Entry #1: Departure Day

No one will ever say our trip to Kuwait was boring! Our departure date was Friday August 15th and everything was going according to plan/list. We managed to get 11 bags plus carry-on pieces and two kids to the airport (thank you Mike Shellnut) on time. It took us almost an hour to check everything in but essentially everything went smoothley.

The first leg of our journey was a flight to TO to catch our connection to Frankfurt, Germany. Isaac was a little difficult on this flight and we were not all sitting together so that was a bit challenging. We were excited to land and get organized with our gear to catch the flight to Germany.

Little Isaac had other plans for us. As we were five steps off the plane and putting the stroller together Isaac took a tumble and cut his head open on a corner of the tunnel. When Jamie picked him up I apparently said, "oh there's blood..lots of blood." Jamie immediately yelled for help and the flight attendents and pilot started to help while 911 was called. Jamie had to hold him down and apply pressure while we waited, for what seemed like forever for help to arrive. Zoe, however, seemed quite focused on catching the next flight and keep asking when we could go. I was quite calm considering the situation and stayed with Zoe out of the way. Jamie was great and very calm through the whole thing. The hunky firefrighters arrived (and yes I did notice they were hunky in my panicked state). They cleaned him a bit and took a better look. It wasn't a huge cut but it would need stitches. When the paramedics arrived he was strapped into the stretcher and off we went...not to Germany but to Etobicoke General Hospital for a three hour wait for three stitches.

My sister and brother-in-law (who live in TO) had already left for their cottage so our friends Rekha, Kevin and Jayvyn took us in, despite the fact that Rekha was due with baby number two in a week. (Thank you very much!) We got in touch with the necessary people in Kuwait and they started on figuring out how to get us to Kuwait. We waited and waited. Sunday came and my sister arrived home from the cottage and collected us. We had a super visit with Jen, Bruce and Ewan (Thank you!!) but we were still waiting for the phone call or email that would tell us when we would be leaving. On Monday morning we found out we would be flying out on Tuesday morning on Etihad Air for a 12 hour flight. We definitely had mixed feelings about this news! Excited to get going but 12 hours on a flight with two children is not the best way to spend a day.

Meanwhile, we had to get our luggage. The Air Canada rep that was running along beside me as Isaac was wheeled to the ambulance assured me that our baggage would not continue on to Germany and it would be kept in a secure area. Well, the secure area was beside a belt in the arrivals area and one piece arrived in Kuwait on time. But dealing with Air Canada and luggage claims is a blog on-to -itself.

Next entry....the flight and arrival...stay tuned