Before I share the details of our journey, I need to say that I am NOT, I repeat NOT looking forward to flying very very long distances with 3 small children, 8 pieces of luggage + backpacks and NO, again with the repeating, NO husband!!!
Whew, I'm feeling much better with that off my chest, now I can continue....
1 week before we were scheduled to leave the states we finally received our airline tickets. We were booked out of Minneapolis at 6 am. My parents live 1 1/2 hours from the airport so I knew it would be impossible to get the kids up early and drive to the airport, and then expect them to behave the rest of the journey...so I booked a hotel next to the airport.
My mom drove us up to the hotel and after a nice dinner we said a tearful good bye and then we were on our own. I let the kids swim for about an hour and then everyone showered and headed to bed. Of course the kids were so keyed up. You could feel the electricity and excitement in the room as we all lay there in the dark, desperately trying to find sleep.
3 am CST...Wake Up Call!
4:30 am...shuttle is loaded with all our luggage, kids are totally pumped to get on an airplane and we pull into the airport parking.
4:45 am...Luke and I have all our bags piled on 2 of those roller deals for luggage and I have the girls each hanging onto a pocket of my pants.
5 am...2 female ticket counter employees take pity on me and come to the rescue! They helped the kids and I in a separate (empty) line. They check all my bags and get us headed off to the correct gate.
5:15 am...1 mom carrying 2 backpacks and 2 roller bags, 1 boy with a backpack and roller bag, 1 girl with a roller bag and 1 girl with a raggie and dolly in her arms were taking up the entire walkway through the airport. Our gate was in no-mans land, I've never in my life walked as far as we did at an airport. Of course normally we'd have taken a tram to the end of the earth to find our gate, but guess what? They don't work that early in the morning, and neither do those guys in the golf carts.
5:45 am...we are finally approaching the gate, the kids are worn out and already beginning to whine. Then I notice that I don't see many people around. I assumed I was crazy and that it was just an early flight and not full.....WRONG!!! Oops, they changed the gate at the last minute and we were not in the right place!
Ok, I almost had a mental breakdown, our flight was scheduled to LEAVE in 15 minutes! I took a moment to compose myself because crying in front of the kids was not an option. I told Luke we had to double back to gate # whatever and we began to run. I took his backpack and he took Emry's roller bag, and we were off. I felt like a sport coach. I kept checking on the status of our departure on the tv's each time we passed one. I gave a small pep talk about how important it was for us to make this flight. Missing this flight was not an option. I had to keep tossing out positive reinforcements to keep everyone moving as fast as they could.
We got a lot of strange looks as we were hustling through the terminal, and all I could think was please don't just stare people, a little help would be very appreciated.
Finally, we made it to the correct gate and guess what? Oh, our plane was delayed! Now can someone tell me why they didn't put THAT on the tv screen!! I was mad, but mostly relieved that we didn't miss our plane and that I was going to have an opportunity to settle down, relax and regroup before we got on the plane and started the next phase of our move.
The kids were able to play their DS's and a bit. We all ate some food and when it was time to board we were ready.
11 am EST...we arrived in Norfolk, VA and got all our baggage. We had to change airports and it was a 40 minute commute between them. I couldn't have taken a taxi with the kids and all our bags, so Trent hooked us up. His friend Mike Ogden on the ship volunteered his wife, Niki, to be our chauffeur! She was such a life saver. I was nervous to rely on someone I didn't really know. We'd exchanged a few emails, but we'd never met. She was AWESOME!! Instead of taking us straight to the airport on base, she took us to her house to play with her kids! It was just what we needed. The kids ate lunch and were able to run free and be crazy for a few hours.
5 pm...We had to be checked in for our flight super early, so Niki left us and all our luggage at the check in counter at the base air terminal. She was such a blessing to me. Wow! Thanks Niki! We were able to check all our bags and backpacks on this flight. I only kept out 1 backpack and 2 roller bags.
For the next 4 hours we sat in the terminal...waiting...but we weren't bored! I found a quiet corner and unzipped the 2 roller bags and told the kids to enjoy themselves. 1 was full of food some healthy snacks and some junky. The other bag was full of books, card games, coloring books, new crayons and markers and a few toys. Plus they had their DS's. It was a hit. We all just sat down and played. We shared our snacks with the other kids and we had a party.
9 pm...we board the plane for the final leg of our journey! I was so happy because the kids had been up for 18 hours at this point and they were going to be able to get settled on the plane and hopefully get to sleep. An hour into the flight, just as they were all 3 settling down and totally drowsy, the cabin lights come on and the flight attendants announce that it's dinner time???!!! Whoa, a little warning would have been nice. I was so late I just assumed we wouldn't be served dinner, again I was WRONG! You could see all the parents on the plane immediately tense up. I'm sure they were all doing the same thing I was doing. It was crazy. So 1 1/2 hours later everyone is trying to get their kids quieted down...again. I was trying to get my girls to sleep too. We were in the middle isle sitting 3 across with myself in the middle. Wouldn't you know it, the light above me was stuck ON. It would not turn off. People around me were complaining and I was complaining and the stewardess couldn't do anything about it because we were in flight. It was terrible. My girls had the hoods of their sweatshirts over their heads and the lady in front of me gave me napkins to shade their faces.
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night!
I had restless kids draped all over me and sleep eluded me. I was so tired, to the point of delirium even. At one point during the night I even wondered if I was going crazy. I wanted to bang my head against the wall just to get some sleep and make everything go away. At one point in the night I had to use the restroom, it could be avoided no longer. I struggled out of my seat trying not to wake anyone up and was standing at the back of the plane looking back towards my seats. I was suddenly overwhelmed and began to cry because the entire plane was dark, except for the lone light above my seat ... I felt hopeless.
The past few weeks of stress, sleepless nights, Trent being gone and apprehension about moving overseas had finally caught up to me in my exhausted state and I was a wreck. I had to take a few moments in the restroom to conquer myself. I said a little prayer and realized that I knew 3 things for sure.
10:30 am CEST...we touch down in Rota, Spain! The general excitement on the plane is intoxicating. People moving just like us, people coming home from vacations, people arriving for vacations and people arriving for work. The plane is vibrating with excitement. My fingers are crossed that Trent is waiting for us, we haven't talked since yesterday morning so I'm anxious and the kids are anxious too. People were a little crazy getting off the plane so we ended up waiting a little to make it easier for me to get all our things and get off the plane safely. We got to walk down the stairs and onto the tarmac, the kids thought this was super cool. The sun was shining and it was about 90 degrees!
The terminal was about 200yards away so we had a bit of a walk ahead of us. This would've been fine, but another girls husband was allowed out onto the tarmac and we watched him run to greet his family...of course I immediately teared up. It's not good seeing the reunion of someone else when you are wanting your own more than anything. I was really happy for them, but also feeling sad because I couldn't see Trent. After we reached the terminal we finally saw him, we all cried openly and immediately everything was right in my universe.
Whew, I'm feeling much better with that off my chest, now I can continue....
1 week before we were scheduled to leave the states we finally received our airline tickets. We were booked out of Minneapolis at 6 am. My parents live 1 1/2 hours from the airport so I knew it would be impossible to get the kids up early and drive to the airport, and then expect them to behave the rest of the journey...so I booked a hotel next to the airport.
My mom drove us up to the hotel and after a nice dinner we said a tearful good bye and then we were on our own. I let the kids swim for about an hour and then everyone showered and headed to bed. Of course the kids were so keyed up. You could feel the electricity and excitement in the room as we all lay there in the dark, desperately trying to find sleep.
3 am CST...Wake Up Call!
4:30 am...shuttle is loaded with all our luggage, kids are totally pumped to get on an airplane and we pull into the airport parking.
4:45 am...Luke and I have all our bags piled on 2 of those roller deals for luggage and I have the girls each hanging onto a pocket of my pants.
5 am...2 female ticket counter employees take pity on me and come to the rescue! They helped the kids and I in a separate (empty) line. They check all my bags and get us headed off to the correct gate.
5:15 am...1 mom carrying 2 backpacks and 2 roller bags, 1 boy with a backpack and roller bag, 1 girl with a roller bag and 1 girl with a raggie and dolly in her arms were taking up the entire walkway through the airport. Our gate was in no-mans land, I've never in my life walked as far as we did at an airport. Of course normally we'd have taken a tram to the end of the earth to find our gate, but guess what? They don't work that early in the morning, and neither do those guys in the golf carts.
5:45 am...we are finally approaching the gate, the kids are worn out and already beginning to whine. Then I notice that I don't see many people around. I assumed I was crazy and that it was just an early flight and not full.....WRONG!!! Oops, they changed the gate at the last minute and we were not in the right place!
Ok, I almost had a mental breakdown, our flight was scheduled to LEAVE in 15 minutes! I took a moment to compose myself because crying in front of the kids was not an option. I told Luke we had to double back to gate # whatever and we began to run. I took his backpack and he took Emry's roller bag, and we were off. I felt like a sport coach. I kept checking on the status of our departure on the tv's each time we passed one. I gave a small pep talk about how important it was for us to make this flight. Missing this flight was not an option. I had to keep tossing out positive reinforcements to keep everyone moving as fast as they could.
We got a lot of strange looks as we were hustling through the terminal, and all I could think was please don't just stare people, a little help would be very appreciated.
Finally, we made it to the correct gate and guess what? Oh, our plane was delayed! Now can someone tell me why they didn't put THAT on the tv screen!! I was mad, but mostly relieved that we didn't miss our plane and that I was going to have an opportunity to settle down, relax and regroup before we got on the plane and started the next phase of our move.
The kids were able to play their DS's and a bit. We all ate some food and when it was time to board we were ready.
11 am EST...we arrived in Norfolk, VA and got all our baggage. We had to change airports and it was a 40 minute commute between them. I couldn't have taken a taxi with the kids and all our bags, so Trent hooked us up. His friend Mike Ogden on the ship volunteered his wife, Niki, to be our chauffeur! She was such a life saver. I was nervous to rely on someone I didn't really know. We'd exchanged a few emails, but we'd never met. She was AWESOME!! Instead of taking us straight to the airport on base, she took us to her house to play with her kids! It was just what we needed. The kids ate lunch and were able to run free and be crazy for a few hours.
5 pm...We had to be checked in for our flight super early, so Niki left us and all our luggage at the check in counter at the base air terminal. She was such a blessing to me. Wow! Thanks Niki! We were able to check all our bags and backpacks on this flight. I only kept out 1 backpack and 2 roller bags.
For the next 4 hours we sat in the terminal...waiting...but we weren't bored! I found a quiet corner and unzipped the 2 roller bags and told the kids to enjoy themselves. 1 was full of food some healthy snacks and some junky. The other bag was full of books, card games, coloring books, new crayons and markers and a few toys. Plus they had their DS's. It was a hit. We all just sat down and played. We shared our snacks with the other kids and we had a party.
9 pm...we board the plane for the final leg of our journey! I was so happy because the kids had been up for 18 hours at this point and they were going to be able to get settled on the plane and hopefully get to sleep. An hour into the flight, just as they were all 3 settling down and totally drowsy, the cabin lights come on and the flight attendants announce that it's dinner time???!!! Whoa, a little warning would have been nice. I was so late I just assumed we wouldn't be served dinner, again I was WRONG! You could see all the parents on the plane immediately tense up. I'm sure they were all doing the same thing I was doing. It was crazy. So 1 1/2 hours later everyone is trying to get their kids quieted down...again. I was trying to get my girls to sleep too. We were in the middle isle sitting 3 across with myself in the middle. Wouldn't you know it, the light above me was stuck ON. It would not turn off. People around me were complaining and I was complaining and the stewardess couldn't do anything about it because we were in flight. It was terrible. My girls had the hoods of their sweatshirts over their heads and the lady in front of me gave me napkins to shade their faces.
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night!
I had restless kids draped all over me and sleep eluded me. I was so tired, to the point of delirium even. At one point during the night I even wondered if I was going crazy. I wanted to bang my head against the wall just to get some sleep and make everything go away. At one point in the night I had to use the restroom, it could be avoided no longer. I struggled out of my seat trying not to wake anyone up and was standing at the back of the plane looking back towards my seats. I was suddenly overwhelmed and began to cry because the entire plane was dark, except for the lone light above my seat ... I felt hopeless.
The past few weeks of stress, sleepless nights, Trent being gone and apprehension about moving overseas had finally caught up to me in my exhausted state and I was a wreck. I had to take a few moments in the restroom to conquer myself. I said a little prayer and realized that I knew 3 things for sure.
- That I was feeling insane only because of serious exhaustion.
- Relief was coming soon.
- Everything was going to be alright.
 |
| See how Carley's legs are all lit up...yep, it stunk! |
10:30 am CEST...we touch down in Rota, Spain! The general excitement on the plane is intoxicating. People moving just like us, people coming home from vacations, people arriving for vacations and people arriving for work. The plane is vibrating with excitement. My fingers are crossed that Trent is waiting for us, we haven't talked since yesterday morning so I'm anxious and the kids are anxious too. People were a little crazy getting off the plane so we ended up waiting a little to make it easier for me to get all our things and get off the plane safely. We got to walk down the stairs and onto the tarmac, the kids thought this was super cool. The sun was shining and it was about 90 degrees!
The terminal was about 200yards away so we had a bit of a walk ahead of us. This would've been fine, but another girls husband was allowed out onto the tarmac and we watched him run to greet his family...of course I immediately teared up. It's not good seeing the reunion of someone else when you are wanting your own more than anything. I was really happy for them, but also feeling sad because I couldn't see Trent. After we reached the terminal we finally saw him, we all cried openly and immediately everything was right in my universe.
1 comment:
YAY!!! You guys are all back together again! I could not imagine being away from Ike for so long. This post really touched me and you are such a strong woman. I am so glad I can call you a friend. I hope you and your family are well, and are enjoying your time together again.
Loves to you. :)
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