Amazing African Adventure Day 1

 I went to bed at 1:30 am and got up at 5:30 am! We finished packing our last few items and then went over to Nate & Riannon's. Lexie, Jon, & Andrew had driven up last night and spent the night there. We loaded all of us and all of our luggage into their van and hit the road for the airport. Sis. Wright was an ANGEL and went w/ us to drop us off and then take the car back to Nate & Riannon's. This is our first picture of the trip w/ my new selfie stick! LOL!!!

 

 We were quite the site to see w/ our 9 pieces of luggage, plus carry-ons, plus personal items (like a purse or backpack).

 

 We got all checked in, and got in line to go through security.

 

 Once we made it through security, we went and found a place to grab a bite to eat since we were all hungry. Nate had made us crepes before we left, but we were hungry again from all the lifting of bags and walking around. There was this really cool maze that made sound when you walked around it near our gate, so the kids had fun running around and burning off some energy.

 

 Here we are headed down the terminal to our plane for the first leg of our LONG journey to Joburg, South Africa!

 

 We flew w/ Emirates Airlines and were incredibly impressed. I loved it when they dimmed the lights and these "stars" appeared on the ceiling above us! So cool. Emirates was SUPER NICE b/c they had great food, a huge selection of free movies and music and games, enough leg room, and they even brought us hot washcloths before each meal to wash our face and hands with.

 

It was cool to track our progress on this map. I was so happy when we got across the Atlantic Ocean, but then realized we still had 6 1/2 hours of our 14 hour flight to get to Dubai! Such a long time to be on an airplane!