We Made It Home Safe and Sound!

We left for the airport at 7:00 a.m. for our 10:10 flight. Check in went well and then we had to say goodbye to our fantastic guide. It was hard to say goodbye. I don't know how I would have made it through without her. If you're lucky enough to have Veronica, she is the absolute best!

We landed 20 minutes late in Tokoyo. I wasn't 100% positive we were late because they only announced the local time in Japanese, not in the Chinese or English translation. But I figured between 20 minutes late and 40 minutes early, we were most likely late. As soon as we got off the plane, there were airline personnel asking MSP?? Then I saw a sign with our names. Then it got really funny as they started running us through the airport. Through security. Down to a bus to drive us from one terminal to another. Amanda wasn't moving any faster than a slow walk and at one point I saw a woman carrying her and running as we tried to get to our connecting flight as soon as possible. We pretty much had a private transfer bus and at that point the guy said he'd called ahead and let them know we were coming, checked to see if our luggage was checked all the way through (yes), and if we had boarding passes (no). In the end, we were seated 20 minutes before the plane took off, but we were all laughing. Amanda was carrying a big stuffed Goat/Sheep and a flight attendant thought it was so cute she had Jessica take a picture with her.

We slept off and on the entire trip back. Immigration took awhile as the agent took care of all the attendants and pilots from our flight first. I found it funny too that the family in the room next to us at the White Swan were in front of us when we got back to the US.

After going through immigration and customs, we got to see a some friends and their daughters who met us at the airport. Amanda got to see right away that there were other families like hers. Then she had her first experience with a carseat and that's when she lost it. She had a tantrum the entire way home. My friends stayed a little while (I wonder if Amanda thought she's aquired 2 more sisters?) then left us. Amanda did not like our dogs and cat. She was petrified of them, so they will be spending some extra kennel time until she gets more comfortable being around them.