At the airport

    We checked out of  our hotel at noon, and we went to lunch at Qdoba.  Then Allyson and Emery and Liam and I all went to the airport.  We had to check in at Air Canada, which was the single farthest airline counter from our parking place without leaving the airport.  The airport is unsurprisingly non-busy today, though, so check-in was quick.

   The four of us explored the airport and sat down together, putting off the inevitable time of actual separation  Too soon, however, we had to say good-bye.  We had a round of hugs and kisses, and then (at Emery's insistence), a round of ring-around-the-rosy!  Then Liam and I went though security, waving good-bye.  We find ourselves with the sad fact that we won't see Allyson and Emery for 33 days.

    We are now at the Seattle gate (N13, for what it's worth), waiting for our plane.  We face one more tricky hurdle before we get on our long flight. We just learned that in Vancouver, we have to get our bags, go through Canadian customs, recheck our bags, find the Air New Zealand counter, and pick up boarding passes.  We have about an hour fifteen minutes from the time we land until we board the next flight.  It's going to tight!

     We'll be sure to post an update about the actual flight (14 hours in one plane with a five-year-old...) when we arrive in Christchurch.