We're Back!

And what a wonderful trip it was  :).  Although we have not even been back from Poland for a week, it seems like forever and almost like a dream that we were there at all.  As a result, I figure I better blog about it or else the details will slip away, lol.  I'm going to start this one with how we got "the call"" to go to Poland and our trip there.  Its long and I apologize, but I want to have this as a chronicle to remember it all :)

As many of you know, we have waited a loooong time to finally get our referral.  We got the initial call at the end of February and then waited to hear when we needed to be in country etc.  Well, the days passed slowly but finally we got the call.....on the first day of our spring break in DisneyWorld....after we just checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge.....and had literally sat down in the room!  lol  Brian's phone rang and I said he should probably get it because, you never know, it could be Lina (jokingly at the time).  He picked it up, looked at the screen, and said "Oh my gosh, its Lina".  We were shocked!  lol 

Anyway, she basically told him that Poland wanted us in country in 2 weeks-  GAK!  Oh let me tell you, there is nothing like trying to make planes reservations when you aren't at home, trying to arrange for the dogs to go to the boarders, AND talk with Brian's office to re-schedule appointments and surgeries.  Our heads were spinning!  And in between all this, we vowed to focus on Case, since this was probably going to be our last trip to Disney as a three-some.  As a result, we did alot of the planning and scheduling either after Case was in bed or when one of us took him on a ride.  Although exciting, it was absolutely exhausting.  Here are some pics:

Coolest new experience in MK- become a sorcerer and help Merlin stop the Villains from taking over.  Totally interactive and different for everyone.  Spots all over MK and Case loved it!

The symbol you look for so you can use your sorcerer cards

Phineas, Daddy, Case, and Ferb- both my boys LOVE this Disney show!

The biggest problem we faced was that flights were almost booked at that point.  Why?  Who knows, but they were or there were 3 seats, all separated.  Obviously that would not work.  Also, Brian is 6'4" and there is NO way he could tolerate sitting in coach for such a long flight.   As a result, we had to work through the airlines to get a seat (at least one) with extended leg room (which let me tell you is a misnomer, lol). 

We looked at all different airlines and ended up choosing Delta because they were the only ones that flew out of Charlotte and Atlanta (we are between) and had seats available without paying tens of thousands of dollars.  After some futile searching, we finally decided one night at about 1am to call and have an agent help us.  Thankfully the woman was an angel and spoke English (because they are based here), yay!!!  She worked some serious Delta mojo and landed us extended comfort seats on all the long flights and either all together or at least 2 together for all the flights.  It only costs $25 and was so worth it.  Ok, we did have to agree to fly out on Friday the 13th to get the seats, but we were like, hey whatever at that point, lol.  

So with the flights made, we tried to relax and enjoy WDW.  The weather was extremely hot that week and it was pretty busy, but we took our time and really just enjoyed being together.  The sweetest, most poignant moment came the last day as we were literally driving from Downtown Disney (after last minute shopping, lol) to head back home.  I looked back at Case and he looked very sad.  I asked him what was wrong and he said he was a little sad because this was the last time we would be together without his brother and he was suddenly worried he wouldn't have "quality alone time" with us anymore (his words).  He had never mentioned anything about this before, although we had asked and talked to him about it.  He was almost in tears as he spoke.  It broke my heart  I took his hand and reassured him that no matter what, he would always have us as much as he needed us.  That we love him more than anything in the world and we would always be there for him.  He was better then, but I realized I needed to be very aware of him and how he handles things with the adoption.  Case is a sweet child and usually easy-going, but he is also very sensitive and things creep up on him quickly. 

So off we went for home and to prepare.  I talked with Case's teachers and principal that he would be gone and to get homework for him to do.  I thought it would give him some semblance of normalcy while we were away and keep him from being behind.  To my pleasant surprise, his principal also proposed that Case keep a journal of his experiences in Poland and then he would principal-approve his absences!  We were thrilled!  The journal pages will be part of his permanent record and it will be such a great thing for Case to have to look back on some day.  Also, Case's teacher developed homework assignments that were specific to Poland.  He asked Case to find things they were studying in math (symmetry, friezes, reflection, etc) and take pictures to share with the class when he came back.  The efforts Case's principal and teacher took to enhance his experience through customized educational assignments related to what they were doing is just one reason we love our school!

Finally Friday the 13th arrived (dun, dun, DAAA!).  We picked up Case at school and headed to Charlotte for our early evening flight.  Up to Detroit and then overnight to Amsterdam, finally landing in Warsaw in late afternoon (their time).  The first flight was good and we hung out in the Delta Sky Lounge until the next- sooo worth the money.  We loaded up the overnight flight and took off about 10:10pm.  It was a big ole 767, but it still seemed dinky for some reason. 

Overall, it went well except for 2 things.  One, Case fell asleep, which I knew he would and should.  Except, the small child I remember from other vacations had disappeared and this leggy thing replaced him, lol.  It would not have been a big deal except he insisted on stretching his legs across me to sleep.  He leaned against the window and then draped his legs over my leg closest to him....essentially putting my leg to sleep and leaving me unable to move much.  Obviously, it made it hard to sleep (but my butt and leg fell asleep many times, lol).  But he's my baby, so I of course put up with it :).  Oh, and he also stole both blankets and all the pillows so I was essentially freezing.  Ahh, motherhood. 

Then the second thing happened...and kept happening.  Brian was sitting behind Case by the window (we had 2 and 1 together).  There was a normal looking guy behind me.  Brian was chatting with him nicely for a bit during the flight (Brian is a chatty Cathy so he always talks to seatmates).  Oh normal enough, right?  Wrong.  About 1/2 through the flight after dinner (at 11:30pm, blah), I felt my seat moving a bit.  I thought it was him getting into the seatback so I thought whatever.  But it kept happening..... Plus, it kept happening right when I started to doze to catch a few winks (while I had bloodflow to my legs, lol).  I turned to look once and BAM!  His face was right there on the back of my seat watching the movie!  F-REAK!  When he saw me he sat back, but it resumed again a bit later.  I looked back again and although I didn't see his face, I saw the top of his head!  The guy was sleeping against the back of my seat and touching his head against it every so often (as if to rock himself!).  I thought, "WTH?!!".  Now, it had been going on for over an hour and that is pretty darn patient in my mind, so I leaned around in the aisle and said (in a very parental tone) "Excuse me- you have GOT to stop leaning your head on my seat.  You are bouncing me around and keep waking me up".  He looked at me and said, in a snotty, drawn out tone "Ok".  What??  No "I'm sorry"??  Just a snotty "Ok"??  UGH, people!!!!  Regardless, he stopped but by that time I was up and couldn't sleep. 

We landed in Amsterdam and made our way through the airport where we had to pass through another customs and security before going to our gate.  So we were technically in Amsterdam for real for all of 5 min according to our passport stamps.  Case was thrilled to get a stamp though so any hassle was worth it.  Amsterdam is a pretty cool airport and KLM is a really great company.  We boarded the next plane super efficiently and left exactly on time.  I love that about Europe  :)

In Amsterdam waiting to board flight to Poland (yes, that is a Starbucks in Brian's hand lol)

There she is- KLM flight to Warsaw!

We had great weather and Case got to see the canals, Germany, and finally Poland.  Of course, just as we got over the outskirts of Warsaw, there was a weather front and gray clouds, lol.  Still, it was a good flight and people were super polite on this one.  We disembarked about 4:30pm local time and made our way through the airport- which didn't take long because it was kinda small surprisingly.  It was also quite plain, although here and there you could see how they were starting to have more colorful shops and food places. 

We met the driver Magda had sent, Gregory, at the gate and walked to his car.  He was super nice and called Magda the minute we got in the car so we could talk to her and he could too.  He wanted to practice his English and we got to practice a little Polish.  The driving was definitely more chaotic than here, but although I had heard horror stories, it wasn't as bad as I expected.  The drivers are very purposeful but it didn't seem different than most big cities.  Everything is a manual for the most part (which means I'll never drive there because I suck at a manual transmission, lol). 

We arrived at the downtown Marriott and where pleasantly surprised by not only the location (across from the Palace of Culture and mega mall) but also that the staff spoke very good English.  Our room rocked on the 30th floor and we had an awesome view of the Palace of Culture.  We got cleaned up a bit and then headed out for dinner at the Hard Rock across at the mall, which was good and familiar.  We went back to the hotel to go to bed about 9pm (their time) to try to adjust to the time change.  The night was a bit choppy on sleep for Brian and I, but Case slept great and we were up to explore Warsaw on Sunday feeling pretty good.  Still, it was so surreal to be there in the country where we would meet our second son after all this time and definitely took us some time to comprehend the "reality" of it all.

View from our room just after checking in- Palace of Culture on right, edge of 6 story mall on left

Hard Rock Warsaw!

Palace of Culture at night- beautiful!

Next post, I'll continue with our day in Warsaw and first meeting with Magda and the adoption authority before heading up north to see the little guy!