escape

We‘re here! We’re on the other side of the world, not just on the other side, like in Russia, but other side and other end; about as far away from Houston as one can reasonably get. We crossed the equator and our seasons are flipped.

Let me tell you about the flights. From Houston to Dubai is a 14 and a half hour flight however it only felt like a 5 hour flight to us. The hardest part was take off for Bella; she cried quite a bit. She had to be in her own seatbelt which was attached to my seatbelt. We gave her bottle, but by the time we taxi and think we’re going to take off it’s gone - sucked dry.

When they brought out the bassinet, things got much better. She liked to sit and watch people and play peek-a-boo with her tiny blanket, (which is a puppy “lovey” that we’ve named “Fat Head” ). I ordered vegetarian meals which always arrived 20 minutes before the other meals so Matt could feed Bella some of my food, then when Matt’s food came, I could entertain Bella while he ate. It worked out perfectly, except that the veggie food isn’t all that great (lots of different spices and lots of spinach). Bella fell asleep pretty easily in my lap then we\transferred her to the bassinet. She just barely fit and she slept for hours and so did we. Turbulence was problematic, not that it bounced us around that much, but because we had to wake up Bella and put her back in the seatbelt on my lap. Honestly, before I knew it, we had an hour left on the flight! The time flew by! We landed in Dubai and everyone clapped. The proper airline attendants we interesting to watch because they were so formal.

When we arrived in Dubai, we exited the plane and Bella got to borrow an Emirates Maclaren stroller to get around in the airport. Customs was a breeze and very interesting to stare at men in their white dresses as uniforms. Stamp, stamp, stamp. We now all have a UAE stamp in our passport. Off to the hotel for a bite to eat and sleep. Everyone was very nice and accommodating to Bella who was the only baby we saw the entire time we were in Dubai. She wasn’t a huge fan of the Middle Eastern food (neither was I) but we both liked the spaghetti with pesto.

Back on the plane again after a 9 hour break. The Aussies are calm, cool, relaxed. There was no pushing or squeezing to get in line to board the plane. Same seats, same drills. Cry at take off, calm in the bassinet, play, eat, sleep. We were trying to stay awake on this flight because it would be considered “day” for us, but Bella and I both slept a lot…or at least the first few hours. Matt woke us up when we had 5 hours to go. The last hour and a half were the hardest because we were so excited to arrive and see Kimberly and Chloe. We landed and collected our luggage and then through customs. “Laura C & family” was the sign that greeted us. A short ride later, we got to hug Kimberly - for real!!! Pizza and wine and a tour of the house.

Bella was medicine-free during the flights, but we used some at night to make sure night was night. Ahhh! The beginning of vacation.