It's been a long while since I've had the opportunity to write in this blog, but I feel like I've left it unfinished. We've been in the States for 3 weeks and this is the first moment I've had to update. The trip home was fairly uneventful. Our dear friend Kim drove us to the airport and we unloaded our two carts full of suitcases and gear. The twins rode in their car seat stroller and I carried on a diaper bag, breast pump bag and computer. Gabriella had a suitcase and another rolling bag. Greg had a backpack, computer bag and another bag. We looked like sherpas attempting to summit Everest. We flew through Osaka Kansai Airport, which was a much less busy airport than Narita. We managed to eat a little something before boarding our plane to San Francisco. All three girls were amazing on the flight. Julia and Genevieve never cried, not once. They slept most of the flight and only woke to eat and be burped. Gabriella watched a few movies, colored her pictures and read her books. Once in San Francisco we checked our bags through customs and then rechecked them for the trip home. Then we had to go through security. That took far more time than any other portion of our trip. They made us take the babies out of their carriers. I held both and walked them through the metal detector. They sent their carriers through the x-ray machine along with all of their blankets. The tested the breast pump for explosives. It was a little overdone, they didn't offer to hand search them or give us any alternative. Greg wasn't able to help because he was pushing through each of our 15 pieces of carry on luggage. Once we were through the security ordeal we celebrated getting through it all with a delicious lunch at the Anchor Brewery in the airport. Gabriella and I passed the time exploring a few science experiments set up at the end of our hallway of gates. We had a long layover in San Fran and we were all rather exhausted by the time we got on the final flight to San Diego.
We touched down in San Diego and unloaded ourselves off the airplane. As we walked down into the baggage area we were greeted by our families. My parents, Greg's parents and Grandparents were waiting for us. After a few fierce hugs and tearful hellos we grabbed our bags and headed out to the 3 different cars required to transport us home. Greg stayed in San Diego while Gabriella, Julia, Genevieve and myself went back up to my parents house. All and all we travelled almost 24 hours with no tantrums, screaming bouts and only one spoiled bottle of milk. I would rank this as our most complicated but successful trip ever. The best part of the trip was getting back home in California with family and friends.
