We're Here!

Almost didn't get to post because Ken's work laptop is missing the stupid card needed for wireless, so we had to move a few rooms down to one with the cord. Needless to say, Ken was pretty cheesed, especially since he didn't get his laptop back until the last possible moment. Apparently, someone took it home who shouldn't have. Bad... but thats not our post... so here we go...

WE ARE IN MICHIGAN.... alive. Haha. So it was an experience travelling with a baby, especially since we really didn't know what to expect from her. Stella took us to the Vancouver airport where we were catching our shuttle bus to Seattle. Kinda weird to go to the airport to catch a bus.

We arrived early enough to have a coffee and bagel. Stella gave Ariel an American dollar bill. She was pretty excited! Once we figured out where to catch the bus, we said our goodbyes and the Priebe clan was on our own. Epp.

The gals working the bus desk made fast friends with Ariel, and she was all smiles. When the bus arrived, we found a seat and really saw how tight a squeeze it would be for the next 4 hours. It wasn't bad, and Ariel did really well. She even fell asleep for about an hour.

The boarder crossing went really smooth. Actually, its the first time in a long time we didn't have a funny story to walk away with. The guy didn't even seem phased with Ken being a dual citizen... which is a HUGE peeve to some of them. He didn't even look at Ariel's document.... seriously, I thought people crossing with babies would be studied closer, but I guess since we were both there it wasn't that big a deal. But for the non-issues we had at the boarder, we made up for on our bus ride once across the boarder. Unfortunately, some silly person on the previous bus apparently fell asleep, missed their stop and our bus had her luggage or something from its previous trip. Anyways, long story short, we sat for what was close to 30 minutes trying to find her bag. Argh. During this, Ariel was sleeping, but once we got going again, she awoke. Dang. Its easier to travel when she is sleeping, especially since no one would interact with her.

So we got to the airport around 830pm... should have been more like 7pm. Blah. This sadly left us pressed to find any food establishments still open in the airport, after checking our bags first of course. I need to give a shout out to the NWA people. Soooo helpful and cheerful to Ariel. Even the security people where all gaga over her. Oh, point to note, Ariel too had to remove her booties for the security check, I thought that was funny.

We found a sandwich shop open, and had some pretty lame wraps. Yuck. But anything was good at this point. I went down to the gift shop to get a treat for my princess for the flight. I got her a cute little NWA stuff toy that made airplane noises. So cute. By the time I paid, we were already loading the plane, ack. There were several other babies on the flight, including twins that looked as if they were only a month or so old. The flight was completely booked, but everyone on there was super nice. Had so many people around us that loved babies, and that played peek a boo when she looked around the corner. She fell asleep about an hour into the flight, and was sleep the whole way. Yay.

There wasn't much in the way of bumps. Woot. I did figure out a way of getting through the ones there were, imagine I was driving on the Vancouver potholes. Haha, burn! It worked though, and I was calm and cool. Whee.

We got off the plane and of course had to go on a hunt for elevators because of the stroller baby who was fast to sleep. Ken and I were in awe of the new Detroit airports. It was fantastic, and very impressive. Long gone are the days of the cheap, 70's looking dump. Seriously, it was a dump. Yuck. This one was gorgeous, and huge. We hope to make it back early enough to check it out more on our way home. We found the new baggage claim area and located Ken's mom. Yay. Bless her heart for coming at 5am to pick us up. Thinking about it now, it feels like I lost a day in there somewhere.... strange.

We got to the house, and got some fresh Cinnamon bread. Jonathan wanted to try out his new rolling pin apparently, so bread was easier than pie. Yummy. Ariel woke up briefly at the airport to smile at her Grammy, then fell asleep in the car again. Once in the house though, she was up again. She was all excited about the Buddy the dog and Gizmo the cat. She crawled around exploring her new surroundings, and wasn't showing signs of being overwhelmed... very surprising since she had a huge day travelling. What a girl!



Grammy pulled out lots of treats for the princess. A whole pile of new books. 2 fuzzy feel animal ones, 2 fairy ones, a cool baby's own baby album (its a baby story book about a baby's firsts, and then you get to add real pics of the child to be seen under the flaps. Very cool!!!!) and of course a copy of the little mermaid. Speaking of the famous mermaid, she also got a cute Ariel doll that is like a stuffed toy. She enjoyed flipping her around. Haha. The other pic shows our lovely gifts from Dan from his trip to Italy and Paris. A cute Monaco shirt with little rhinestones for Ariel, and a cool candle and tapestry. What a sweetie!

Then came clothes. A cute peach shirt, pants and hat (that she wore today- see pics), a jeans and red check shirt and a swimsuit and dress cover combo for when she is bigger. Its a little mermaid set and the best part, the bathing suit has princess written on the butt. Lol. Grammy also included a paper doll set, for when she is older, but we played with it for her. We reminisced of our own when we were little, and boy have they changed... this set is all magnets! The dresses stick to the figure, and there are little stick on jewels and things to add to the look. Do you see why we were playing with them? Ken just sat and ate watching these crazy ladies. Ariel enjoyed banging them on the table.

Ariel was pretty strung out and wasn't wanting to go to sleep, so we went for a car ride. She was out in a minute. Ha! We drove down looking at the mafia houses. I was almost asleep at the end. We came home and all napped on the couch. Very refreshing. Woke up and had some good homemade soup and devilled eggs, Ariel had some sweet potatoes, yum. She tried out the new booster chair Grammy got for her as well.

Later we took a walk out in the sun. The snow must have heard I was coming and left.... for now anyways. There is a chance of some coming later this week... weatherman might be wrong... we shall see. The rest of the day was visiting, and watching Ariel chase the dog. Ken got some funny video of that. Once she actually caught him, she really didn't know what to to do. Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs. Afterwards, we watched American idol and looked at Dan's pictures from his trip. He got some cool shots and we tasted his dark chocolate covered coffee beans and rose petal jelly. Wow, it smelt like roses and yet was super sweet.

At 930, Dan drove us to the hotel to check in. Of course we needed to do our annual taco run. It was then I found the coolest signs ever!!! It was hanging in the pick up window. It said 'Great taste during Lent'. I then had to explain the spiritual aspect of lent and how we are encouraged to give up things to reflect during this time, and to see a sign to encourage you to eat tacos, during lent was HILARIOUS! I plan on sending it to the church tonight. Haha. Also, just a point to mention... lent is over.

We got to the hotel, got our room, then changed rooms like I mentioned before, and now, here I sit. Ariel got her crib in front of the mirror and was in pure heaven. She had a bath, and now Ariel and Ken are both sleeping and I am wired for sound. Oh well. Its like 9ish our time, and 11ish here. I plan on watching the food channel until I fall asleep. That super cool cake show is on. Sweet!

Well, I guess I should sign off for now, and try and sleep to get on this new time table. Later!