Friday (8/28)

FRIDAY! Despite the fact that we had come to Ethiopia on a long awaited trip to pick up the boys, the new had worn off and we were both MORE than ready to get back home with the them. Fast.

We really didn't do anything on Friday but pack. The boys played outside, watched a movie, played in the room, watched "mekinas" (cars) from the windows...they had really done fabulous all week as we had been confined to a small space.


We forced naps on them in the afternoon (I say forced, because it definitely wasn't done willingly). Our flight didn't leave that evening until 10:15 pm. We had to be at the airport around 6:00. And they were used to going to bed at 8:00 pm...figured it would be a long night...

They both actually did really well...I'm not sure if it was the excitement of all things new or what, but they did fantastic at the airport that night. I took them to the bathroom while Kenny was filling out some paperwork for us and just about couldn't get them out. Imagine taking 2 little boys that have lived in an orphanage for the past 18 months into a bathroom with automatic soap, automatic water, automatic hand dryers...they were in heaven! And we made quite the mess while we were in there...who can resist turning the water on just one more time??!!

We took turns just walking the airport once we got settled. Charlie found the "Duty Free" shop and somehow we ended up with a massive bag of fun size Snickers. The bad part is, neither one of us remember what we did with it after boarding the plane. The good part is, someone took a picture of Sam enjoying his first Snickers...if you can't tell, he is loving it, but picking out the nuts, one by one, and placing them in my hand. We were both quite sticky after this ordeal.


We passed through security about 47 times before we acutally ended up in the area waiting to board the plane. I wish you could have seen the boy's faces the first time they saw the plane. Facinated! They literally sat right in front of Kenny the entire time, just watching. And it was dark, so they could barely see anything. If you can't tell, they are both holding toy airplanes. Those were very instrumental in our trip home and they stayed close by the whole way. (Thanks First Steps!)


Sam passed out as soon as we got on the plane and slept about 7 hours. Charlie finally calmed down around 1:00 am and slept for a while. Kenny & I slept on and off and tried to constantly figure out what meal we were being served. It seemed like every hour they were bringing more food. I can honestly say that was the longest 17 hours of my life......