We left our house in Slidell on Tuesday evening, having packed up our personal belongings in a container the day before and sold everything else, in just 2 and a half weeks. We drove 12 hours to Orlando International Airport (the flights were half the price of those in New Orleans), stopping overnight at our friend Melanie's student digs, and arriving at the airport Wednesday afternoon. After unloading our hire car - which took 15 minutes to unpack and redistribute, so that we could carry everything into the airport - we make our way to the Virgin Atlantic desk. They graciously take all our baby paraphernalia for free and we walk disencumbered through the airport to our departure lounge. There is a huge Nemo filled fish tank and the girls play beautifully together, looking amazed at this water wonderland.
Boarding comes and we are given a seat with extra leg room and a sky cot. For those of you who do not know what this is, it is a drop down table that leans a little bit down towards you, with a fold up cot and a blanket. Completely unsuitable fro any baby who is mobile, like Nina, but we are just glass for the extra leg room! We also happen to be just behind Super Duper economy or first class, and they have left over champagne, so they give it to us while we wait to take off - brilliant!! The flight is ok. Nina is really fidgety and I nearly start crying when they bring the food and there is no room for anything, let alone for me to eat, but I hold it together, Ed holds Nina and we get through it pretty uneventfully. Tyla as usual is a gem - apart from refusing to sleep due to the variey of films she is able to watch on her little screen.
As we descend through the clouds at 8 am UK time, we eagerly await the sight of our beautiful homeland. When the land finally comes into view, we are only 20 ft up; we have travelled through the clouds, directly into fog. Welcome back to the UK - land of grey weather, rain, rain, and more rain!
We queue for customs, relieved that there are not many passengers to get through, but when it's our turn, we are told to go back to the non-Eu queue and fill out a landing card for our American born baby. She is clearly born to 2 European parents, but this does not seem to be good enough for the immigration lady, who clearly suspects that Nina is flying into the UK illegally and intends to live here with no visa. I am a little surprised that no-one seems to know how to handle this situation, but it appears that at Heathrow Airport, no European couple have ever brought in a baby they had abroad. We wait for the head of customs to give the immigration lady the green light, we are let through with a warning that she has only 2 months to stay in the UK without her proper papers. I contemplate asking where they are going to deport her to when her 2 months are up, but as I am jet lagged and already a little irrational, I manage to convince myself to keep schtum. Thanking the lady through gritted teeth, we head through to arrivals.
The driver is waiting for us when we get through and we load our 6 bags, baby carrier, buggy and car seat into the taxi van. She is a friendly sort and luckily spends her whole time talking to her magic bluetooth ear piece, so that we don't have to engage in conversation with her. We all fall asleep for most of the 90 minute drive to Portsmouth. When we get to the hovercraft, our UK bank cards don't work and the sales assistant is long faced and grumpy. I want to make sarcastic and horrible remarks to her, but instead I have become very British all of a sudden and instead; I say nothing to her and just complain loudly to Edwin about how disgusting the customer service is. Back to reality, where everyone is depressed about the grey sky and incessant rain and no-one anywhere is going to say, "Have a magical day!"
Another taxi the other side of the Solent and we are nearly at my parents' house in Sandown. We arrive home - Dad has left cash on the table for the cab - and we unload everything into their 3 bedroom detached house.
For now, it is a relief to be back - we are jet lagged, exhausted and generally weary, but the 3 day journey back to the Isle of Wight has come to an end. We are home.
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