Coming to America

 Continuation from the previous post from the plane from Frankfurt to Minneapolis.  The box, whatever it was, eventually did get on the plane, and we were able to take off just 1 hour and 15 minutes later.😶 The flight was pretty uneventful. We can definitely feel that our kids are older now and used to traveling.  The flight was 9 hours and  Benjamin and Liam just decided to sleep all on their own and slept for like 3-4 hours.  Silas has a more difficult time sleeping on the plane, so he watched like 5 movies and just rested his eyes for like 30 minutes.  He was determined to do  a "døgner" .... a whole 24 hours awake! We sat by multiple families with small children who screamed and cried A LOT! Luckily, Mary had bought some new noise canceling headphones - but - just a short 30 minutes into the flight, Liam's headphones stopped working, so he got Mary's!!...and she was left with the cheap, NOT NOISE CANCELING, earbuds.  

When we landed there  was a very short line for immigration, which was amazing.  We have had to wait a very long time other years.  Søren's US visa, is only good for 6 months at a time, but he was told at his visa application interview that he could explain our situation to the immigration officer and he might be able to get a stamp that would allow him to stay for 12 months.  We had gathered lots of documentation that showed our return to Denmark plans, so we were very prepared.  The first immigration officer said we had to go to the back office!!!  We didn't really want to go to the back office - but the guy seemed friendly enough, so we took the chance.  After a bit of questioning the officer gave Søren the stamp for 12 months!! We are happy that we don't have to worry about leaving the country, getting an extension etc.  

And then when we had to collect our baggage, all TEN items were there!!!!  Yay! Søren had lost his bag last year so we were a bit nervous about it - especially the bag with our contact lenses for Silas, Søren and Mary for the whole year!!

My Dad picked us up at the airport, in his BIG truck and we were able to get the car we are borrowing form my Uncle for the time being on the same day.  We ended up going to the Ox Yoke Inn for dinner with my Dad and Liz the first night - a restaurant close to my childhood home - and it was lovely to spend time with them already the first day!  The day ended with the kids going to bed at 8:15pm and the adults not long after, so Silas made his 24 awake streak, and we slept quite well the first night - Benjamin woke up at 4am - but others slept until 5:30, 6:30 or 9 (Silas)!

The time since then has been filled with getting our house ready - we arrived to a very empty house with just 5 mattresses on the floor. We are very impressed with how much we have gotten organized the first 5 days! But more to come about that and other things in the next few days!

(Dansk oversættelse efter billederne)

Leaving the airport - Welcome to Minnesota

Grandpa picking us up in his big pickup truck

We filled the truck bed!

Rush hour traffic out of the airport and out of the city!

Our new home! Check out the awesome flags Lizzie had set up for us!

In Danish - På dansk (Tak chatGPT)!

Fortsættelse fra det forrige opslag fra flyet fra Frankfurt til Minneapolis. Kassen – hvad end det var – kom til sidst med på flyet, og vi kunne lette bare 1 time og 15 minutter senere. 😶 Flyveturen var ret begivenhedsløs. Vi kan helt klart mærke, at vores børn er ældre nu og vant til at rejse. Flyveturen varede 9 timer, og Benjamin og Liam besluttede helt selv at sove og sov i cirka 3-4 timer. Silas har sværere ved at sove i fly, så han så omkring 5 film og hvilede bare øjnene i cirka 30 minutter. Han var fast besluttet på at tage en "døgner" … altså være vågen i 24 timer! Vi sad tæt på flere familier med små børn, der skreg og græd MEGET! Heldigvis havde Mary købt nogle nye støjreducerende høretelefoner – men – bare 30 minutter inde i flyveturen holdt Liams høretelefoner op med at virke, så han fik Marys!! … og hun måtte nøjes med de billige, IKKE støjreducerende ørepropper.

Da vi landede, var der en meget kort kø ved immigrationen, hvilket var fantastisk. Tidligere år har vi skullet vente virkelig længe. Sørens amerikanske visum gælder kun i 6 måneder ad gangen, men han fik ved sit visuminterview at vide, at han kunne forklare vores situation til immigrationsbetjenten, og at han måske kunne få et stempel, der gav ham lov til at blive i 12 måneder. Vi havde samlet en masse dokumentation, der viste vores planer om at vende tilbage til Danmark, så vi var meget forberedte. Den første immigrationsbetjent sagde, at vi skulle om bagved i kontoret!!! Det havde vi ikke så meget lyst til – men fyren virkede venlig nok, så vi tog chancen. Efter lidt afhøring gav betjenten Søren stemplet til 12 måneder!! Vi er glade for, at vi ikke skal bekymre os om at skulle rejse ud af landet, få forlængelse osv.

Og så, da vi skulle hente vores bagage, var ALLE TI stykker der!!!! Yay! Søren havde mistet sin taske sidste år, så vi var lidt nervøse – især for tasken med kontaktlinserne til Silas, Søren og Mary for hele året!!

Min far hentede os i lufthavnen i sin STORE truck, og vi fik bilen, vi låner af min onkel, samme dag. Vi endte med at tage på Ox Yoke Inn og spise aftensmad med min far og Liz den første aften – en restaurant tæt på mit barndomshjem – og det var dejligt at tilbringe tid med dem allerede første dag! Dagen sluttede med, at børnene gik i seng kl. 20:15, og de voksne ikke længe efter, så Silas klarede sit døgn uden søvn, og vi sov ret godt den første nat – Benjamin vågnede kl. 4, men de andre sov til 5:30, 6:30 eller 9 (Silas)!

Tiden siden da er gået med at gøre huset klart – vi ankom til et meget tomt hus med kun 5 madrasser på gulvet. Vi er meget imponerede over, hvor meget vi har fået styr på de første 5 dage! Men mere om det – og andre ting – i de kommende dage!