Belgium: The Trip Home

 I slept horribly! Maybe 1-2 hours total in 30-45 minute segments. I was worried about Megan and U throwing up again. I was worried about Matthew and Me getting sick. I was worried about getting up early enough to catch the flight home and how the flight would go. Apparently what I should have been worried about was if our flight would go at all...

We got up early Tuesday morning to catch the train to the airport. Megan and U left a bit earlier as Megan was walking quite slowly. U's step count for Tuesday was 6330 with 37 floors and for Wednesday was 11,243 with 9 floors.

Me had been flagged for extra security which meant she could not check in on-line. After checking in at the airport counter, we went through security and to the gate. Me was eventually called over to do the additional security screening (they swabbed her bags, waist, shoes and hands) She was then sequestered in a separate area and not able to rejoin the family until on board the plane but it wasn't a big deal besides that.

LEGOs!

Our plane!

Megan and U on the plane. Megan really did not feel well at first although she rallied and started watching movies. She finished 3 and started a 4th one before we got off the plane.

Matthew and Me on the plane. Matthew watched one long movie plus 90 minutes of another movie.

Our view. For 4 hours. They told us there was a small mechanical issue, not a safety issue, that had to be resolved before we could leave (there was a light in the cockpit that wasn't turning off when it was supposed to). At first, they told us it would be a couple hour delay so we were thankful for our 5.5 hour layover at JFK. However, we kept not leaving. Alas, after 4 hours, they told us the flight was cancelled.

At least we got good snacks. Yum, speculoos!

We got off the plane and had to go through customs and immigration....

Long lines! After getting through customs and immigration, we then waited in a line to get hotel and meal vouchers. And to try to get help with our return flights.

We are sincerely sorry our flight was cancelled, too. And are concerned by the 2 hour layover at JFK. And by the fact that we don't actually have seats on the JFK->PHX flight.

We headed to the hotel, which was quite nice. We had two rooms right next to each other. U and Megan were together and Me and Matthew were together (we were trying to minimize the spread of sickness...). Me spent a lot of time in a chat with Delta. Eventually, they got us seats on the earlier flight from Brussels as well as seats on the flight to Phoenix. We then ate dinner at the hotel and headed to bed.

Unfortunately, Me woke up not feeling great in the middle of the night and eventually threw up. She also threw up on the bus to the airport.

U, Matthew and Megan enjoying breakfast.

Our plane. This all feels very familiar!
One blessing was that U was initially chosen for additional security screening but in the shuffling of flights, he got unchosen so we were able to all stay together. That was super nice, especially as Me was not feeling well. My family was so nice and carried almost all my bags--Matthew carried Me's big backpack plus his own backpack and Megan carried the small purple daypack plus her own backpack. What an amazing family!

Déjà vu! But this time we did not stay there so long!

Matthew and Megan had seats together a few rows behind their parents. They enjoyed being by themselves. They got Delta cards and pins.

U and Me on the plane. Me basically tried to sleep and rest for the entire flight.

We had a mostly boring flight.

Coming in to land at JFK. By this time, Me was feeling less nauseous although the landing was rough and caused some queasiness for Me and the kids.

Thanks, plane, for taking off and bringing us back to the US! It took us about 90 minutes to get from our plane (which was at the farthest gate from customs and immigration) to the departure gate. We are really glad we were on the earlier flight as the later flight from Brussels arrived 30 minutes late so we may have missed the connecting flight to Phoenix. As it was, our plane from Brussels arrived early and we had about 4.5 hours of waiting at the gate.

On the flight to Phoenix! We are thankful the gate agent was able to get us seats together for the flight.

Taking off!

Megan on the last flight. She liked the purple ceiling lighting.

The plane was quite cold with both Matthew and Me having a hard time warming up.

We caught an Uber home from the airport. We arrived home about 24 hours after we had gotten up in the morning. Exhaustion is real!

Overall, it was a really amazing trip and we are so thankful for the opportunity we have to travel!