Week One in the US by the numbers

So we arrived in the US last Wednesday.  The flight was not too bad, although Drew was very upset that they didn't have Planes fire and Rescue for him to watch, as we had seen on the American website!  Here are a few stats on our trip:

 1- ATM card eaten by the ATM.  apparently the ATM where I got cash didn't recognize the chip and pin.  I spent 40 minutes on the phone with my bank in London, who cancelled my card and sent a new one to my London address only to get a call from PNC 2 hours later to say that I could come and get my card....a little late for that.

2- rental vehicles driven. The great deal I found on Expedia UK for a minivan was only for foreign drivers licenses, which we don't have.  Oops.  So we returned that one and got a midsize SUV from enterprise off airport.  But we still have to purchase the insurance since we don't have auto insurance.  And I bought a car seat for Drew for the price to rent one for 4 days.

3- houses slept in: Carlsons, nana & papa, mum mum, and we will be on to Grandaddys next week!

4- days the girls worked on their performance " sweet sixteen."  We got to watch half of it, and they worked really hard!  Not only did they write a script but they also made tickets and programs but they also coreagraphed 5 dances!  And they got Ben, sarah and Gabe to participate!

5- hours it took of transportation other than flight time.  It took 2 hours to get to the airport in the taxi which was necessary because of the amount of luggage we had!  And then it took almost 3 hours to get the rental car that we had for one day.  We rented the van from Dollar which is obviously not a big rental company in Chicago, so they don't have shuttles coming back and forth like the national and budget ones that we saw 5!!  Apparently you have to call to let them know to pick you up, which Brad did.  And when the very small shuttle pulled up, there were so many other people wAiting that they all filled the shuttle up before we could get on.  So we had to wait for the shuttle to come back and then we got to the rental place and we waited for 1.5 hours to get the van that they had to get from hertz!  What a nightmare!!!

8- hours of flight time from London to ORD.  ( note only 3 hours more than the other transportation time.  By the time we got to Naperville, our journey took almost 17 hours!!!)

10- number of times we have listened to the Teen Beach 2 soundtrack that Lauren gave Alison for her birthday yesterday

The other thing I didn't consider was the cell phone.  Ian set me up with a pay as you go SIM card on his old iPhone 3.  It is like going back in time, but I have unlimited calls and texts with a local number!!

We have enjoyed seeing family and friends so far and are excited to see many more family and friends over the next few weeks!!