3:00 AM came early after two days of no sleep and packing until midnight. We loaded up jammie-wearing kiddos and all our suitcases. China-bound! Everyone helped get us checked in and it was time for goodbyes. The boys were half asleep and retreating to avoidance because that’s what’s easier for them. They were super sweet, just not really participating in reality. My Brynnie-bear had puddled eyes, but a strong confidence at the same time (she knew she’d be running the show with me gone! ;) ). Anna Gray kept cheering: “Bye Mama! Bye Layla! By plane! Christmas! Lincoln!” but I really don’t think she understood what was happening. She went straight clingy octopus when it was time for last hugs though. She was tickled and playing, but we had to pry her off me!
That was it! Time to go. First flight left for Chicago at 6:15am where we had a three hour layover. Layla hadn’t been on a plane in quite some time. She has occasional claustrophobia and motion sickness, so we weren’t real sure how the little plane was gonna do her. She loved it- bumps and all! We found a spot to pass the time singing, coloring, and munching our first true deep dish. Just to be safe, we headed to our gate about an hour ahead of time. We checked twice more that our plane to Beijing was on schedule. As the hour drew near, I sent our last texts and prepped for boarding. Except no one was boarding? Weird. Finally I saw others start to line up so we did as well. Waiting, they finally announced the plane wasn’t quite ready and it would be ten more minutes. After about five, they announced we would need to switch to a new gate for a new plane. We followed the herd and were in line to board when I heard someone mention how late it would be by the time we actually arrived… IN SAN FRANCISCO. What the what. Something clicked and I glanced at the board, they had changed our plane to Beijing to a different gate (the one we’d spent two hours at!) and it said last call. Ya’ll, I yelled, “Layla! RUN!!“ and hurdled over a small child. Took his suitcase down. Hurdles never were my strongest event. I didn’t even explain to her what was happening, there was no time. We ran up just as they were shutting the door. Rude desk lady was all, “I bet you’re the Wests. (eye roll). You should have been on time. Now I have to get people off!” I tried to explain and she held her hand in my face. Lady, please get us on that plane! She did, but she was not happy about it. They had given away our seats to folks on stand-by and had to get them off. (blush). They had also moved someone to our actual seat who wouldn’t agree to move again, meaning Layla and I would be separated for the 16 hour flight. Layla said she would be okay but I MAY OR MAY NOT have instructed her to look pitiful and distressed until they figured it out because I was not okay with that.
I nearly had an actual heart attack.
We got our seats but about ten seconds after buckling, Layla watched them take one of our suitcases off the plane. I knew that wasn’t going to end well….
The flight was smooth, the food was good. We each had our own screens but we watched Ghostbusters together twice anyway (I love it so much haha). We also almost peed our pants because dude beside us was seriously OUT for, like, thirteen of the hours. We barely slept, of course. Hop, skip, and a jump later- we were in Beijing. Our bag wasn’t, of course, but we were.
We filed a luggage claim… uh… tricky…grabbed bag #2, re-checked in, went through Chinese security, and finally found our gate. Thankfully, we figured out that everyone getting on the bus was headed to our plane so we got on the bus too. That last 2 ½ hour flight to Xi’an was torturous. Ha. It was fine, we were just exhausted. Layla slept most of it. We landed in Xi’an at 10:30 Saturday night China time, and still had an hour drive to hour hotel. We walked in right at midnight… it was Christmas <3 p="">
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From Layla's perspective (shared with permission). She chose to write to Lincoln:
December 24, 2016
Today was long! We got up at 3 in the morning in Tennessee and left for the airport. There, we said goodbye to Daddy, Cale, Brynn, Roman, and Anna Gray. We stayed at the airport for a while before boarding the plane to Chicago. That flight wasn't very long and the plane was small. We were at the airport in Chicago for over three hours but that was okay, because I got to try Chicago pizza for the first time and I loved it! It was different, but I'm not sure how. The flight to Beijing took forever! Luckily, I had a TV where I watched some movies I hadn't seen before. It was very hard to get comfortable even with the neck pillow. We flew over Canada and the view was amazing! Outside, it was just a huge sheet of ice and snow. However, there were cracks and missing pieces so it had an interesting pattern. I had the window seat and I had to go to the bathroom but I couldn't. The man beside us kept falling asleep and I didn't want to wake him. So I held it for 12 hours basically. In the Beijing airport, we had to go through security again. in Chicago, one of our bags was taken off the plane and it should be here in a day or two. After that, we took a plan from Beijing to Xi'an. It was only two hours since since I was tired it felt so much longer. A lady named Sherry picked us up from the airport and drove us to the hotel. The drive was amazing! It's Christmas Eve so decorations were everywhere! There were people on the streets, vendors selling stuff, and people riding scooters even in the middle of the night. The hotel lobby is beautiful! We got to our room and straight into pajamas. Tomorrow, we meet you and I CAN'T WAIT!!
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