Aug 21 - 22

We had a nice visit with my parents in VA. The kids were spoiled and had a wonderful time with grandparents, cousin and aunt/uncle. On Thursday we packed up the truck (over 500 pounds of luggage) and headed to the Dulles airport. We arrived, unpacked, said good-bye to Grandpa and checked in. The kids were excited to be at the airport but a little overwhelmed at all the people and especially at the security checkpoint. Nathan didn't like having to take his shoes off! Funny, as now he lives barefoot around Tenwek!

Our flights were all on time and all went smoothly. We had a 7 hour flight to London, a 3 hour layover, then an 8 hour flight to Nairobi. From leaving the house to arriving, it was a full 24 hours. The kids enjoyed the flights, granted we allowed them to watch videos for almost half the time. With individual tv's, you can watch anything, so all of us were happy. Nathan just couldn't believe that we allowed him to keep watching show after show. The food was iffy, but we had lots of good snacks. I had packed a bunch of little toys/gifts to bring out, if the kids got bored or claustrophobic, but didn't have to bring them out. I'll save them for the flights back or give them here on a rainy day. In London, the kids ran around and stretched while we enjoyed a Starbuck's coffee. A new experience for them was the escalator...what a trip!

Upon arrival in Nairobi, we had our first delay. Just before reaching the gate, we hit something. Yes, literally hit something - we don't know if it was a pothole, an animal, a piece of equipment or another plane. That kept us in our plane for almost 1/2 hour, as they had to get someone to push the plane back and then go forward again. No small feat at 9 pm at night in Kenya. The longest delay on top of that then was waiting in line for a Visa. It was almost 10:30 by the time we got to our luggage. All but one of our ten suitcases arrived - and the one that didn't belonged to one of the missionary families. So we were thankful to have all the others.

Patrick, the Samaritan's Purse driver met us outside the luggage claim and took us to a huge van. We belted the kids in and headed to the Mennonite Guesthouse. The kids fell asleep almost immediately and missed the scenic night drive through downtown Nairobi. What great memories it brought back! At the Mennonite, we unpacked all the stuff, then whisked the kids off to bed. What a great place - an oasis in the big city! The kids woke up again and wanted to stay up, but were exhausted. We all finally fell asleep - our first night in Kenya!