Our LONG day of travel: Germany to South Carolina

I'm writing this from South Carolina, so we made it.  And all's well that ends well.  But it was quite the adventure getting here.  I'll start with "hour 0" when we woke up at 6 am Monday morning to get ready for our long trip.

Hour 0: Wake up with the kids, feeling well rested, eat breakfast, and start packing up everything in the hotel room

Hour 5: Go to a farewell lunch with some people from Hyrum's unit.

Hour 6: Rush home to get the kids down for naps, only to discover that Tiago has the worst diaper rash in the history of his life.  (And he was completely fine 30 minutes before. Bad timing.)

Hour 8: Deal with toddler who is screaming with pain, and clean up the messes being made while he runs around with no diaper

Hour 12: Finish packing the carry-ons and move the luggage into one corner of the hotel room.  Do a final check of the two rooms before going to dinner.

Hour 16: After getting the kids asleep and finishing preparations, finally fall asleep.  (With Hyrum still turning in his work computer at the office... I'd call that procrastination!)

Hour 17: Wake up at 11 pm to the beeping phone alarm after only 1.5 hours of sleep. Load up the kids and get downstairs to the shuttle bus to take us to the other side of Germany.  (Tiago was really excited and kept yelling "Bus!"  It was a dream come true for him to ride in a bus for the next seven hours, including several stops.)  Sleep sitting up for a couple of hours with plenty of interruptions.

Hour 24: Arrive at Ramstein Air Base.  Check in for our flight.  Change the kids into 'daytime clothes'.  And let Tiago play with the toys at the USO.

Hour 27: Get in line for the security check, only to be told our flight was delayed 1.5 hours.

Hour 29: Successfully get all carry-ons, carseats, and stroller through security.  (Grateful the security people didn't ask any questions about our liquids for bottles and food.)  Wait for about 150 soldiers to board the flight before us.

Hour 30: (Tuesday, noon.) Listen to the gate agent to announce general boarding (with no pre-boarding for families, as promised!)  Then fortunately hear him correct the mistake a few minutes later.  Push through the crowd of over-eager passengers with a giant stroller. Then make it down the narrow aisle of the airplane with backpack, diaper bag, and car seat with baby inside.  (I felt bad for all the people who boarded before us and got smacked as I made my way down the aisle.  There's a reason for pre-boarding, and it's not to make people feel special.)  Then adjust car seats multiple times to comply with the crazy flight policies, resulting in a complete stranger sitting between me and Hyrum for the entire flight.

Hours 30-38: Entertain kids, eat airplane lunch with Siena in lap trying to kick everything to the ground, unsuccessfully try to prevent Tiago from kicking the seat in front of him.  Consider taking a few pictures to document the flight, then quickly squash that idea because you're no octopus mom with 8 arms.

Hour 38: Figure out how to get to baggage claim (and through customs) with three car seats, two back packs, and three kids without a stroller because they're sending the stroller directly to baggage claim. (Sometimes I really don't know what airlines are thinking.  Fortunately, a nice pilot offered to carry a car seat, and Hyrum carried the two baby carriers with Siena and Mila inside.)  Be grateful that we have two hours until our connecting flight.

Hour 39: Wait at baggage claim for stroller and checked bags, so we can take them to be re-checked. Keep waiting, because the Air Force doesn't have their act together and it takes them over an hour to get the bags out.

Hour 40: Run through the airport with everything as fast as we can trying to catch our connecting flight, only to be told at the Delta counter that there was no hope.  Cry.  Get booked for a flight the next morning.  Listen to screaming babies who are seriously sleep deprived and can't be consoled and for some reason just won't fall asleep no matter how much they're held or rocked.  Listen to strangers make comments about said crying babies.  Cry yourself.  And be sad that it's been almost 30 hours of sleepless travel.

Hour 41: Cry together while Hyrum borrows a phone at the USO and finds a hotel for the night.  Wait outside for the shuttle bus while Tiago continually yells "Bus! Bus! Bus!"  Why isn't he sleepy??

Hour 42.5: (6:30 pm EST). Get to hotel with three suitcases, two backpacks, three car seats, one diaper bag, one pack & play, one stroller, and three babies.  Put them in bed, brush teeth, and crash.  SLEEEEEEEP.  Finally

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It was a long "day".  I hate being sleep-deprived and I felt physically and mentally unstable at the end of it all.  We were lucky enough that our hotel room was big and there was free dinner and a great breakfast the next morning.  In better spirits, we loaded up our stuff Wednesday morning and had no problems with our next two flights.  (The kids slept the entire first flight!)  We picked up our rental car in Columbia, SC and were checking into our next "hotel home" by 4:30 pm.

I am happy to say that all of our flights in the foreseeable future will be domestic, and I plan to never travel again with three kids under the age of two!

Hotel Life

Three years ago (and one day) we arrived to Germany.  It was just the two of us relaxing in our hotel room while we waited for permanent housing.  We enjoyed the house keeping, constant clean towels and free breakfast.

Now we have three kids though, so I was a little worried when we moved into the hotel last week for a 12-day stay.  But... I've actually been enjoying it!

It's easy to get out with the kids.  I put them in the stroller, wheel it to the elevator, and then there are dozens of things within walking distance.  (Gelato, food, stores, USO, etc.)  No more hauling of carseats of children up flights of stairs every time I want to get some fresh air.

This is all right in front of our hotel.

Prior to moving into the hotel, we spent all of our free time crossing things off our check-list.  It wasn't relaxed at all (plus it was over 95 degrees every day and we only have one small fan.)  We were cleaning out both cars, and cleaning out apartment for the final inspection.  That's definitely one of those things that will consume as much time as possible.  So the minute we handed over the keys and drove away I felt a big sense of relief because most of the work was over.  Things have been fairly relaxed since, although there are still small errands we've had to run.

Good bye to our house on In Der Stellohe

They gave us hotel rooms, with no connecting door, because there were no suites available.  It's a pain to have to run back and forth in the hallway between the two rooms, but it's nice that when the kids are sleeping they can't wake each other up.  At night we put Tiago down in one room (in a pack and play) and then go next door to feed the girls and put them in cribs in their room.  I feel so blessed that all of the kids are great sleepers at the moment.  Tiago just hangs out (sometimes babbling to himself) until he falls asleep, and the girls don't fuss for more than five or ten minutes before sleeping.  Then Hyrum and I can watch TV (in the girls room) til we go to bed.  (The down side is we each have to sleep in a different room, but the upside is that we each get to enjoy our own big bed, and I only have to hear the girls crying every other night for a mid-night feed.)

Tiago has a great time roaming the hallways.  They're huge and clean, so it's like an extension of the rooms.  There's a window that he can see out to watch cars for a looong time.  (It gets annoying when he calls all vehicles buses and we have to correct him five hundred times.)

And, he watches plenty of TV.  But that's not a battle I want to fight right now.

Maybe best of all, the hotel has air conditioning!  It's one of the few blessed buildings in Germany with that amenity so we're enjoying it.  Plus, there are ceiling fans.  Our kids have actually worn clothes for the last week as opposed to running around in their diapers like they did the rest of the summer.

Oh-- one more great thing! I've loved not having to meal plan or figure out something for dinner.  If we're hungry, we load up the stroller and pick out of our many options.  We've eaten at a few favorite restaurants here one last time, and enjoyed some food court options as well.  Pretty much without having to cook or clean, a mother's job is quite simplified.

In just a few days we'll be loading a plane for another 'fun' traveling adventure, then we'll settle for a bit longer in another hotel while we look for housing.  Then there will be plenty of work to keep me busy!

Mila & Siena: 5 months!

Mila (R), Siena (L)

I have no idea how much these girls weigh (because our scale is making it's way back to the States along with our other belongings) but they have outgrown the 3-month clothes that I'm still making them wear.  

I wouldn't say the last month has been my favorite.  They still sleep well at night (waking up once or twice to eat), but struggle with napping during the day and seem to be on opposite schedules.  There's a lot of crying before they'll fall asleep and when they don't sleep they're just miserable.  Luckily it's just a stage in time.  

I have Siena sleeping in the crib and Mila is in the pack & play. She doesn't seem to mind.  

The poor girls rarely get a bath, because life is just crazy even without regular bath time.

There are days I really struggle telling them apart (like when they're dressed identical!)   From certain angle it's clear who is who, but other times they look just like each other.

Siena likes to stick out her tongue, and once she started rolling a few weeks ago hasn't stopped.  It's frustrating when she rolls over before falling asleep, and screams til we come turn her onto her back.  (Sometimes she just sleeps on her stomach.)  Mila hasn't rolled over in quite a while, though I know she is able to.

There aren't any blankets around in this photo shoot, but if anything is within arms' reach of Siena, she automatically pulls it over her face.  Always.

This roughhousing still continues.  Typical: Siena picking on Mila.  And they're both screaming right now, so that's all I have to say about 5 months!

Murano and Burano [the islands of Venice]

Like I wrote about waaaaaay back here, the first day we were in Venice it was raining like crazy so we visited the surrounding islands so we could stay warm and dry during the boat rides.

Our first stop was Murano, well known for it's glass.  Apparently Venice was at the forefront of developing glass techniques several centuries ago, and in 1921 they decided to move all glass making to Murano to protect the city of Venice from the risk of fire.  The island felt very similar to Venice, with the same colors and architecture. The only advantage was there were fewer people (which is always a plus in my book.)

 After a quick walk around (getting completely soaked) we were heading back to the dock when I said, "This was fun to see.  It would have been nice to watch some actual glass being made, though."  We hadn't explored enough to find any factories.  Less than 30 seconds later, a guy appeared from a random alley and said, "Would you like to watch a glass demonstration for 2 euro?"  Little did he know, that's exactly what I wanted to do!

They showed us two techniques: the first is blowing glass (into a vase) and the second is pulling the glass into the shape of a horse, which was quite remarkable to watch.  I think this guy could do it in his sleep, though.  In about 7 or 8 strokes they pull out the head, ears, legs, etc.

From there, we waited for the boat ferry to Burano, another island farther from Venice that's known for it's lace.  

Lace isn't really my thing, but these colorful buildings sure were!  I don't think I've ever visited a happier looking place, and I'm so glad the rain forced us out to see the island.  Several years ago I remember visiting the Dr. Seuss part of Universal Studios and thinking that it would be fun to wake up every morning in such a whimsical place.  I thought the same thing when we were on Burano. 

Nothing but color everywhere, except (ironically) in the lace.  I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Tiago had a blast splashing through the puddles. (See green blur below)

We bought a little painting in this art shop near the port.  We ended up having to wait about 30 minutes for the next boat, and in the mean time entertained ourselves with gelato.  I still miss the pistachio ice cream in Italy.

And as a bonus, here's what gondoliers look like in the rain.  Certainly no one was paying 100 euro for a ride that day.