32 hours no sleep

So Mr. Big and I were able to eat most of the Dubai elephant. All that was left was the narley old tail and no matter how much ketchup you put on it...there just was not enough time to choke it down so we retired for the night.

Our underwear on display for the whole airport to see!

Big Buddy's first flight.

Sunday morning we were up by 7am running around like crazed chickens. All in all, we were only 10 minutes late to the airport. At the airport we quickly found out that two of our bags were overweight. What? One was 19 lbs the other 14 lbs over (so much for my excellent packing job.). Luckily, Mr. Big had stuck an empty bag in one of the overweight bags so we were able to disperse the weight out and check four bags instead of three (this would come back to bite us later). Surprisingly, we sailed through security at the airport, sewing needle, scissors and all. Our first flight to Atlanta went better than expected. It left on time, and Big Buddy (my three year old son) did really well. (Special thanks to my employee who gave me the awesome idea of making little goodie bags for the people sitting around us on the plane. They were a big hit!) I made these little goodie bags that had a note letting the people around us know that Big Buddy is three years old and that it was his first flight. I included a pair of ear plugs, some Andies candies and some Werthern caramels. It made everyone around us super friendly and nice. Big Buddy really enjoyed the aircraft take-off and landing. He read books, watched part of a movie and put a puzzle together. He also realized right away that he loves the snack cart!

I don't even know what to say.

In Atlanta, we had a three hour layover which was heaven. We ate dinner at Chili's and had enough time to run off some energy before boarding our next flight. LOL! At Chili's they were providing plastic knives with their metal forks. Glad we didn't order a steak. Also special thanks to Chili's for the bag of Halloween candy that they gave my son right before we boarded a 14 hour flight (can you say "sugar high")!

I guess there really is a good reason for the plastic knives...

Our 14 hour flight from Atlanta was an experience. First it boarded almost an hour late since someone on the flight prior to us puked all over. I mentioned earlier that we ended up checking four bags instead of three. Well as we were trying to board the plane, Ashton's passport was pulled and several airline/security people discussed a bag that was associated with his name, Very strange. We had to explain why we checked an extra bag and why it was under his name. They eventually let us onboard. Once aboard, it was interesting to see the demographic of people flying to Dubai. We felt a bit on the minority side. Big Buddy was one of only four children on the flight. All were extremely well behaved. Being stuck on an airplane for 14 hours, you run out of things to do. Each headrest has a movie screen in it so you can watch movies and play games, however after your fourth movie that is no longer fun. Luckily, Big Buddy fell asleep two hours into the flight and stayed asleep till one half hour before we landed (there is a god!). It really confused him since he boarded the plane at night and got off the plane in Dubai at night. Before he fell asleep, Big Buddy and I took glow in the dark bracelets to each of the kids on our flight. I figured it would be a nice and fun thing to give kids on a plane at night to keep there attention for awhile. I was surprised to find out that the three Arab children had not seen a glow stick before. There mom was a bit concerned when we tried to give it to them, however after a little coaxing from the children, I was allowed to do so. How strange is that...never played with a glow stick/bracelet before!

Big Buddy hanging out at the Dubai Airport.

At the Dubai airport, I felt a bit panic stricken. Strange country, man of the cloth everywhere, and really no children. We landed after 7pm and made our way to the visa checkpoint. Our passports were scrutinized, and then we were finally let into the country. As we proceeded to pick up our rental car, we exited the airport and was greeted with the hottest muggy air imaginable. Strange for after 9pm at night. A nice clue that it must always be this way were the giant air conditioners spitting out a mist of water as you exited the building.  All in all, our first night ended up with us arriving safely in Dubai. Neither Mr. Big nor I slept at all on the plane so all totaled, by the time we were all checked into our hotel and asleep, it was 1 am the next day. A record for me, 32 hours without a drop of sleep!