We Made It!

On New Year's Day, we drove to the Hilton at O'Hare to spend the night so we'd be nice and close for our morning flight the next day.  Took a while for the kids to settle in that night for bed, but we all got a decent night's sleep.

January 2nd, 2013 - Moving to Calgary day!!!  First of all, happy 3rd birthday to our little girl!  Sorry it's going to be such a long day of travel and such, but you did just have 5 Christmases and 1 big birthday party, so I hope we're forgiven. 

Flight time, and Ben was a pro!  He loved everything about the plane, and certainly loved when it was time to "turn on his electronic devices".  We surprised him with "Angry Birds Space", and he was set for the next 3+ hours.  Nathalie, on the other hand, was a little less than enthused to be strapped down in a seatbelt for 3 hours.  Really, I'd say that was the hardest part for her...she just didn't want than stinkin' belt!  Thank you, Jesus, for the gracious flight attendants who were kind and patient.  And thank you, candy, for being my new best friend.  It wasn't pretty folks...there were suckers upon granola bars upon fruit snacks upon Pez dispensers that occupied this little miss as best as possible.  We did color, read, and sing a bit too.  About 20 minutes before landing, it was time to fasten that darn seat belt again, and I started praying like a mad woman on how I was going to get this accomplished.  Answered prayer...Nathalie miraculously fell asleep in my lap.  I had never been so relieved in all my life!  We made it through flight time, but the day wasn't over yet...

We landed and made our way to the customs agent.  From there, we needed to proceed to Immigration, as the visa paperwork for me and the kids needed to be processed and approved.  That took nearly an hour and felt equally as painful as moments of the flight...as we now had two very hungry and antsy kiddos.  We managed to balance all the luggage and car seats on a cart and wheel off to get the rental car.  We loaded the car seats, squeezed 2 suitcases in the trunk with a couple of carry-ons, had one more suitcase at Nathalie's feet, and another one in between the kids on the back seat.  Oh my!!

From the airport, we headed straight for the Customs Office.  The moving truck had arrived with our stuff, and we needed to sign for it that day to be able to have it delivered the following day.  Greg went inside while we waited in the car.  He thought he was in good shape when he pulled #20, and they were already on #18.  No such luck.  He waited over an hour...mind you, the kids and I are still in the cramped car.  It was not pretty.  Thank goodness for the "I'm so hungry I could eat a ....." game.  And we really were so hungry we could have eaten just about anything!!  Greg finally emerged, and we headed off to find food and unwind at our new house!

Our first meal in our new home??  Wendy's.  We didn't really care what it was; we were starving!  The kids ate for a bit, but I think they were just relieved not to be strapped into a plane or car that they started running around like crazy chickens, exploring the new house, turning on all the lights, and just glad to be free!  We unloaded a bit, just bringing one suitcase with us to the hotel that night and leaving all else behind at the house. 

We made a quick run to Safeway to get a few essential groceries for the house, then packed up and headed to the hotel around 6:30 p.m. Calgary time.  It had been a long day!  Nathalie fell asleep in the car and was completely out until morning.  Poor thing, what a crazy birthday.  Ben was happy to relax a bit with his new Angry Birds game before we all called it a night.  Looking forward to getting all of our things tomorrow and starting the process of settling into our new home and new city.  Calgary, we made it!!