Hi Everyone..................well, we made it!!! Not sure how many hours, a terminal transfer in the rain at JFK, an energetic 2 year old, a tired 5 year old, and only one pee pee accident later, and we made it! (and no, the pee pee accident wasn't mine!)
I just don't know where to begin, so I'll go for the chronological description....................waking up at 4:30 on Wed. morning we were ready..........hubby had put all of the suitcases into my brother's Expedition truck the night before, and all we needed to do was get up, dressed, and finish the food bag.
Aviv sang his little heart out from the moment we left Ft. Lauderdale airport, "I'm leaving on Jetblue and elal...." he was too cute. Ilan slept on the jetblue flight, and Aviv was glued to his personal tv. amazing how good they can be with the tv IN THEIR FACE!
We arrived in JFK without much to report, only it was POURING DOWN RAIN!!! Our bags came out quickly, and the porter got them all on the flatbed. He showed me where to get on the Airtrain with the boys while he and hubby proceeded to WALK to the terminal where ELAL would leave from.....in the rain!!!
The boys were thrilled to meet other kids at the elal terminal, and were telling them "we're moving to Israel!" Imagine their faces of shock when the other kids said, "US TOO!" I guess Aviv really didn't believe me all along!
The flight was wild...........just before it we met a family we will hopefully keep in touch with....she's israeli, he's american, 2 kids, secular like us. And I was looking everywhere for someone who might be Veev and Air It wasn't until we were on the plane and they were passing us going to their seats that Veev said hello! How exciting to meet someone after going through all of this together this year via our blogs! YAY! Glad to hear you guys finally made it out of the airport!!! Go check out their blog people...............
Anyway..........sitting around us was an interesting mix of people. The plane was divided into seats of 3 on each side and 3 in the middle. We had the 3 in the middle and one of the aisle seats next to it. I sat with the boys most of the time because of my little shadow, but it worked out. Hubby had two nice single people on his side, one a secular guy going to Ulpan Etzion (Hi Mike, don't know if you read blogs), and the other a gal from Montreal who is a former French teacher. They were both very nice and we enjoyed getting to know them. In front of us and behind us were families with 4 kids each, and my hubby was impressed with how the mom never stopped moving..........she was always doing something for someone! (guess it takes 4 kids for a hubby to recognize the perpetual motion that I live with day in and day out?)
But let me tell you..............the coolest part about the flight...............ya know how in a normal flight, when you get up to go to the bathroom, people maybe smile at you, but turn their heads away before you make any eye contact??? Well on THIS FLIGHT, it was waaaay different. Everyone tried to catch your eye, and wanted to talk if you had even a slight pause in your movement! I went to the bathroom one time and didn't come back for like 45 minutes! granted, I got stuck by the drink cart in the aisle, but it was just a good excuse.
So, holy shit, I'm Israeli!
And now it's the 'morning after' and wow, ow, etc. I ache from head to toe, and sleep, well, that wasn't exactly on the kids' agendas last night. They were up at midnight. Aviv first, and I layed with him on his bed, then Ilan woke up and I went to his bed. 3 hours of this later, and I called in the back-up. Luckily, my mother-in-law (MIL) had put a third mattress on the floor between the boys' beds as a safety precaution, and this am, hubby is sleeping there. It's 9:30, I think I'll wake them all at 10. Geez, these kids have never slept beyond 7:30 in their lives!!!
I'm sure there will be more to tell, but for now, this is the basic synopsis. The flight ceremonies and all were wild, it's amazing being a part of something so great..........a part of true history!!!
So now, my fellow readers, I'm off to wake up this house, open some treesim (the window shade things that you pull up from the inside of a window).
hugs to all, and wow, holy cow............I'm Israeli!!!
