Late Saturday night, Granny and Mommy loaded into the car with Bailey and Boston and headed to the airport in Asuncion. We were quite the scene in the airport with our cart piled high with luggage and the double stroller weighed down with our carry-on bags.
The trip was exhausting, but rather uneventful. I think back to the post I wrote nearly two years ago on our first trip to Asuncion where we had stories at every airport and on every flight; this trip was nothing like that. The staff at the ticket counter were helpful, but nothing noteworthy. The flight attendants were neither overly attentive or annoyingly absent. Our layover in Panama was the prefect length of time to get a snack, take a bathroom break, and stretch our legs. So here are a few pictures and just a few tidbits from our trip:
Bailey was a WRECK (sort-of) on the first flight. We had put her to bed on Saturday night at 8:30 before we left for the airport at 10:30. She got a 2 hour "nap" and was ready to play when we got to the airport - and on the plane. But because her night was interrupted, she was still so tired, but was fighting it with everything she had. She was in and out of her seat, wanting to touch and play with anything and everything. About an four hours into the flight, I had had enough. I grabbed her, pulled her into my lap and wrestled her to sleep. Literally. She fought back at first, flailing her arms and crying a bit, but when I smacked her leg and told her "you WILL go to sleep" she sighed, found her thumb and was out within seconds. She even stayed asleep as I slid her into her seat in order to be ready for Boston's next meal.
As I messaged Brandon from the Panama airport, Boston was MVP of the flight from Paraguay. She was relatively calm and only screamed to the point of embarrassment for Mommy once, as we waited to disembark the plane; we got quite a few sympathetic looks and one man assured me that it was just her ears. Thank you, kind stranger.
As we waited for our second plane, there was a flurry of activity at the gate next to ours. Best I can figure, COPA airlines was having the inaugural flight of a new (and possibly larger) plane. There was a buffet of snacks, treats and juices for the ticket holders, and several airline personnel gave speeches at the gate before letting everyone board. Photographers were snapping away and there was even a ribbon-cutting ceremony of sorts. For our people-watcher daughter Bailey, it was a welcome addition to the otherwise boring happenings in an airport.
This made me chuckle: when I went to get us a snack, I was charged in U.S. dollars - as expected - but was given change in three currencies: U.S., Panamanian, and Paraguayan. Weird.
The second flight passed much as the first: a restless toddler, disoriented infant and two exhausted adults. But we survived and made it safely to LAX a few minutes ahead of schedule.
Immigration was simple and since I had the girls, we were ushered to the U.S. Diplomat line and waited for maybe two minutes. As we explained our reason for travel and turned in our blank declaration form, Bailey started screaming "POTTY!!" The clerk explained that we had already missed the closest bathroom on the other side of customs, but he was gracious enough to let me take her backwards through the line. I balanced a nearly-asleep Boston on my lap as I crouched down in front of the toilet and helped Bailey do her thing. As we went back through the same line - and were ushered through without stopping - a supervisor stopped us and asked what we were doing. My explanation garnered a furrowed brow and a scolding look thrown back at the clerk, but he let us pass (phew!). Our luggage and stroller were waiting on the carousel and we made it out to the car with no further incident.
We're home!
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