The Journey Home

Shelley and I saying goodbye to Victor, a hotel employee who helped us immensely. We left him with our contact info in case he is in Hawaii.  He was there as a kid, so who knows?

At Tapei International Airport, ready to begin the long journey home. And a long journey it will be. We left the hotel at 8:30 am. We will land on Maui at 12:45 p.m. the same day. With the 18-hour time difference, that makes for a 21-hour journey.  But we sure are bright-eyed at the start and looking forward to heading home. Malia isn't sure about what's going on, and is presenting us with her serious look.

Same Starbucks we were at 11 days ago, but we seem to have an extra person now!!!!

Mom and Malia enjoying bananas. Malia is a great eater. She tries everything we've given her, and has only rejected cooked carrots. Everything else goes down the hatch.

At the Taipei Airport, waiting for the plane. Malia and the boys go for a walk.

And come back on the moving sidewalk.

Which Malia thinks is really cool! We've gotten more and more grins from her, but this was an early one.

Posing in front of a mural at the airport. Get used to it, kid, mom likes to take pictures.

Arm in arm with her big brother Ryan. He put his arm around her...she looked up, figured out what he was doing, and returned the favor.

Hanging with her even bigger brother Jonathan.

She clearly has seen electronic games before -- here she is helping Jonathan play his DS.

At the gate with our "ride" for the first leg of our journey in the background.  A China Airlines 747 from Taipei to Fukuoka. This is the boys first 747, and the first one I've been on since 1996.

Malia and Ryan getting a closer look.

Mom and Malia ready for takeoff.

Ryan and Jonathan with empty seats in the background. Believe it or not, this is the "full" section. Behind the bathrooms in the background is another section of seats of approximately the same size. It was entirely empty, as was the section behind that. There were a grand total of 30 passengers on our flight -- on a 747! It was kind of eerie being on an airplane that big with that few people. We certainly had a lot of attention from the flight staff. I think every group of passengers had their own flight attendant.

Malia checking out Fukuoka as we descend.

We have a six-hour layover in Fukuoka, confined to the international concourse. Fukuoka is a modern airport, but it's relatively small, so there are only two snack bars, a few small gift shops, and no children's area. That's OK, we entertain ourselves. The boys teach her animal names and then play a silly game where she slaps them on the back and they rear up like horses. Apparently, she thinks the game is hilarious!

Next came the long flight from Fukuoka to Honolulu. It is the longest sustained turbulence I think I've ever experienced. 6 1/2 of the 8 hours I would categorize as moderate turbulence. It is never severe, but it is definitely more than a light chop. Shelley and Jonathan in particular don't like it, but it doesn't bother Malia one bit. She falls asleep as we taxi for take-off in Fukuoka, and she wakes up as we taxi to the gate in Honolulu. In between, this is her pose. This means I don't move much for about six hours -- but it is far better than the alternatives I can think of when traveling with a toddler!

Customs in Honolulu is a breeze. They check our paperwork, have us confirm a couple of documents, then inform us that Malia is now a U.S. citizen and wish us a good day. Welcome to this crazy 238 year-old experiment in self-government we have going.

Here are Tutu and Papa welcoming us to Maui!  Lei for the keiki!  Tutu's childhood friend Theone also is part of the welcoming committee. Note that we don't look quite as bright-eyed as we did 21 hours ago! Malia sleeps through this part, which is probably a good thing, as it would have been overwhelming.

Home! Malia enjoying her first meal in our dining room. She continues to be a great eater, scarfing down everything put in front of her.

Bathtime!  At her foster family's home, she bathed in an oversized bucket, so she was intimidated by the size of the tub at first -- but that doesn't last long -- she doesn't want to get out!

Brushing her hair and teeth and getting ready for bed.

Night-Night Malia.

She went to sleep quickly, but it was nap-time according to her internal clock, so she woke up after 2-3 hours ready to get going with the "day." Shelley got to spend some quality time with Malia trying to get her back down. She eventually went back down, and then slept until 10.

The next days have been a blur of trying to get over jet-lag, help Malia adjust, helping the boys get back on schedule and ready for school, and trying to unpack (which we still haven't finished). For the most part, we're hanging around the house to keep things calm for her.

Malia is doing about as well as can be expected. She shows a preference for mom and women in general. I have to pick my spots to interact and am frequently turned away. I know it's entirely normal and am just trying to be a steady friendly presence. Each day has been a little better, and we're hoping for that to continue.

On the language front, each day has been a LOT better. She mimics everything she hears (that could be interesting later on), so she can repeat a large number of words. She is only able to initiate a few phrases, but that is growing quickly, too.

Here are some pictures from home:

Love this smile!

Sitting on the same rocking horse that her Uncle Hokuao sat on 30+ years ago. It's her favorite perch.

In a very cute sun-hat. She was not impressed and started crying a few minutes later.

But not before showing that she's ready for soccer! Only a couple more years!

As a post-script to this post, although Malia is generally glued to Shelley, she may have found a new favorite member of the family. Our dog Koa was at a friend's house until today (thank you a million times over, Millen family). Malia was nervous to interact with Koa initially, but that passed and now she can't get enough of her. Instead of going to bed Malia has been running around the house calling, "Hi Koa! Hi Koa!" She's got a buddy!