We left Saturday, Nov. 8. We decided to stay in Munich the night before so we wouldn't have to get up quite so early. Our first hiccup came at the ticket counter where I was trying to get Tiago's infant-in-arms ticket. For international flights you can add the baby to your reservation in advance, but tickets can't be issued electronically so you have to actually buy and pick them up at the airport counter. I went through this nightmare last year when I flew home with Tiago. I was hoping it would go smoother this time. (No melt-down in Paris with a screaming baby while they tell me he can't get on the flight.)
Fortunately we arrived plenty early, because at the AirFrance ticket counter the lady told us we couldn't purchase an infant-in-arms ticket. Well what do you suggest we do with our baby then? It was frustrating because I'd talked to multiple people at Delta who confirmed that I could. Then the lady tried to tell me that a 1-way ticket would be over 300 EURO. (They're supposed to be 10% of an adult fare). Heck no, what else do you got? She finally called the Delta ticket counter in a different departure terminal and they were able to get us a ticket for a normal price. So Tiago was able to come along, after all.
While I was dealing with that, Tiago found plenty of entertainment around the airport. He was thrilled to push these luggage carts all over for almost an hour, and looked pretty cute doing it.
The flights weren't too bad. In the back of my head I think I was comparing it to traveling alone with a baby, so having an extra set of hands (Hyrum) made it so much easier!! We weren't able to bring the carseat on any flights, but Tiago took a few naps in our arms while we watched movies.
One thing that's always interesting to experience is the difference between European and American airport security. I've found that in Europe, people are fairly accomodating, especially when you have a baby. For example, in Munich I told them in advance that I had liquids for my baby in the diaper bag. They said, no problem, and just scanned everything like normal. Plus we never have to take our shoes off. When I was going through security in Chicago I told them I had liquids, and because I refused to open my boxed milk for Tiago, they said they'd have to give Hyrum a pat-down and test all our other liquids. So while I was trying to re-assemble the stroller, put the laptop and ipad into the backpack, put back on my shoes and move our bags from the conveyer belt to a table to be scanned, the TSA guy told Hyrum to hand me the baby. Yeah.. it's going to be a second. Then I noticed all of Hyrum's 'pocket items' in a container, and tried to hand them to him. The TSA guy said, "Can you just hold on to those?" I'm sure my eyes were popping out of my head as I said, "Between the baby, stroller, and bags, No, I can't!" He was a little sheepish after that and let Hyrum put it all in his pocket. It's hard to imagine they go through that charade with every mother that travels with a baby, but maybe they do!
After a long passport control line and a 3-hr flight from Chicago that felt like it would never end (Tiago sat on the floor and ripped most of the pages out of Sky magazine) we arrived in Salt Lake around 7:30 pm. Initially Tiago was disoriented and tired and confused at the new people who wanted to hold him. He was jet-lagged, and after sleeping off-and-on all night, he woke up around 5 am. That gave us plenty of time to get ready for church!
We went down to Lehi with my parents to watch Jake and Andrew's primary program. After we ate delicious French Dipped sandwiches with them, and Tiago loved playing with cousins. Andrew really made him laugh, and entertained him most of the time we were eating. After Lehi we went up to Ogden to see Hyrum's family. They were all thrilled to see Tiago, who was once again unsure about new people, but warmed up pretty quickly. He got some new toys (Elmo will make an appearance farther down) and particularly loved a race car he could push around the house.
On Monday the wedding festivities began. Amie had a lot of friends fly in for her wedding, so we held a bridal shower on Monday at the Grand America in SLC.
They served tea (or hot chocolate) with little sandwiches and desserts. It's all pretty fancy, and delicious, and probably not nearly enough food.
Jenna entertained us while we ate by showing off her temporary tattoo she got in Vegas.
Then the real fun began. Fortunately, most people had cleared out of the dining room because we made quite a ruckus. And it was pretty inappropriate for a "High Tea" setting. To keep things PG, this was one of the picture-appropriate gifts that Amie received. It was probably the only picture-appropriate gift she received.
Most of the gifts she opened had us looking like this:
After tea, my mom took us to a playground nearby so Tiago could play. This was quite the playground!
And the sunset was gorgeous.
On Tuesday morning we were up at 5 am again. As we were sitting around, we started thinking that there were probably some good Veterans Day deals to be had. Google pointed us to several restaurants, including Denny's, so we went and ate a big breakfast for $3 before anyone else in the house even woke up. (Matt is currently living at my parent's house, since he got kicked out of Amie's house with the wedding...)
For lunch, we went to Texas Roadhouse and had more delicious (free) food. Their rolls....!
That night was a little pre-wedding party at my parent's house. It was fun to get together with family and socialize, and Amie's friends came. There was so much food! Caramel apples, cheesecake bites, tacos, chocolate, fruit, shrimp, etc... (This might be a good time to mention that when we first arrived, and got a tour of the new house, my mom pointed out the fridge in the garage with the extra supply of candy bars and soda. We certainly didn't suffer while we were there!)
Tiago loved having so much attention. Here's the life-size Elmo doll that he received. Even when we weren't using it, we'd hear it talking and making noises in the corner. Kind of creepy...
And lastly, I have no idea what everyone was doing in here, but it's the only shot I have of our bedroom for 3 weeks. All of our stuff exploded over all the shelves. I'm sure we were fast asleep that night before all the guests even left.
To be continued...
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