Traveling like is not for the faint of heart - but totally doable if you have no expectations what so ever.
It is insane, and all I wanted to do when we got to their house was take a week long shower and nap.
Even though it was hard, and tiring - all of it was so worth is seeing the kids excitement when they spotted my parents at the airport - grandparents are so special.
We got the airport, checked everything, said our crying good-byes to Nate (yes, we are a crying family) and headed through security.
I knew it was going to be an ok trip, when after we got through security and was busy shoving my laptop and liquids back into my bag when a guy stopped me and complimented me on how well behaved my kids were, and that we look like we got this. Thanks random dude for affirmation :)
Anyways we hung out at the gate for a little while - finishing our lunch and watching the airplanes land and take off.
The beginning of our journey...
We had a little flight (1;30 hour) to Houston, It was a breeze.
A disclaimer - I am totally a techno mom on this journey, because a) there is one of me and two of them b) it makes them happy, and when they are happy the entire flight is happy c) it is a special occasion d) when someone gifts them kindles we are definitely going to use them e) I don't really have to explain myself, and if you want to judge me - please go ahead.
We had an hour layover in Houston, hustled through the airport - took the skyline (my kids loved trains) and made it to our gate. Out flight was slightly delayed.
This was our first 10:30 hour flight to Munich. The kids where amazing. We had dinner on the plane(I packed something because airplane food is gross, and we always end up with the crappy meals that no one wants because we are in the back of the plane) we watched a movie and colored a picture.
Then they slept. They actually slept for about eight hours on this flight - it must be nice to be be able to curl up into a ball half your regular size and lay down.
We made it to Munich, and pretty much spend the day here at the airport - eating crappy airport food, camping out in the quiet areas, and scouting out kids play areas, to zap some energy from them.
All I can say is this was a LONG day!
We also had a fun encounter with the German airport police - but that is a story for another day ;)
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| Airport life. |
We had a little sit down dinner, to kill time since our flight only left at nine that night, and everyone was exhausted at this point.
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| they pretended that this was a tiny beer :) oh, germany we miss you so much! |
We changed into some clean clothes, freshened up to kill time (hello dry shampoo, and baby wipes) plus the family bathrooms in Germany are incredibly clean and this process killed about and hour of time - and anything that kills time while travel with kids in my opinion is a friend.
We parked at our gate, where Hayleigh proceeded to pass out... bless her heart!
and Ian watched more planes land and take off.
Hello second 10:30 hour flight and also the longest, the hardest, and it felt like time stood still. The kids did fine, but they were also done, and a little over tired which makes them way emotional. But I managed to get them to sleep for a little bit....
We made it to South Africa, and as the plane started descending in preparation to land, everyone's spirits lifted a little. It was a welcomed change.
I am beyond proud of the kids for sucking up the discomfort and tiredness like they owned it. They were rockstar travelers, and made it so easy on me. I am so blessed to be the mama of cultured little travelers, who loves adventures more then anything.
I'll leave this little video here to put a smile on your face... you can go ahead and thank me because it so cute.
* it was hard maneuvering our baggage and trying to capture a video, but it is better then nothing.
We are so happy to be in South Africa, to see family and friends, and add to our little memory collection.
We miss Nate already, but we are confident that he can take care of himself super well, and that he will finish up school with flying colors, and be all done when we return home, just in time for Christmas.
Watch this space for all our South African adventures.
Happy Monday!
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