Finally, the night before I was to take the kids to Utah arrived and I was a bundle of nerves. Then to make matters worse, the flight direct to SLC filled up. We looked into alternate plans and one included leaving in the morning to Phx, 4 hour layover, flight to SLC and then only 20 minutes before the flight back to DFW left. It was not a great plan. If anything went wrong I am stuck with 3 kids in some place and we still can't get to Japan. But it was all we had left . I knew I had to be 100% 'on' all day. Being patient and calm, even though I was stressed and anxious, I couldn't let the kids feel it or they would act up and traveling alone with 3 is hard enough. I did security in DFW without a problem, but the first flight felt like an eternity. It was too early to call my sister-in-law so I didn't know if we would be able to see her, but luckily when we landed she came and picked us up for the layover. It was so nice to have a place to relax, to play, to eat and to let the kids move with friends.
Unfortunately, Mariah didn't take the time to take a nap like I was hoping. She fell asleep on the way back to the airport :( thus she got a 10 min nap. I didn't let it bother me like I usually would (being stressed about future tired-ness). The second time with tired kid, security was really difficult and I just didn't have enough hands to help all the kids. Luckily, I checked most of our bags, so it was just backpacks, but the kids were fighting and I was tired, too. The flight seemed long and about half way through I started worrying about catching the one home and saying goodbye to my kids at the gate, and the stress of dropping my kids off with my mother-in-law (who Mariah didn't know well). I also worried because we were flying into a blizzard! My kids were wearing flip flops and shorts! With only light jackets (packed). I felt like I was unprepared (despite lots of preparing) and wondered what else I didn't remember that my kids would need. My mother-in-law is a saint and came to the gate to walk them out since I didn't have time to wait for bags or re-do security. I started to feel the extreme exhaustion of a long day. When we de-planed she was ready and waiting and Mariah started clinging and I was so worried she wouldn't go without a fight. and how can grandma corral 2 kids and a fighting toddler on her own?? I was so worried. But grandma had a plan. She had a toy in her pocket to entice Mariah to her. She went to her with no problem and was able to say goodbye to me and even smiled at me as she was carried through security. Hallie came running back to tell me she was scared. I gave her a big hug and told her how much fun she would have and she scurried off to catch up with grandma (through security already). Then I lost it. I cried and cried. My mental and emotional fatigue and the stress of not know how it was going to go without me to comfort my kids overcame me. I didn't have to be strong anymore since my kids weren't there so I was weak. I went back up to my gate and realized I had another 10 mins before boarding was complete and wished I had longer with my kids. I grabbed some food and called grandma 3 times to see how it was going. I found out while we were being de-iced that all bags were accounted for, Mariah had fallen asleep on the ride home and that the other kids were eating dinner! (I was just glad they made it through the blizzard safely, but also so relieved to hear my kids were doing well and grandma and grandpa were surviving. It was out of my hands now, so I tried to relax. I thought I would completely crash and sleep on the plane, but the anxiety never left and the new anxiety of going to a foreign country where I 'speak the language' and planned the trip started to overcome me.
After Dave picked me up, we packed and planned a bit, but mostly just planed to do it all in the morning since we were exhausted (he stressed for me and had to wrap up things at work for a 10 day absence). I didn't sleep well, but better than the previous nights. It was so strange to be home and sleeping with our kids not there, I kept wanting to check on them. Getting ready in the morning was so simple and unencumbered by kids needs, messes, wants, fussiness, etc. It was simple to be able to plan what to do and just do it. We cleaned the house really well, packed everything and left early enough for a shopping trip for food and some last minute items AND to get to the bank AND foreign licensing office when they opened at 9. I was a bit stressed we were cutting it close, but they opened early and got Dave his license by 9:10. We got a ride to the airport. As soon as we were through security my anxiety melted away. I knew there were enough seats. I had talked to my kids (who slept through the night and even slept in!). I finally relaxed. Finally, I was able to eat (at the club in the airport) and enjoyed some time alone with my husband. We were going back to my mission and I was so excited. the flight was 14 hours. Three meals, 6 drink services, 6 movies, and some sleeping. Because we left at 11 am we never really got tired enough to sleep much. We talked to our flight attendant (Mormon BTW) and
Relaxing in the airport lounge (only photo of the 24 hour journey)
As soon as we touched down we were starting to get really tired (it is about midnight our time) but we had to make it to Hiroshima before the trains stopped running, so we quickly went to the rail pass office and then headed into Tokyo. We started off looking at everything and I was excited to see so many familiar things I had forgotten about. Hanging futons, little gardens, the apartment complexes, the little cars, etc). Then we caught a 6 hour train ride south. We were so tired. Luckily, we knew how long the ride was so we set our alarms and fell asleep on the amazing bullet train of Japan. We transferred in Okayama to a slower trained to Hiroshima. We arrived at 11 pm (9 am our time?) and there was a Hiroshima Carp baseball game that just got out. the train station was PACKED! We found our way out , but then realized we hadn't printed the map to our first hotel. Our phone internet didn't work and I was so sad that all had gone well, but now we were stuck. The information desk was closed, but Dave could see an English map, so he was able to get it and I knew which area it was in so we headed that way hoping for the best. As soon as we arrived in the -Machi (the area) the hotel was right in front of us! Great luck! We got into our tiny room and talked to our kids. We were worried about falling asleep since it was our bodies' morning time, but it wasn't a problem.
As you can see I am a total worrier. And you may also be thinking, how is this worth it? I was also thinking this at this point... THIS IS NOT WORTH IT. And I was thinking I would probably never do it again. But then the real amazing part of the trip begins. The kids are getting to know their grandparents in a way that is never possible when mom and dad are around. I get time to re-connect with my husband and share a huge part of my heart and life before him. We see amazing things and experience a culture so different from our own and then, I forget why it all seemed so hard :).
Day 1 & 2 Hiroshima Day 3 & 4 Kyoto Day 5 & 6 Himeji & Takayama Day 7 Tokyo
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