Adventures in Amsterdam: July 2008

Arriving in Boston with all our luggage

The girls and I decided to fly back to the states early. We had a small window of opportunity between the conclusion of Maisy's chicken pox and the onset of Sophie's expected chicken pox. After enduring one week confined inside the house with two girls by myself, I decided that I didn't want to go through it alone a second time. (Joel had a busy work and travel schedule planned for July)

So last Tuesday afternoon we changed our tickets for Thursday afternoon's flight. That only left me with a day and a half to go shopping (dutch cheese and flower bulbs), organize and pack for our two month stay in NH. It was a busy two days in unusually oppressive heat. The girls and I took a break on Wednesday afternoon and rode our bike to the park for a dip in the wading pool. They both enjoyed themselves. Sophie was so worn out by the adventure that she fell fast asleep the minute I put her in the bike for our ride home.

Sophie dressed for her pre trip outing to the park pool.

Maisy enjoying a dip in the refreshing water - that is changed daily!

Sophie napping on the bike ride home

Traveling on transcontinental flights with two small children is a challenge. Each time I make the trip I learn something new that I can do differently on the next flight to make it just a little bit easier. For example, on our flight to the States in May I discovered that personal DVD players cannot be relied on, bulk head seats have fixed arm rests that prevent sleeping children from stretching out to relax, and waking up at 5:00 am for the early flight doesn't provide me with enough sleep to cope with an eight hour flight and 14 hour travel day. This time I booked an afternoon flight so that I could sleep in. I didn't book bulkhead row seats so Maisy was able to spread out more. And most importantly we got to fly on the Airbus 330 (afternoon flight) instead of the Boeing 757 (morning flight.) The Airbus 330 has individual DVD players on the back of each seat which provide unlimited movie watching, or in Sophie's case unlimited reruns of Baby Einstein. Video entertainment is Priceless!

Our luggage: four duffel bags, two back packs, a car seat and a cat.

Maisy handling the cat's passport and health documents.

The girls and I left the house at 12:30 and arrived at the airport at 12:45. A full two and a half hours before our flight was scheduled to depart. The taxi driver helped me load our four extra large LL Bean duffel bags and two small back packs onto a push cart. I strapped the cat to the top of Sophie's rolling car seat and Sophie to my back in the ergo carrier. Maisy obediently walked alongside me as I pushed the cart and pulled the car seat to the ticket counter. We drew a few sympathetic looks but no offers of help. The ticket agent was very accommodating and allowed Maisy to sit up on the counter and push the big black button which moved the conveyor belt when the luggage needed to be sent down the chute.

The cat and the car seat complicated our check in process. The cat was considered 'over sized' baggage and thus had to be paid for at the over sized baggage desk. This meant standing in a second line to pay before we could collect our tickets and proceed to our gate. The car seat mix up didn't delay us, but I caught the agent trying to check the car seat along with our luggage. The agent told me that I couldn't bring the car seat on the plane. I explained to her that it was for the baby and that she would be sitting in it. She told me that she would notify the gate agent and that I could gate check it if necessary. I gave her a confused look. She explained that infants couldn't use car seats on the airplane and I explained that it was a FAA approved seat that we had used numerous times on flights. The agent didn't realize - even though she had just processed our tickets - that Sophie had her own seat. She thought Sophie was a lap child. Joel's company paid $1500 for Sophie's ticket and I was not boarding the plane without her car seat.

It took us just over an hour to check our bags and get through customs. We made it to our gate one hour before our flight departed. I let the girls loose to run off their energy before the flight. Getting on and off the plane with the girls and our carry on bags is always my biggest challenge when I travel by myself. I only had two carry on bags, but I also had Sophie's car seat and a cat. When I appeared at the airplane door I asked the flight attendant for help. She looked at my bags and sarcastically asked me if I planned to bring 'everything' on the plane with me. I didn't see the humor in her question and told her "yes" that I had three ticketed passengers and only two carry on bags, the cat had its own ticket ($225) and the car seat was for the ticketed infant to sit in. She told me to leave my bags and she would bring them to me. The flight attendant clearly didn't understand the value of those carefully packed bags. The contents of those two bags kept my children quiet on the entire eight hour flight. A victory the countless other mothers on our plane couldn't claim about their children.

Maisy and Sophie getting their pre flight exercise.

Maisy helped mommy bring the carry on bags down to the plane.

Sophie enjoying some play time. She loves to clean!

The cat enduring its ride under the seat.

Sophie blissfully sleeping - but only for an hour.

Maiys almost sleeping, but then she gained a second wind and didn't nap the entire flight.

Sophie enjoying dinner.

Maisy enjoying dessert.

The flight was long and my breaks from parenting were short. Sophie slept for an hour while Maisy watched Disney's Aristocats so I was able to read my book for a little while. I discovered another bonus about the Airbus 330, its bathrooms. The A330 has a handicap bathroom that will comfortably accommodate the three of us. When Sophie's diaper didn't need changing I left her with the family that sat behind us and just took Maisy with me. There were two young boys about Marley and Jack's age sitting behind us that periodically played with Sophie and Maisy when they stood up on their seats. By the end of the flight Maisy was telling me that Sophie needed to go to the bathroom and that she could stay behind with the boys!

During the last hour of the flight Maisy got restless. She was bored with the videos, coloring and sticker books and games. She wanted mommy's full attention. Sophie was also tired of sitting in her car seat and began to fuss. The last hour was the hardest. I read Maisy stories and let Sophie climb all over the seats. I used my last bits of energy to entertain the children. I kept them occupied and quiet so other passengers could enjoy watching their movies, reading their books, and sipping their wine!

The cat was quiet for most of the flight too but she meowed a lot during landing. While waiting on the tarmac for our gate to open up Maisy announced that Sophie had pooped. I checked Sophie's diaper but it didn't smell. However, I did smell something... I followed my nose to the cat's carrier below my seat. That cat had vomited from air sickness during our landing. Nice. I wasn't able to change the cat's bedding until after we had gone through customs, baggage claim and immigration. We endured the smell and embarrassment while we stood in the various lines.

There always seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Our light was seeing papa John waiting for us just outside customs. (see first photos)