15 months 14 days

What a day! Hard, but nothing like when we traveled to Mali with them in January. But then, we're only half-way so far, having to spend the night in Paris. One thing I can say: we could NOT have done this without Barbara! She's a God-sent!

Last night I went to bed early, at 1 am, and while I was lying in bed, one thing after another came to me that I still had to pack or do, so I kept taking my phone to hand and jotted it down for the morning. Some time after 2 am I fell asleep.

The alarm woke me at 7 am this morning. We got up, and I went through the list, and we closed up all bags and brought them up to the entrance. They started waking up because of the noise, starting with Emmy. I then made their breakfast, and we fed them at 7:45. They weren't that motivated - probably too early - but we did get some food into them. They both walked over to Daddy to get some of Sammy's food. Then we dressed them to travel, put their coats on and put them into the car seats, while Randy was already moving our 10 suitcases and 5 carry-ons, plus the stroller, to the building entrance. The babies came last. This was the first time they were back in car seats since returning from Mali early February, and especially Tammy didn't particularly like it.

We were all the entrance, starting to move bags outside, while neither the van nor my Mom had arrived, even though it was getting late. Our friend from church called that he was lost and didn't know how to use his GPS, so I told him what to ask people on the street, and he finally found us, just after my Mom had arrived, who was stuck in traffic that caused her to need 85 minutes to get to us! Thankfully I always add extra time, just in case.

We loaded Sammy and Emmy into the big church van, as well as most of the luggage, and Tammy and I and a few carry-ons went into my Mom's little car. I sat in the back with Tammy, who didn't want to be in the car seat. There was a lot of traffic, and my Mom disobeyed the GPS, causing us another 5 minute delay, but it was all good. We got there just after the van, so perfect timing.

We unloaded everything, got three carts, and said good-by to our church friend who had been so kind to drive us. I gave my Mom Sammy's car seat, and poor Sammy had to freeze until he was in the baby carrier on my chest with my coat around him.

My Mom helped us, pushing one cart, but as we went into the terminal that we always leave from, everything was closed up. Because of Corona using the number of flights, they only use the new terminal, which was not this one. So we had to push everything down the road and up the hill to the other terminal. I just hope my Mom didn't get a ticket for leaving her car at the curb! We went inside, and the check-in counter was right there, but not even open yet, I guess because it was more than 2 hours until the flight. So it was a good thing we had lost all this time!

My Mom had to say her good-byes, and then we waited, so we got Tammy and Emmy out of the stroller. They really needed to move - and had lots of fun, walking everywhere, and going where they shouldn't. Then the personnel arrived, and we were first in line at the priority lane. The first thing they asked for is a negative Covid test, before they even started processing us. Of course it takes a while to take care of 6 people and all that luggage. In the meantime we were running after the babies, and once Emmy nearly succeeded climbing behind the counter to where the luggage is.

Finally we were done, and put them back into the stroller to go to security. Oh my, how much fun!!! Every child out of carrier and baby seat, stroller taken apart and each piece put through the machine, and all liquid baby food out of the bags, which was most of the content, and then I had to much electronics, so all that had to come out to. The fun part will be doing all this again in Paris tomorrow! I had organized it all so well, but after security it was all jumbled up, and I just had to throw it all back into the bags somehow, and it took some time and was stressful.

On we went to the gate, the babies back in the stroller and carrier. It was 11 am, and our flight was at noon. The plane was smaller than pre-Corona, but completely full. We let the kids out of the stroller again to be able to move around for a while, and move they did! That's when I did my Facebook live video. Randy took them for a diaper change, one after another, while we stayed with the others. I had milk and snacks for them, and they curiously tried out some new snacks. It took the plane a while to arrive, and I think we left a little late, and still arrived in Paris on time.

When boarding finally started, we were allowed to go first. The babies were not in the stroller, but we carried them to the entrance of the plane, where Randy had to take apart the stroller into its three pieces. I really did not know how we'd get them and all the bags into the plane, but somehow we did. The flight attendants were not very nice on this plane, contrary to past Air France experience.

There were only two seats on each side, and we had to sit behind each other as only 3 people can sit in 2 seats because of the number of oxygen masks available. Randy sat in row 9 with Sammy, I in row 10 with Tammy, and Barbara in row 11 with Emmy. Lots of people were already behind us, and it was not easy to get the luggage up and under and get settled in. They already had the baby seat belts waiting for us there. Emmy was having fun with Barbara behind me, and Sammy with Daddy. Tammy as well, standing up on me and hitting Daddy on the head. All three of us had people sitting beside us. We had to strap them in during take-off and landing, with the babies facing forward. They were already really tired, having gotten up early, and without a morning nap. Emmy started crying really hard because he was so tired, wanting his Mommy. I felt for him, but the seat belt sign was still on. I called the flight attendant and asked him whether I could take my son as well, as he needed me. He gave me a long speech about security. When the seat belt sign went off, I simply took my tired Emmy and had him on my right leg, and Tammy on my left. Now they NEVER fall asleep on me, when they have to share me, as they want me to themselves, and just interact with each other. Today they were so exhausted. At first Tammy tried to take his pacifier away, which made him cry again, and they kept each other from falling asleep for a little bit, but then they both fell asleep. When the flight attendant saw that, he found an empty seat somewhere and moved the person next to me there, so we were only 3 people in two seats.

They slept for a while, a really deep sleep, you could tell, as exhausted as they had been. Sammy also slept on Daddy for a little bit. But Emmy woke up pretty soon, and then it wasn't long before Tammy was awake to. Emmy even got to sit in his very own seat next to me for a few minutes. Then he returned to Barbara, where he was happy for the rest of the trip.

We landed in Paris, and after we got off the plane, we had to wait for the stroller to be brought back up. So everyone was long gone by then. The little ones enjoyed looking out the window at the ground below, and getting to run around a little. After all, they had to get back into the stroller once it was put back together. And off we went to the exit. They checked our passports, and we went outside to find the little shuttle train to the airport hotels. It's quite a bit of walking to get there, and my back started hurting a little. But the train was just arriving, and we got on and rode the few minutes to the hotels. We put the coats on top of Tammy and Emmy, and their hats on, as we were about to go outside. But it was just a few meters outside, and it was above freezing.

When we walked into the hotel, there were just two people in line in front of us. The hotel employee was very nice. We had two baby beds already in our room, and they brought us a third one. All the seats everywhere were cordonned off, so there was nowhere to sit, and only the bar was open to buy something to eat and drink, and only to go, which we did.

We went to our rooms, and the babies were delighted to be out of the stroller and moving around, including Sammy who got to crawl on our bed. We settled in and then started feeding them their lunch right away, as it was already going on 4 pm. The food was lukewarm, not heated up - spaghetti with meatsauce - and their appetite was not great, maybe because of milk and snacks. Emmy walked over to Daddy again and got some of Sammy's food. We finally quit, and fed the rest of it to them later as dinner.

As they had barely slept all day and were tired, we put their sleeping bags over their bodies and put them into the baby beds. They were not happy. Finally moving around, and so much to discover, and now lying down in a bed?!? Only Sammy slept a few minutes; we got the other two back out after a while and let them enjoy life.

It was really cold in the room, and the hotel sent someone to fix it. He said it if was still not working, they'd give us another room. Well, it didn't, but we did not want to have to move. Barbara's room is right opposite us, so that's practical. Thank God I packed those sleeping bags.

Sammy woke up soon as well, and we put all their clothes back on because it was cold, and then they just had fun again, exploring, coming up the bed, going back down, and Emmy fell off one time. Thankfully it's not very high. Later Barbara returned to help us feed them dinner. By then I was so very exhausted, I could not even keep my eyes open. They finished the jars, and were really tired by then, so it was definitely bed time. They got fresh diapers, their pj's and sleeping bags, and went into their beds with a prayer. It wasn't very easy, with strange, unknown beds. It took a long time to get Sammy to be happy. Emmy was asleep fast, he was so tired. Tammy did her usual dance, even though I couldn't not even walk out of sight. It took me a while before they were finally all asleep, and I could start working on today's pictures. I downloaded 168 pictures off my phone, and started picking the best, editing them, and uploading them. In the meantime Randy was sleeping in the chair. He said he'd been too tired to sit or lie down on the comfy bed. The longer I was working, the more I was waking up again, but I still had lots of work to do.

And yesterday, an acquaintance living in Paris had contacted me, saying they wanted to come to the hotel to see us. So they arrived just before 9 pm, and we sat together for a while to catch up and talk. That's when I was getting REALLY tired, and could hardly keep my eyes open. We were in Barbara's (warm) room, while Barbara was watching the babies. They said their good-byes, and we switched rooms again. Randy went to bed, and I went back to work. But first all three babies were crying at the same time, just before 10 pm, and I had a really hard time getting them to fall back asleep. It took a while. Now it's 1:15 am, and that's long it took me to do it all. But it's done, you know what's happened, and tomorrow is another busy day with lots to tell. Once again, I'll have 5 hours of sleep, if I'm lucky.

Please pray for the last part of our trip, security in Paris, the 5+ hour flight to Mali, and especially arrival in Mali, which can be quite a nuisance. Thank you!