Chicago Trip - Going Home!!!

By Saturday we've pretty much ran out of things to do. We went to visit the tiny Vietnam town on Friday and the kids were exhausted so we went home to let them rest. We had a small feast that night to try and finish up all the food that we bought over the week. Everyone was happy to go home the next day because we are pretty homesick.

Learning from experience on our airport trip here, Hieu reorganized the trip home. Instead of dragging all of our luggage and the kids to the car rental place, then load the entire luggage and the kids on a bus to go to the airport. Hieu decided that they'll drop us and the kids off at the airport first and then go return the car. We headed out to the airport 4 hours earlier than our flight. Hieu and my brother-in-law dropped us and the kids off at check-in. They both then made 2 trips back to the car for our luggage while we wait. After they got the entire luggage then we all checked-in and went through security. They took us to the gate where there is a play area and went to return the car.

We thought 4 hours was plenty of time to go check-in but it was barely enough. We were feeding the kids breakfast when Hieu and my brother-in-law came back from returning the car. It was then almost time to board so a round of bathroom/diaper change then it's rushing time to board the plane. Amidst the rush, Hieu dropped his cell phone and lost it at the airport. We got on the plane and Ky-An fell asleep but Ai-Vy fussed a little before she would. They slept almost the entire ride back, which is a great thing but really bad for our arms.

Overall we survived the trip and the kids had a great time with their cousins. However, they were so excited when they got home and see all their toys that they skipped their nap. What's one more day right?!!

Here are some pictures of our rental home:


This is the courtyard that the balcony overlooked:


There were 3 floors to this house and the stairs were steep! Keeping Ai-Vy from crawling up or down the stairs was a pain all week. This is the main floor:


The kitchen:


The breakfast nook:


The patio:

The kid's first Airplane trip

Resting my eyes for a bit after an exhausting week of packing and preparing for the trip.


We prepared over a week ahead for the trip, packing and repacking, weighing the luggage and reweighing it. The airline's new weight limitation on the luggages are such a pain. We have to keep weighing it to make sure we don't go above 50 pounds. I made a list of everything we need to pack and Hieu invented an adaptation so we can hook the carseat to the luggage cart. Hieu and I even took Friday afternoon off to pack all the essentials such as the kid's blankets, pillows, noisemaker, etc that we can't pack until the last minute just to make sure we meet the weight limit.

After staying up until 1 a.m. several nights preparing and packing, the day finally arrived. The kids didn't sleep very well the night before. Perhaps they are excited but it still cause me to loose sleep regardless. We all woke up at 6 the next morning and mayhem started. I took a shower while Hieu got the kids ready and change them into the clothes I laid out for them. Hieu then packed all their blankets and pillows while I run around looking for my make-up bag and Ai-Vy screaming because she's tired.

Chi then came over to take us to the airport and I am still looking for my make-up bag while Ai-Vy is crawling around wanting to be held because she's tired. I gave up looking for my make-up and trust that it's in one of the bags. I then ran out to put on my shoes and only found 2 left ones for the flip flops I planned to wear! I ran around looking for its mates but had no luck in that. We just had the cleaners came over also so some things are in the wrong place. I just gave up because I didn't want us to be late and grab another one to run to the car.

Ai-Vy conked out in the car on the way to the airport but woke up as soon as we got there. I had Ky-An with me and we did curbside check-in. I gave the guy our IDs and let Ky-An hold Hieu's (very smart I know but I was distracted). He got excited about the conveyor belt where the luggage goes on and ran to it and toss Hieu's ID on there. The clerk yelled at him and quickly grabbed Hieu's ID to give back to me. Poor Ky-An got scared because he got yelled at and wanted me to hold him after that.

We met up my sister at the gate to fly to Chicago together and the kids were so excited to see each other that it made all the hassel worth it. Hieu and my brother-in-law went to hunt down some lunch for the kids and I tried to feed Ai-Vy some lunch. She managed to threw them all up so we had to go and change him. We then tried to feed the kids and was barely done when the flight starts boarding. We didn't even get to the line right after the announce kids and children's boarding before they call for the general boarding. Hieu and I struggled to get the kids and the carseat on the plane with us and finally got to sit down. Ky-An was tired by this time and got cranky and didn't want to drink his sippy nor sit in the carseat. Hieu was worry Ky-An's ears might hurt so he keep pushing the milk sippy and Ky-An keep refusing it. Ai-Vy was alseep and my arms were hurting holding her and Ky-An also finally fell asleep after all the fuss....peace at last.

I guess it could've gone better but overall it's not too bad. We managed it and hopefully it just gets easier from now on.



Beautiful me with no make-up. This is how I had to be the entire week because I never found my make-up bag!


My niece and my sister. We always joke Yvonne, my niece, is how Ai-Vy will be when she gets older. They act exactly the same! Fiesty girls.


My brother-in-law and my older niece: