Our trip begins!

We left for the airport on time, despite the fact that nobody started getting dressed until 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave. Joe dropped us off, kissed everyone goodbye (more than once), and we were off!

I’m still amazed that we are carrying everything we’ll need for the next six weeks on our backs! It was nice not to have to worry about checking bags, losing bags, baggage claim, etc. Plus easier to maneuver through the airport! I did have one flight attendant tell me that I was very brave, traveling alone with all of these kids, and that I really should get a suitcase, so I could have my hands free. I was a little confused, because at the time I wasn’t holding anything in my hands...haha!

We had almost a two hour drive to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and I was sure Katie would sleep the whole way there. No dice though. Also she really didn’t like being stuck in the Beco baby carrier when she would much rather have gleefully had me chase her all over the airport. So she was pretty fussy and loud when we were standing in line to check in and standing in line to go through security. It felt like it took forever, and we were all relieved and happy when we finally made it to the gate. We had over an hour to wait before we could board, but the kids were super excited to open the snack bags and activity bags I had packed, and time passed quickly. They all said I was the best mom ever - success!

Everybody used the toilet in the airport before boarding the plane - even Katie! We had officially put all of her diapers away and started potty training exactly two weeks before this trip, and while she was doing really great with no diapers, I decided it would be a lot less risky for her to wear diapers instead of underwear on this trip. But she seemed to do great in the diaper, and consistently kept telling me when she had to pee. She used the airport toilet once, the airplane toilet three times, and the toilet on the train in Zurich once, and we made it all the way to my sister’s house in Pfaffikon in the same diaper she was wearing when we left home!

We boarded the plane without a hitch, nobody cried during takeoff, and everybody’s ears seemed to adjust well as we rose into the air. It helped that everybody had their own in-flight movie screen with lots of choices of things to watch and do. Katie started fussing a little bit, but I was able to nurse her and that seemed to help with her ears and she went right to sleep. A little while later Lily (in typical Lily fashion) turned to me and said, “Can you shut off my movie? I’m tired.” and promptly went right to sleep. Fortunately there was an open seat next to her so she could lay down. I was super stoked that the two youngest were both sound asleep less than 45 minutes into our red-eye flight! But before I could settle in and go to sleep myself, Joey handed me his glasses. They were broken. Sigh. Fortunately I think they are repairable, and I’m hoping we can get them fixed in Switzerland after we get settled in. Mary and Joey were too excited to sleep right away (even though I had doled out some low dose melatonin for everyone), but eventually they were all asleep.

Unfortunately this didn’t last very long, and I only slept about half an hour before Katie woke up. And stayed up. The whole rest of the flight. She wasn’t crying or fussy at least, but she was awake and wanting to be entertained.

So when we finally arrived in Zurich I was completely and utterly exhausted. I felt like a zombie trying to get everyone off the plane, and I was taking my time, double checking to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything. The kids had unpacked a ton of stuff during the flight, and it all had to be repacked. Everyone had their shoes off. So it was kind of a mess after 8 hours and 40 minutes in the air. Suddenly there were a couple of flight attendants around us helping shove things and backpacks and hustling us off the plane. I didn’t realize what the big rush was, until we got to the gate and found they had closed the door already. With us on the outside of the airport. Oops. It all worked out though, somebody made a phone call to somebody and we were escorted to some other door and we finally made it in, and then through customs, and then we were at the exit and Malorie and Cecilia were waiting to greet us!

We got on a train and rode for about 45 minutes to get to where she lives outside of Zurich. The kids had fun playing with their felt play scenes again, and Katie and Cecilia gave each other lots of hugs and kisses.

After the train ride, it was a short bus ride, and then a short walk, and we were there! Hooray! It was late morning in Switzerland, but the middle of the night back home in Wisconsin. Mary, Joey, and Lily seemed in good spirits though, and were so excited to explore their cousin’s house and backyard. Katie and I, on the other hand, were desperately in need of a nap. Thankfully, after a quick lunch, Malorie took charge of the three older kids while Katie and I crashed for a couple of hours. I’m not sure exactly what they all did, but I’m pretty sure they walked to a park, met some local kids and talked with them in German and English for a little while (“Sprechen Sie Englisch?”), and walked to a small store and bought some yogurt and cheese and fruit for a snack.

After I woke up, Malorie and I walked with the babies to a grocery store and bought some food for the next few days. Their family is vegan so their diet is far different than what we are used to, plus all of the foods are a little different here - it’s hard to read labels, and the brands aren’t the same as what we are used to. So we will be having lots of food adventures too! We agreed to not eat meat in the house while we are visiting, but we will be eating some other animal products (milk, eggs, butter, and of course, CHEESE!). For dinner we had a kind of fresh Swiss pasta called spatzle With tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes from their garden, and later some Edamer cheese and figs and toast with butter and jelly for a snack.

Lily and Katie had a bath, and then we decided to watch a show on Netflix to help everyone calm down and settle in for the night. We were all surprised to learn that the Netflix selections are different over here than they are back home! Katie was excited to find that she can watch Peppa Pig now, and Joey started watching Adventure Time.

The kids all fell asleep pretty early, and then I stayed up unpacking and organizing everything, and then writing this blog post update for all of you, and now it’s nearly midnight here and I really must get to bed. Unfortunately I forgot to ask Malorie and Siraj for their WiFi password before they went to bed so I’ll have to wait to post this until the morning.

Can’t wait to update you on our Swiss adventures!