We awoke this morning in a surreal state.....was this really the day we were heading back to Africa??? We got ready, loaded our luggage into the van, and headed to my mom's house to drop off Ashton, Malia, Jalen and Jordan. It was hard to say goodbye to the kids, but we were finally on our way to Chicago. We stopped at Meijer to pick up a few last-minute items (and take a lovely forest-face pic of Adrian), then drove to Winona Lake where we ate lunch at The Boathouse on the lake.
Afterward, we met Chris's parents and sister at the Bass Pro Store and spent about an hour and a half with them (they had flown into Chicago on their way home from Oregon, and we were passing them on our way into Chicago).
This corrugated metal on the ceiling reminded me of the tin shacks that we were about to see in Ethiopia again:
Shana and Angie:
We got stuck in Chicago traffic for awhile, so Shana kept busy coloring a kaleidoscope picture and Adrian worked on drawing a shark and other underwater creatures:
We finally made it to the Marriott, where we left our van and caught a shuttle to the airport. Check-in went fine, and there were no extra baggage fees. Yay! And no one ever weighed our carry-ons, which was probably a good thing. We grabbed a bite to eat and waited for our flight to board. Finally, we were on our way to Istanbul!
Our little world travelers:
Once we were on our way, I opened a piece of paper that Ashton had stuck in my purse before we left home. He told me I was not to open it until we were on the plane. When I did, I burst into tears. I already missed my kids so much!
And away we go!
That note is the sweetest! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!
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