Our house guests graciously agreed to drop us off at LAX which made the trip to the airport much simpler. This was key since we realized just this morning that we booked our LAX to Heathrow flight on points and our Heathrow to Brussels flights separately on a different airline meaning we didn't actually have time to retrieve our bags from Virgin Atlantic, go through customs, then re-check them on Brussels Air in our 75 minute lay-over. So – a flight to Europe with carry-on bags for the whole family it was! And after a 10 ½ hour flight and sprinting (literally) through the terminal and having the security gate closed just in front of us to allow an adjacent flight to off-board, we (us three and three other passagers) were the last on board our connecting flight. We may not have cut it so close but while waiting for our stroller, the flight attended asked Aidan if he wanted to "go up front" – moments later we were standing in the cockpit and Aidan was talking to the crowd crew on the pilot’s microphone – I didn’t even know the allowed that anymore – so cool! Aidan was a champ the whole flight and starting at night with a decent enough sleep and then arriving late the next day, tired and ready for bed, we adjusted to the jet lag quickly this time around. Deb, Vanessa and Ailan were all there to meet us at the airport which was super sweet. We got settled at Deb’s and hit the hay.


The nest day was mellow just recouping from the flight and picking Aili’s mom up at Brussels Midi train station. We got there way early so just had fun watching trains and hanging at the café. Scooped up grandma and headed back to Debs. Aidan enjoyed romping around the back yard, kicking around a beach ball and starting to fill out our Carrefour Belgian Red Devil Work Cup “Football” Book.