HOME!!!

This is the third time in the last 4 hours I've started this post!  Hopefully I can complete it, or at least get enough to be worth posting!   Sorry we haven't updated in a while.  The last few days were pretty busy.  Wednesday we hung around the hotel trying to keep occupied until Emmett's visa was ready (4:30pm).  It was raining, so we couldn't be outdoors much.  Previously we've let the kids play in the rain and get soaked, but not such a good idea on the day we are traveling!  Emmett isn't used to being in rain, and goes back and forth between Brian and I under a tree, and the girls out in the rain.  He's pretty open to new experiences though!  Anyway, we managed to while away the time with some new indoor activities, though Emmett doesn't stay doing any one thing very long, until it was time to go.  Thankfully the paperwork was done on time.  We picked it up and headed for the train station, to Hong Kong.  I admit was a little nervous going through immigration, but we sailed through without problems!  Now I feel like he is really ours! 

Emmett had done very well on the airplane and in the van, so we anticipated the train would go well.  Silly us.  He sat for the first 1/2 hour, then was all over the place:  in the aisles, in the seat of the people ahead of us, yelling, etc.  He wasn't mad, just busy!!!  Anyway, we survived.  We took a bus from the train station to the airport, then the hotel shuttle to the hotel.  We didn't arrive at the hotel until 11pm!  Everyone was exhausted!  We all slept well.  We were up Thursday am to take the bus back to the TST area of Kowloon, to meet Shona and Hele.  Emmett is very intrigued that we know people everywhere that know his name and speak his language.  He will be disappointed in the US!

 We had lunch with them, and took the ferry across to Hong Kong Island.  Emmett enjoyed them, being his usual teasing self.  He told Shona that she couldn't go to the bathroom in McDonalds, because there was a dog in it.  When she went anyway, he ran over to Hele and told her that he had fooled Shona.  He keeps life interesting!  Shona and Hele put us on in a bus to the Stanley market, then returned to their usual schedule.  The bus ride to Stanley was interesting!  Very narrow roads, double decker bus, and lots of twists and turns.  Those drivers earn their money!

This was taken from the side window of the middle of the bus!

Saw lots of beautiful scenery!  We wandered around there for a bit, then took a bus back to TST.  We found a children's playground on Middle road (very nice!), and the kids played there for an hour.  Emmett is cautious, but willing to try most anything he sees his sisters do.  They had a blast, and got rid of some energy!  We hit TGI Friday's for supper, then took the bus back to the airport, then shuttle to the hotel.  We need to be on the 7am shuttle to leave in the am, so hit the sack early!

Friday am we were all up and to the airport.  Good thing we were early, as the lines were long!  We finally reached our gate about 10 minutes before boarding!  We anticipated (again, silly us) that Emmett would enjoy the plane ride back to the US because he'd have his own personal screen with movies and games.  He is a big button pusher, and loves all electronics.  However, he wouldn't let anyone help him, and the only thing he could figure out on his own was how to call the stewardess!  Yikes!  All considering he did well, but took the ingenuity of all of us.  He did enjoy the Ipad, and moved from lap to lap checking out what others were playing/watching/doing.  About half way through the flight he settled in Brian's lap and watched a movie with him, sharing the earphones.  He did sleep the last 3 hours, so that helped (out of 15!). 
The flight was one of the more interesting we've been on in a while!  About half way through (7 1/2 hours into it) the flight attendants paged "all medical personnel to the front please."  That's a good way to raise my blood pressure when I know we're over the ocean near Russia and have nowhere to land.  Anyway, a man had collapsed in the bathroom and was lying on the floor passed out.  A cardiologist and I responded.  (Boy was I glad to see him!).  The man's blood pressure was really low, and as soon as we got him flat on the floor with his legs elevated his BP came up and he started talking.  To make a long story short, sounds like he was dehydrated.  We kept him on the floor for a while, made him drink lots, and finally put him in his seat (with help) in first class, which has seats that lay flat.  We told him to drink more, and not to get up without help.  We had a big discussion with the crew about whether we needed to divert anywhere, and decided for many reasons that he would be ok.  (This all took about 45 minutes).  We went back to our seats.  Emmett was glad to see me (he wasn't sure what to think when i disappeared so quickly).  He grabbed my hand, and clearly wanted to go with me somewhere.  I'm sure he thought I had discovered something fun to do.  So, we walked up and down the airplane some, though he was clearly hoping for more.  Anyway, we headed back to our seats.
About an hour later, here came the same page again.  It was the same man, who collapsed again after walking to the bathroom by himself.   This time we kept him on the floor, and instructed him not to get up!  When he needed the restroom again the flight attendant came to get me, and I made him crawl there and back.  Doing that, his blood pressure stayed stable and he didn't pass out.  Whew!!!  About an hour later they came and got me again.  He crawled to the bathroom, but opened the bathroom door standing up, and collapsed into the flight attendant's arms.  I was right there, so we got him on the floor again.  This time, the medical advisers from the ground wanted an IV in him.  Thankfully we were only 1 1/2 hours from Detroit at this point, or we would have had to land elsewhere.  Anyway, I stayed with him for a while, monitoring the IV, and went back to the family for landing.  Brian and the kids did really well with me disappearing for long lengths of time.  The EMS met the plane, and took the man off first.  They asked me and the doctor to talk to the EMS, as well as give a written report.  So we did this while everyone else waited.  Finally we got off, and were able to go through customs immigration (2 different places for us and Emmett), security again, and barely make our plane to Madison.  Boy were we glad to be home last night!  Needless to say, every one's sleep schedule is all confused!  Emmett got up at 1:15 this am, so we're all up except Brian.  Started laundry, etc.  I'll probably post less frequently now, but will keep you updated on his progress at home.  Thanks for following our journey!