Our Grand Adventure comes to a close...

We woke up Sunday morning with enough time to finish packing our bags, get dressed and take in our last minutes in Italy. We paid a little extra to have a taxi pick us up in front of our apartment and take us straight to the airport. It was well worth it, knowing the other option.

photo by Oliver

After a little mix up with Oliver's ticket to London, we got checked in and walked to our gate to wait. Our flight wasn't for a couple hours, so we took a few walks and colored to waste the time.

When they started boarding we went down an escalator to a waiting bus. The bus took us on a ride (it felt like a few miles) to our awaiting plane. The passengers were boarded on the front and back of the plane. We had the very last seats in the plane, so we climbed the back staircase.

 

Two hour flight to London and we managed to get to our next gate on time. We had a little over an hour to get off our plane, transfer terminals (by bus), go through security, get our boarding passes, and make it to the gate. 

When we board this plane the stewardess saw the boys and got really excited. She asked if they wanted to meet the pilots. Oliver had been wanting to meet a pilot since our very first flight two months ago, so he was THRILLED. The co-pilot let the Little Misters climb into his chair. I said "don't touch the buttons" and the pilot said "oh, that's okay". They even let him wear his hat. What a fun experience.

It was a long 8 1/2 hour flight to Chicago. The boys slept for about 4 1/2 hours of that time. We landed in Chicago around 10pm and found our flight was delayed an hour. It was a blessing because we feared our 1 hour and 15 minute might not be long enough. We had to collect our luggage, go through customs, re-check our bags to Minneapolis, transfer terminals (by monorail) and find a bathroom. It all worked out just fine and we were home in MN by 1:30am. A long day, 17 or 18 hours of travel but happy to be home. Plus we got to see Mormor again (she came to pick us up).