Melissa's Trip to Africa: Summer 2011

The journey home was probably my biggest concern about the whole going to Africa and coming home with a child thing.. haha. AND in the grand scheme of what i experienced it was a breeze! Aside from a few hiccups.. like not knowing that Lola would also need a visa to enter the UK to sleep in our hotel.. we made it home with ease. We did stand at immigration in London for about 30 minutes waiting for the chief immigration officer to grant us a 24 hour pass... which they did. Lola was the best little traveler. She sat well on the plane when she had to sit, slept well on mommy for a lot of it, and enjoyed watching her own tv for the rest of the flights. Her favorite movie that she watched.. twice.. was Happy Feed 2. Which i have bought since we have been home. The flight attendents were amazing, and SO helpful!! Lucky for us, we were on the same flight to London as a friend of Keren's (who recognized me from her facebook) and we also met some American friends (Erin and Kindri) who flew on our flight to London and then Chicago. SO yes, i was able to figure out a way to use the bathroom because that was a LOT of people's concern. Which i can appreciate. My american friends also helped me get my bags in Chicago and got to meet my family/friends who were waiting. It didn't really hit me until Erin said Lola, are you ready to meet your grandparents. AND then i was tearing up.

Lola and I came home to the most amazing welcome EVER and truly it hasn't stopped. Everyday is amazing! We were greeted at O'Hare by an incredibly special bunch of people who came to share in our very special moment. I was nervous for Lola that it would be overwhelming after such a long journey, but she was quite the politician. She was smiles all around and happy as a lark. She must have known that the people she was meeting were pretty important! Here are some pictures.