Airport arrival - First Mom and her girls picture.

Leslie, Megan, Ken and Carly

Megan in her jammies.

Zack (on the floor), Alex, Carly, Ken, Leslie and Megan. The whole gang together.

Megan in her cool shades!

Megan showing Carly bad things to do on the slide.

Mei Mei tickling her Jieh-Jieh

Mom and her girls.

Hold on tight!!!

Amanda said Megan was a climber! The ladder is nothing to Megan!

 Sorry this has been so slow in coming!

Well Thursday, May 29th we left Guangzhou via a very nice relaxing train ride.  The train was a double-decker and very plush and spacious.  It was nice to see the country side on the way to Hong Kong.  We did it all again - planes, trains and automobiles on our journey home!  We arrived at our final hotel, the Regal Airport Hotel around 2:00 p.m.   Last time when we were in Hong Kong/Kowloon we had such a blast.  Since we had all afternoon and evening we checked into doing a tour.  Unfortunately we were too late for the afternoon tours and the evening open top bus tours started at 6 and ended at 11.  They didn't offer shuttle service to catch the tour group and we would have to be on our own to meet and return from the tour.  We figured that was too much of a hassle and would get us back too late.   Ken, Megan and I walked around the hotel and looked at the pool.  The water felt much warmer than the other pools we had been in but our suits wouldn't have been dried.  We found a kid's play area and let Megan run around there. 

Friday, May 30th we leave for home - - Back to our family and friends!!  The plane left Hong Kong at 1:05 p.m. and arrived in Chicago about 2:20 p.m.  During our roughly 14 hour flight we saw the sun set twice.  Megan did very well on the plane, didn't cry and slept maybe 4-5 hours throughout the flight.  We were in the very last row of the plane and walked up and down the aisles often.   Of course, everyone thought she was adorable.  There were a group of Chinese athletes on the plane and they were very curious about why we had her.  They talked to us and got so close while doing it, I thought they were going to sit on my lap!  They came back again and wanted to take pictures.    Another lady kept trying to win Megan over and eventually Megan let her hold her.  Then she took off down the aisle of the plane and I was left asking Ken - - how far do you think I should let her go??  Finally Megan wasn't happy because I was out of sight and she came back with her.

CHICAGO - - the US at last!  We had to get our luggage, go through immigration and then turn our luggage back in for the final leg of the trip.  Megan is now officially a citizen of the US.   We found what gate our plane was suppose to leave out of and saw it was delayed.   We were suppose to leave at 4:53 p.m. but it was now delayed until 7 p.m.   Meanwhile back home Mom was putting the wrong key in the van and locking her self out side our house.    There were storms in the St. Louis area which were causing our delay.  The 7 p.m. turned to 8:06, then 8:45 and then moved back up to 8:15.  We kept calling family back home to let them know our approximate arrival time.   Finally we get on the little plane, there were 2 seats on one side and one on the other side and you had to duck to walk.  Ken was seated back in aisle 14 and Megan and I were in aisle 4.    The plane finally took off at 8:38 p.m. and we made it to St. Louis.  The pilot said our small storm window had closed and we would have to hover and could do so for 45 minutes so there we were hanging around so close.  Next he came on and said it's still storming and we only have 10 more minutes left before we would have to divert to Springfield, IL.   As you can imagine we were very upset and worn out.  Ken came up to see us and said I'm going to go to the bathroom and then they'll probably land!  Sure enough, he never made it to the bathroom.  We finally landed at 10:25 p.m.  So after traveling for 22 hours (my disclaimer for the worn out appearance), we were finally in St. Louis.  Another 45 minutes and we would finally be home sweet home! It was wonderful to see our family and friends had hung around and waited for our arrival.   When I saw Carly, I started crying and running to her.  She must have grown a foot while we were gone!   

Megan didn't know what to make of all the fuss.  Carly tried to hug her new little sister but Megan wasn't up for that.  It was sad to see the disappointment in Carly's face, but I explained Megan doesn't understand what a sister is yet.  Our friends, the Mansfields and their kids were there too.  Their oldest daughter Amanda who has long dark hair was the only person was was able to hold Megan.   It was time to load the van and put Megan in her first car seat, yes you're right she wasn't happy!  She cried and screamed so much that my Dad got out of the van and said I'll ride back with Zach!  Chicken - - she only cried another 15-20 minutes (really loud!!!). 

Settling in - We are entering our third week at home and it is exhausting!    When we first got home, Megan had to get used to being around dogs.  The first weekend was rough and every time she saw them she would scream and Momma would have to pick her up.  We tried to put Megan in her crib the first night just like we did for weeks in China.  Only this time it was in her and Carly's room.  Megan was not having any part of us leaving the  room and cried and screamed for about a half hour.  We finally moved the crib into our room so Carly could go to sleep - - it was almost 1 a.m. at this point!  Saturday morning Carly woke up with a 102 fever and was sick for the first 3 days.

There have been many jealous moments between the two sisters getting used to each other and having to share attention.  Suddenly all the things Carly could do by herself before we left for China have been forgotten.  Megan still prefers Momma but is getting more affectionate to Daddy everyday.    Putting Megan to bed at night is challenging, one night last week it took 1 1/2 hours.  Every time you thought she had fallen asleep and tried to leave the room, she'd pop up crying.  You'd hear her stand up and by the time you turned around to look, she was out of the crib and on the floor running after you.   Since she can get out of the crib, we set up a toddler bed and tried putting her back in her & Carly's room.  That lasted about 2 hrs until she woke up and realized we weren't there.  So she's still in our room and I lay in our bed by the crib and roll out of bed and crawl out of the room once she's asleep! 

During the day, Megan appears to be settling in to our house.  She is a pro at walking up & down the stairs of our 2 story home.  She also loves playing outside in our backyard on our play set and is real climber as the photos show.  In the mornings when she sees Carly, she runs up to her and gives her a big hug.  The 2 of them are swinging on the glider together as shown in the photo.  On Father's Day, her two big brothers were over and she was able to meet her older brother.   Her younger big brother was able to get out of work and greet us at the airport.  He quickly won her over by giving her his cell phone to play with.  

Thanks everyone for your help and support during our journey to Megan.  This will be our final posting!  Take care, Ken, Leslie, Carly & Megan