July 1/2 ~ Getting There

Hey look at Chad being all patriotic on Canada day at the airport. July 1st felt a bit like any other day in regards that we missed the good ole Abbotsford parade. Much more exciting things on the agenda though. My nerves were shot with all the stress of packing and the thought of flying. Yikes! All I wanted was to just be in Ireland already!

Do I look nervous in this picture? You know when you have to do something dreadful, all you want is to be on the other side of the situation. That's what I wanted. To get that plane ride over with!!!

The kids were such great travellers. Seriously! They acted as if they had traversed airports and flown in planes all their life. Such adaptable little creatures. Liam wasn't quite as impressed with the whole rigamarole.

The flight was very smooth. As soon as we were at flying altitude one could almost forget they were in an airplane. It definitely makes a difference going on a big 777 as oppossed to a small airbus like the one we took to Mexico last time. I am extremely happy to report that I didn't take my Ativan. It was enough to know that I had it in my purse if I needed it.



Nate sat across the aisle from us. He certainly enjoyed 9+ hours of movies and shows on his personal TV screen. We really didn't hear from him the entire trip.

Chad was my seat buddy. He was grand! He was the lucky one with the window seat and got to see some incredible views. It was daylight for our entire flight so there was always something to take a peek at.


Ah Liam. He didn't do too badly. I had forgotten just how loud planes are inside so it definitely helped to mute the whinging and whining. He napped or fussed. Babies just don't understand or care about travelling. They just want their routine! Thankfully, due to the excitement of the trip I found that the 9 hour flight didn't seem so long. Mind you it was plenty long enough and I don't think I'd ever want to be on a flight that was longer than that! Thank you to everyone that prayed for a smooth journey...God definitely answered all of our prayers!

Here are Nate and Chad on the bus that transported us between terminals at Heathrow. That airport is a nightmare....a total freaking nightmare. The weather was hot and humid in London that day and I think about three quarters of that airport does NOT have air conditioning! We were stinky and sweaty by the time we reached our gate. It took approx 1 hour to walk to our terminal. Eternal hallways, lifts, people movers, securities, check points....you name it. Crazy.

Waiting for our flight to Belfast. This area of the airport was seriously at least 35 degrees. We were wilting.

The flight over to Belfast was quick. A one hour plane ride is a piece of cake after a nine hour one! I was much more nervous on the small plane because you feel every bump. I would have taken a pill but for such a short flight it didn't seem worth it. I was already tired and was afraid I'd be completely incoherent if I took one at that point. We still needed to get to Letterkenny and be able to converse with our friends!

We were so glad to see Darryl's happy face at the airport to pick us up! We were just as happy to see that all our luggage arrived in good order. Yippee! As you can see it all fit into Darryl's car nicely. We even had room for this little boy we picked up along the way :) The drive to Letterkenny was just under 2 hours. I was just drinking in the scenery but the boys nodded off and Liam whimpered with exhaustion. We had lost a day in travel and everything was off kilter.

Our first meal with the Hamm family. We had some delicious quesadillas and lots of water. Flying does make a body extremely thirsty.

After dinner we decided to go on a refreshing walk. The older kids played games and all the babies went to bed. It felt so good to stretch our legs after all that sitting.

Sinead and I walking the beautiful country roads. The weather was a big muggy which is unusual for them. The road you see is not a driveway....it's a two lane road with an 80 km speed limit!

The boys had the downstairs bedroom/office to themselves for our stay. They also had an ensuite so were really living in the lap of luxury. Darryl and Sinead made it very comfortable for all of us!

Keith and I shared a room with Liam. Ceara graciously gave us her personal space and moved in with her sister Clodagh. We were so grateful to lay our heads down on our pillows that night. What a long day that was!