What's New Since Terminal 4

Greetings from Doha, Qatar!
Despite the one day delay, Ellie and Jennifer arrived without further incident and in amazingly good shape after a 21+ hour journey. Ellie, of course, was a complete and total angel baby on the planes. The first leg was from Mobile, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, and we were seated next to another mom with a one year old baby girl named Reagan: FASCINATING! We have discovered that Ellie LOVES other children and is endlessly amazed by them. She watched Reagan (who was a VERY busy beaver) in quiet wonder all the way to Atlanta. In Atlanta, we transferred to British Airways, and let me just say that one cannot underrate the beauty of 180 degree flat beds in business class! The only thing more beautiful than that was the empty seat next to us, giving us TWO big ol' seats to play with. Ellie had a ball playing in her seat in between naps, and I think most of the other passengers had no idea there was a little baby on board. Arriving in London (where it was snowing!)without a hitch, we had a bit of a jam transferring to Qatar Airways (no elevator to the South Terminal, meaning we had to go through immigration--Ellie's first passport stamp--then customs, and then check-in all over again just to change terminals), but the plane ride was nice. The flight crew was extremely friendly. Even the captain took some time to play with Ellie when we saw him in the corridor! One of the flight attendants provided a bassinet for Ellie, which she proceeded to chew with gusto (see photo exhibit).

Now, our little family is reunited and happily whiling away the jetlag in the Ritz-Carlton. Talk about fancy-schmanzy! The spa facilities are gorgeous! Today, Ellie had her first pool experience. We don’t think she knew what to make of the water, but she splashed about like a pro!