The Flight Home

I'm sitting here on the airplane as Camille sleeps next to me. The airport experience was a "good news/bad news" sort of situation. The "bad news" was that at EVERY SINGLE checkpoint, my mother-in-law was stopped and interrogated. Her overly-stuffed boxes and bags were all opened, and she had to surrender some canned goods (which she could have bought anyway at any Filipino or Asian market five minutes away from her house here in the States). After a bit of a hassle, she got through ... but not without a little bit of stress ... and grease money.
The "good news" was that while my mother-in-law was having her boxes opened and inspected, Reg spotted a couple of famous Filipino movie stars -- Richard Gutierrez and his mom, Anabelle Rama. Reg was playing it pretty cool on the outside, but I could tell that inside, she was as giddy as a teenie bopper at Jonas Brothers' concert. Too bad for Reg's mom though. She gets totally giddy and star struck at the sight of a famous Filipino actor/actress. But as she was trying to grease the baggage guy, Reg asked Richard for his picture:


For Reg, that picture with Richard was the perfect ending to a fantastic and unforgettable trip.

In the airport and during the half hour or so before we took off, Camille was a bundle of energy. I may be wrong, but I think she sensed something special was taking place. I also think that she was totally overstimulated by all the hustle and bustle. As a result, Reg was kind of pooped out even before the plane took off. Camille wasn't crying or anything. She was just restless, and, of course, she would only let Reg carry her. Poor Reg. She fell asleep five seconds after Camille did. So, now I'm sitting here while the two of them are fast asleep. I hope Camille sleeps throughout the flight!

OK, I'm back. The flight is nearing the end. Camille slept for about 9 of the 13 hours. During the four hours she was awake, she was understandably restless -- wanting to walk, wanting to sing, wanting to grab anything and everything in sight. It was tiring for Reg because the Cameleon didn't want to be carried by anyone other than her mother. Reg was a trooper, and in retrospect, Camille was fine. We were waiting for a total meltdown, but that never happened.

In flight movies: "Bedtime Tales", "Quantum of Solace", "Marley & Me" (Dude, Jennifer Anniston is babe-a-licious).

Here are pictures of Camille on her flight to America!!!

And one last thing ... just like on our flight going to the PI, all requests to join the mile high club were soundly rejected by Reg. Arrrgghh!

After we landed, we spent about an hour in various lines, including immigration. When the immigration officer handed us Camille's approved paperwork, he congratulated us and explained how to get her social security card, green card, etc. Unfortunately, things were happening so quickly, I don't remember anything he said. I guess I'll just google it.

After getting through all the lines, we were greeted by about 8 of Reg's family members who were so excited to see Camille. Camille didn't seem too fazed about all the attention, and she sat quietly in her baby Bjorn as we trudged our way out the airport.

Finally, we drove home, and for the first time in her life ... Camille sat in a car seat!!!! We expected her to resist being harnessed down, but she only mildly protested. For most of the 40 minute drive, she sat quiet, looking out the window. Here's a picture of the monumental event:
Welcome to America, Camille!