It's official. I am now a seasoned traveler. I flew from LAX to Geneva via Paris with 3 kids, by myself and I'm still alive to talk about it. After months of dreading it and feeling sick to my stomach the day of, we actually did really well. That's not to say that I'd like to do it a lot, but at least I know it's possible.
Our first leg of the trip was a direct flight to Paris. Luckily we flew at night which meant that the kids slept for about 6 hours of the 11 hour flight. The bad part was the first 4 hours of the flight (when the kids were all awake) were the most turbulent I've ever experienced in my life. There were a few screams when the bumps got really big and the flight attendants couldn't collect our dinner trays for over an hour. Worst of all, we had to remain in our seats with seat belts fastened, which meant no trips to the bathroom. Not too big of a deal for me, but it's hard to explain to a potty-trained two year old that he cannot use the toilet and he does in fact need to go in his pull-up. We managed through it and luckily I didn't end up using that friendly bag in the seat pocket in front of me.
We arrived in Paris with lots of carry-on bags but no stroller to help us to the next gate. Unfortunately Air France makes you check your stroller all the way through to your end destination. Luckily someone was nice enough to carry Henry's booster until we made it through customs and could get a cart. From there I thought it would be smooth sailing until we were stopped at the front of the security line. The worker informed me that I would have to go back out to the desks to check Henry's booster. He told me I couldn't take it on the plane. I tensely informed him that I had just flown from LA with it on the plane, to no avail. Back we went to check-in.
Our next hiccup came as we went through security. The x-ray screener wanted to pull aside myself or the lady behind me (5o-something and traveling alone) to do a further security check. To my amazement, they decided it would be me (because a young mom with 3 small kids is definitely a terror if not a terrorist). So they proceeded to go through my carry-on bag as I tried to keep Henry from running loose in the airport. After confiscating a small bottle of face-lotion which I may have used to blow up the plane, we were again on our way. When we arrived at our gate the kids were thrilled to find out we would be taking a bus out to the plane. Fun, fun. I can assure you.
End of story: We made it safely to Geneva, where Pete was waiting to pick us up. Unfortunately, you cannot enter baggage claim unless you are a ticketed passenger and once you leave the area you cannot re-enter. So it was up to me and the three kids to gather all of our stuff (8 large suitcases, 1 booster seat, 1 stroller, 3 backpacks, 1 duffel bag, 1 purse and 2 pillows) and get ourselves to Pete. I sent Henry out first making sure that Pete was in view and calling to Henry so that he knew where to go. Then the rest of us followed. It was quite the procession and a very happy reunion. Excuse the blurry pictures below. They were taken on Pete's phone.
Ruby was first pulling her bag...
...followed by me with a cart full of bags calling to Alex who couldn't see...
...because he was behind me pushing his own cart full of stuff
After returning home and getting settled for a few days, I had the pleasure of unpacking and organizing all of the stuff we hauled home. Lots of people are curious about what we bring back to Switzerland from the US. It's mostly food items that we can't get over here, or that are really expensive. You can see several cake mixes, chocolate chip bags and fruit snacks.
Oh yeah. Don't forget the Macaroni and Cheese.
