Our preparation to get to the airport was amazingly flawless. Everything was organised and timed to perfection, leaving us time after check in to have a look around the airport and have a relaxing morning tea with Mark and Robyn (who came in to take our car home for us, and say goodbyes!) over Mrs Fields cookies.
Once on board the airplane we did find two of our seats had been bumped to the same row over the other side. The hostesses tried to convince us it was good for us all to sit in one row, but it made it harder to check on Jarrod and Tim over the other side – and my attempts to look like a cool mum by using the “chat” feature on the screen in front of me failed because they complained the messages I sent them interrupted the movies they were watching!
I did enjoy Homeland Security’s request that passengers not congregate in large groups, and especially not near the toilets. Not so easy to comply with for a large family, at least we don’t look like terrorists.
I forgot how hard it is to sleep on a plane. I did however get to watch ‘The Silver Linings Playbook’ and ‘Life of Pi’. And we made it to 6 hours along before Belle asked how much longer before arrival…
Customs took a while but then I guess anything will for a family of eight! Ross’ parents surprised the kids by appearing on the plane and coming to LA with us!! They are staying further down the main road. Our accommodation is the Park Vue Inn, interconnecting rooms of 4 double beds, continental breakfast, and the best part? Literally across the road from Disneyland!
I’ve never had jet lag before. (I also haven’t been overseas in 15 years…). After walking several blocks to get some lunch (sadly, our first meal on US soil was burgers and fries from Star Burgers, but how could we say no when burgers cost $2.29?) and do our grocery shopping at Target, we took the kids for a swim at the hotel pool. We both fell asleep on the deckchairs while “supervising” the kids in the water, so I went back to our room to unpack…and promptly fell asleep unpacking. I then bathed the kids while Ross organised cereal for dinner (yes, Rice Bubbles and the like), and then fell asleep while eating my dinner. We were all in bed by 8pm and didn’t stir until the alarm went at 7.30am (except for Belle who wanted to discuss our plans at 3.30 in the morning and was promptly sent back to bed, with the bribe of going to Disneyland today!)