We've been in Japan for almost a week now and I still haven't written down how the flight went...here goes.

We got to the airport at about 7am. After checking our luggage in, we got gate-check tags for our stroller and a carseat, had breakfast at Burger King, brushed our teeth, and I then had just enough time left to brush the girls' hair and do ponytails & hairclips.

Our first flight was only an hour and a half. Short & sweet. Autumn & Heidi played and loved the pretzels and drinks provided by the airline. Esther didn't like this flight since it was past her naptime. She just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

We arrived at the San Francisco Airport and discovered we wouldn't be able to take the bus to the International Terminal....only stairs led to the pick-up and we had our double stroller. So we booked it through the airport from Gate 73 to Gate 95. We had to go through security again when we got to the International Terminal (GRRR....) and made it to our gate as they called "Final Boarding Call"!

The girls did great and our longer flight was really pretty uneventful. Esther played & slept some on the floor at my feet in a collapsible "Moses basket" I made for the trip. Heidi slept as much as Esther did (4 hours of a 10 1/2 hour flight) and Autumn slept for TEN MINUTES. The biggest thing to happen on that flight? Esther dumped a FREEZING COLD cup of water on me! Thankfully, it dried quickly. My biggest worry before flying was how we would negotiate going to the bathroom on the airplane. Guess what? All four of us fit in the bathroom together!

My mom was waiting for us at the airport and we then waited together for a shuttle-bus to take us to Camp Zama (the army base where dad works). After 2 flights, waiting for the shuttle-bus, and riding to Zama -- we walked in Mom & Dad's door 24 hours and 30 minutes after leaving Orem.

Our bodies have now adjusted to the time zone and the next step is to adjust to the sun! Japan is appropriately called "Land of the Rising Sun". The sun comes up between 3:30 and 4:00 in the morning. Our bodies seem to think they should rise with the sun....but are beginning to realize they don't really want to (wake-up time has been 5:30ish). We're getting there a few minutes at a time. Until then we take naps or go to bed a little early.