Travel Home 2011

I am finally getting around to writing up about our trip home that happened 1.5 weeks ago. The trip overall went as well as we could have expected. Here is the rundown of the preparation and trip itself.

Preparation: The packing really went relatively smoothly. We had the team pay for extra bags this year, so I wasn’t worried about trying to fit all of our things into 6 bags. Joe took a bag of things home so he wouldn’t have any more than 1 bag to bring back when he is done. Then I fit the rest of our things into 8 other bags (plus a box for the computer). The kids’ carry-ons were each equipped with a plastic bag filled with food, an extra outfit, and a few things to do. Add in our double stroller and two car seats we were bringing home and it was no wonder we needed one of the team’s smaller buses to take us to the airport!

Friday, April 22, 2011: Travel Day

3:15am: I woke up after about 5.5 hours of sleep and started to put the finishing touches on our things. We had decided not to eat breakfast before leaving, but to just eat what was packed and then get something more at the airport. After I got ready and had our things prepared to go, I started to get the kids ready at 3:40am. Elijah was first and was pretty easy because he was super excited. Abby who is usually harder to rouse was excited too and was dressed and ready to go quickly. Naomi had been pretty confused in the days leading up to the trip about why we needed to leave our house (“Is this house broke?” she would ask). But she was excited to get back to a toy microphone she had seen on her birthday video, so she kept talking about that. I woke Isaiah up at the last possible minute and planted him in his car seat before we headed down to the bus. Joe had taken a few bags down the night before, so while I got the kids ready he had been carrying bags down and loading them on the bus.

4am: We pulled away from the apartment and started the 1.5 hour drive to the Catania airport.

4:10am: Elijah asked how much longer until we get there. I was concerned about how they would all hold up for the trip at that point!

5:30am: We arrived at the Catania airport. The drive was pretty uneventful. Isaiah fussed a bit, but after eating some banana he fell back asleep. Naomi was already tired and wanting me to hold her. Abby and Elijah were still happy and running on adrenaline. When we got to the airport, we realized we only had 1 Euro for a cart, so we piled all we could on the one cart and then found a way to drag the rest of it inside.

5:45am: Joe made it to the front of the check-in line while I waited with the kids on the side. Abby reviewed our travel map that we had made, while I tried to keep a tired Naomi happy. They informed us as we were putting our bags through that they could not send our computer box. After explaining that this was the second half of our ticket and we had been told nothing about not being able to check it on the way over, the man helping us called over his supervisor. She still insisted that they could not send it because they could not guarantee it would not get damaged, so we would have to send it cargo, which they did not do there. After we convinced them we weren’t going to hold them responsible for any damage to it, they brought out a paper so that Joe could sign away any responsibility of the airline to damage to our computer.

6am: Then Joe found out that since we had four extra pieces of luggage, he had to go to another part of the airport to pay for them. Usually you just hand your credit card over, they swipe it and charge you and you move on. But he told me to stay put and he would go quickly take care of it. After 10 minutes of waiting, I decided to do a bathroom break with the kids since it didn’t look like we were going to have much time before our 7am flight. We had thought 1.5 hours beforehand would be plenty, but as it was creeping closer and closer to 6:30am, I started to get worried.

6:35am: Joe came running down and said to get in the security line so we would be able to make the flight. I got the kids in line while he went back to get our boarding passes (he couldn’t get these until our extra baggage had been paid for). He later told me that they had to fill out (by hand) a separate form for every extra bag we had. Thankfully we got through security quickly and we ran to catch the plane they were holding for us! This was not the start I had been envisioning.

7:05am: The flight from Catania to Rome took off shortly after we got on. As we had run onto the plane, I knew from flying Alitalia before that I was not going to be able to use Isaiah’s car seat. So we had given the car seat and double stroller to be put under the plane. So Isaiah was on my lap (he isn’t big enough for a CARES harness yet), along with Naomi on one side of the aisle. And Joe had Abby and Elijah on the other side of the aisle. The flight was only 1.5 hours, so there wasn’t too much time. The kids were looking forward to watching movies on the plane, so I had to keep explaining to Naomi that the movies weren’t on this plane. Isaiah started to get fidgety and when they brought drinks around, we got water for Naomi and me and put them on Naomi’s tray. Naomi then moved her water to the other side of the tray (closest to Isaiah and me) and we had our first spill of the day. Isaiah grabbed that cup as quick as lightening and Naomi ended up with water all over her seat. Thankfully, it was just water, so we mopped it up and I told Naomi her pants would dry. Thankfully at this point in the trip, she accepted that solution.

8:25am: We touched down in Rome and waited until everyone else had gotten off to make our exit. When we got down to the bottom of the stairwell (this was a little plane so you entered and exited from the ground via stairs), we found out we now had no car seat or stroller. I was kicking myself for not SPECIFICALLY saying that we needed them back after the flight. So they went ahead and checked them through to Philadelphia because they said there was no room underneath. So at that point, I knew Isaiah was pretty much going to spend the next 16 hours in my arms. We boarded the bus to take us to the terminal and had some nice people around us (we squished in last so were all standing) who helped the kids not to fall as we turned corners.

8:45am: Rome is a big airport and where you come in on a flight within Italy is a long way from where the international flights take off, so we decided to first do a bathroom break and then stop at MacDonald’s. That is when the first whining started. Abby wanted to know how long until we got home and let us know she was tired of traveling. Then she spilled her orange juice all over herself. So she and I made the trip to the bathroom for a clothing change. It was at this point that Joe and I decided I would not be doing this trip on my own for a few years. I was semi-crazy to think about doing it on my own this time and if I had no stroller, I really would have been in trouble since Isaiah is not standing or walking yet. But we got Abby changed, finished eating and then headed to our gate.

9:45am: Joe went to check in and figure out our seats at the desk, while I hung with the kids. At that point, I needed a break from holding Isaiah, so I let him crawl around the floor. Gross, I know, but I wiped him down good afterwards! We had about an hour and a half to wait until they started the pre-boarding, so the kids played on Abby’s Leapster and then sat by the window watching the planes. We then did one more bathroom break before getting ready to board the Rome to Philadelphia flight.

11:20am: We boarded the plane and got settled. We had decided since Joe’s ticket was booked separately and he would most likely not have a seat next to us, that I would take his ticket. They had blocked out a seat next to him, since it wasn’t a full flight, so that I could have extra room with Isaiah (never hurts to ask for this when you are traveling). We didn’t have the extra room of the bulkhead row, so it was nice to have an extra seat. Joe was two rows behind me with the other three kids. He had not traveled with Naomi since our trip in 2009, so I think he underestimated the effort she was going to take. But even if he had known, I think he still would have taken the three so I could handle Isaiah on my own because he is sweet like that.

12pm: The flight took off and the kids were itching for their movies. Isaiah was pretty tired by this point, but was more interested in looking around at everyone. After about 45 minutes, the older 3 kids were into the on demand movies and things were pretty quiet back there. This was an 8.5 hour flight, so I won’t recount too much of it, but after a lot of standing and swaying, I finally got Isaiah to fall asleep and laid him down next to me, but he only stayed asleep for 45 minutes. Amazingly enough, with such little sleep, he never really made a peep. He was about as good as you could hope a baby to be. We had one more spill (Abby again) and a lot of bathroom breaks. By the end, Elijah was tired and came up and fell asleep with his head on my lap as he sat in the seat next to me.

3:30pm (now Eastern Standard Time, which is -6 hours of where we were in Italy): We touched down in Philadelphia and I think we all kind of sighed. We were back in the U.S.! We did know that we needed to move quickly though because we only had 2 hours until our connecting flight. And we needed to get through customs, get our baggage, go through declarations and re-check our baggage again for our flight to State College. Thankfully it was not crowded at all. Naomi was totally pooped by this time and once we got the stroller, we dumped her in and she promptly fell asleep and pretty much went in and out of sleep for the rest of the trip, until we were in the car heading home. And when she was out of sleep, it was not pretty! We had about 30 minutes before boarding our State College flight and Joe went to get something for us to eat (Philly pretzels..yum!) while I sat with the kids. At this point, I was really feeling like we were almost there and thankful for the trip we had had.

5:15pm: We boarded the State College flight. It was a tiny plane and there was almost no one on there, so we spread out and Isaiah slept on me while Naomi slept on Joe. Abby and Elijah anxiously awaited for the plane to touch down.

6:30pm: We touched down in State College where we met the cold, rainy weather. That was a bit of a shock for us, but we got our stroller and car seat and then went to get our baggage. Our friend, Tyler Smith, was there to pick us up and he and Joe got all the bags loaded as I tried to help Naomi and Isaiah, who at this point hit meltdown. Abby and Elijah got a burst of adrenaline again and were running around, waiting to get home. We got two cars loaded up (our neighbors had dropped our car off at the airport for us and Tyler had brought the keys) and headed home. It was a 10-15 minute drive home and once we got there, the 3 older kids all took off to find their favorite things, while Joe and Tyler unloaded the car. I got Isaiah ready for bed and then crashed pretty early that night.

So that was our trip. It was long (it was about 21 hours total from start to finish), but God definitely was gracious throughout. We all had our moments of weakness, but we made it and can put another notch on our travel belts. Tomorrow, I will share a little about settling in at home.