Thursday July 19 - We finally had a free day to do do some sightseeing and shopping on our own. A number of us took the kids to a mall not far from the guesthouse. I did buy a couple of things but most of the stores had clothing I could buy in the US. We had a snack, ice cream, at a coffee shop then we went to a supermarket and bout some snacks for the plane ride home. The rest of the day we stayed around the guesthouse. I was finally able to call Maya before she went to school (4pm Addis Ababa time). the kids had a great nap and I started packing the souvenirs in our luggage. That night we let the cooks have a night off and ordered pizza, it was good, though not quite the same as American pizza (some other kinds of spice in the sauce).

Friday July 20 - Friday AM was low key day, we finished packing and walked to the office to check e-mail. Later in the afternoon we all drove to the office to get our children's passports, life books and DVD's the staff had made for each child. One DVD was of their stay at the care center, just typical day to day stuff and messages from the nannies. The other DVD is of their birth family. CHSFS sent a videographer to video and interview the birth family. After dinner we left for the airport. Elias loved his first escalator ride in the airport. There wasn't much to do at the airport but wait. The kids found new friends to play with and ran around.

ready to go

At the airport

They didn't even start loading us on to the plane until it was our schedule take off time. Elias was excited to be on an "areoplan" though he didn't like having to wear a seat belt. After 15 hours, 3 tantrums, plenty of food, and not enough sleep we made it to Washington DC at 8:30AM. We made it though customs without a hitch, got our boarding passes for the flight home. waited in line to go through security for an hour and finally made it to our gate. We got some lunch before leaving. Elias liked the fries and ketchup but turned up his nose at the cheeseburger - we'll have to work on that. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Eva and Adam at the gate, we didn't make a big deal out of it because I wasn't sure how Elias would react to leaving Adam. Both kids fell asleep before take-off and I had to wake them to get off the plane in Minneapolis. After 17 hours of flying, numerous hours waiting in lines, incalculable hours of just waiting we were home. Maya and my parents met us at the airport. Both Elias and Meretech were exhausted and a little crabby but cheered up after some food then we all went to bed. That was it no other transition to MN time. They have been on MN time ever since. Nice. Watch here for more updates and pictures.