London: Day 6 and time to say good-bye not only to London but to a trip of a lifetime. One last look out our apartment window.

The girls on our train ride to the airport. Luckily, it wasn't crowded because we were all packing a load.

He takes after his mother. Tanner not being so subtle that the guy across from him doesn't smell so great. Todd must be worn down because he took the picture and didn't tell me to do something about him. That is what I don't understand, it bothers him but he asks me to do something about it. He didn't and I didn't and I don't know if the guy smelled either.

When the train stops, Todd starts getting irritable, knowing that we have to go through security in Hethrow which he is certain was developed by pre-schoolers. For a man who likes efficiency and order, this is his worst nightmare, after the past six weeks of course. After we have gone through four checks that check everything in reverse order, Todd is done. He reminds us for the last and hundreth time to make sure all the water is out of our backpacks, small items of lotion and such in plastic bags, computers and kindles in seperate bins, shoes off, belts off, pockets emptied; heck at this point, might as well go through naked cause it is about ready to all come off anyway by the time we remove all that is listed. We didn't fill the bottles. I am proud that the kids have gotten through and we seem to be doing O.K. We have cleared before all our gear so we sit down to wait until all the stuff comes through.  And then, the unspeakable, the blue back pack gets pulled, not the bomb back pack from our other trip through Hethrow, but the one I was wearing. Ooh boy, I know what is in it. I try and play it cool and just tell him to go and get his favorite butter cookies and I will wait for it. He doesn't take the bait. Do I tell him what is in there or play stupid. The lady keeps holding up a Dora backpack that nobody is claiming. She won't move behind that one and pick up ours because it's against protocol. I want to holler at her when she picks up the Dora backpack for the fifth time, "they already left because they thought they had everything and didn't know they had to wait an extra hour to get all their stuff." That poor kid is sitting on a tarmac right now somewhere wondering where Dora is. Nobody told her Dora got pulled and you have to have a body search to get it back. "Come back and get it next time you are through Hethrow. I am sure Mary Poppins will still be holding it up every now and again." She finally grabs ours and I fess up to Todd that I know what is in it. As he heads up so he can't strangle me and end up in jail before we really do miss our flight, I blurt out, "It's peanut butter." I didn't know peanut butter was not allowed. You can make bombs with peanut butter? I was just trying to make Granny Smith's taste better on the trip home because the boys were boycotting the rubber plane meals we were served on the leg over. Sure enough, she empties the backpack, finds my stash and drops it in the waste bin. Oh well, it was an honest mistake. Todd doesn't think so, but it really was.

Ourr layover in Houston couldn't have come at a better time for Tanner. He was so tired he couldn't stay awake another minute so he crawled in between the chairs and took a nap. We had a heck of a time waking him too. He never really woke up even when we boarded. I just prayed he didn't try to pee in the trash can or corner because he was so disoriented and thought I was marching him up to bed for the night. Last leg girls!

Tyler kept himself entertained. The Kindles were lifesavers. Good thing the airline was honest, not efficient, but honest . We got a call at around 10 o'clock the night we got home to tell us that our Kindles were in the Lost and Found. Oops, and the kids weren't at fault. In fact, the only thing we didn't come home with was one sock.  

PHX, home sweet home.

Thousands and thousands of miles traveled with equal amount of memories made. Thanks to Dad for planning this trip. It would not have been a fraction as successful or memorable without your meticulous planning and leadership. Thanks kids for making a dream of your Mom's come true. I love each of you and will always remember this summer we shared.