WELCOME to Russia!

It has now been two weeks since our family's return to our beloved Russia.

The airplane was about to land in Moscow, but then the pilot hit the gas and we flew away. He then announced (I'm not kidding), "Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay, but we are having a problem with the flaps and they are not functioning. We are going to try to resolve the problem in the air, but if we can't... [pause]... we'll be back with you shortly."

Then (I'm totally kidding here, in case anyone is wondering) a guy in bib overalls and a ski mask, with a wrench exited the cabin and fixed the flaps.

The pilot then (serious again) said, "We think we have it taken care of so we'll give it another go."

The airplane was about to land in Moscow a second time, and our altitude was very low. Then the pilot hit the gas again and we flew away. Another announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry about that, but we can't see the runway because of the weather, so we'll try one more time."

Later on in passport control line at the airport (after the third, and ultimately successful landing attempt) we heard the pilot say to one of the stewardesses (airplane waitress), "You understand I can't land a plane without the flaps?"

If we'd known that we wouldn't have been so worried. See, we were all worried about the plane landing somewhere without the flaps. Apparently, it just stays up in the air until fixed.

Sometime later in passport line, as we walked up to the passport control booth, the kind passport control lady looked at our family and yelled, "One at a time!"

To which I calmly replied, "And our two year old too?"

To which she peacefully exclaimed, "Well, you're going to have to wait then!"

To which I merrily retorted, "Do you have any better ideas?"