were able to check our luggage, we strolled down to the absolute end of the concourse, where our plane was. The kids enjoyed watching the planes taxi around and take off.
When we had about 15 minutes left until they would start boarding, Tracy looked at me and declared "THE STROLLER!!!" Details:when Tracy returned from Moscow, Aeroflot "misplaced" our umbrella stroller. They called us the next day stating that they found it. Knowing we were going to be taking this trip, I asked them if they could hold it until the 16th. They agreed - no problem.Back to the story --- I grabbed my passport and boarding card and bolted all the way back down the concourse, downstairs to passport control, out to baggage claim and up to the Belgian Ground Services desk. Gave them my passport and the information... they came back 5 minutes later stating that they couldn't find it. I explained again that their office called me and I wanted to know what happened. The lady asked if I would like to step inside and look for myself. Sure enough, I found it in 35 seconds. Off I go again, upstairs, back through passport control and all the way down the concourse. They had already started boarding, but had not gotten to our row yet! I stopped huffing & puffing by the time we were in our seats on the plane!! hahaha
The flight was pretty uneventful, so I won't bore you with details.
Fast forward to JFK... luckily, our plane wan't full and we were pretty close to the front. In the Visa Application package Tracy received in Moscow, it warned us that the average wait for our situation was 45 minutes or more. We all got off the plane and dashed to the passport area. It was PACKED. Turns out we arrived at the same time as Delta's "baby flight" from Moscow!!! Once we cleared the passport control, we headed into the glass-walled room for the INS processing. Only one of us needed to stay there, so Tracy stayed with Ally and I took Brittany & Kaylen to go find our luggage. To this day, I am still amazed how little kids can pick out the EXACT black suitcases going by on the conveyor belt from half-way across the room! Anyway, we got everything loaded up and waited an additional 5 minutes or so and Tracy & Ally came around the corner. No problems with Customs declaration and out we went.
Once again, the flight to Boston was uneventful. The hardest part was everyone was getting tired and restless. Game Boy's weren't helping at all at this point.
We landed in Boston and jumped on the shuttle bus to the Avis rental car office. For the first time, we actually got OUTSTANDING service there. (We keep going back because they are partners with our frequent-flyer miles card.) Anyway, they weren't busy at all and the clerk was ultra-friendly. When she saw the 5 of us and she inquired our "business" in the area, she gave us a free upgrade to a mini-van. Quite a help over the sedan we had reserved!!!
Once out of there, we were off to the Holiday Inn Express for some well needed rest. (Turns out we were going to need it when applying for her passport... but that is for tomorrow's journal)
