I'm leaving on a jet plane

After a few tearful goodbyes at my sister Janet's house we all piled into a large van with 10 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 pillows, 1 duffel bag, 1 diaper bag, 1 stroller, 1 carseat, 1 briefcase, 1 purse and 5 passports. We definitely did not travel light.

After checking our bags and eating dinner, we had the fun task of getting through security. We all had to take our shoes off-even Henry! I guess they needed to make sure he wasn't a shoe bomber. He looks pretty dangerous with those teeth of his. Then everything had to go on the conveyer belt, even the stroller which meant Henry had to come out.

Our flight left around 7:30 pm and Henry fell asleep during take off. Unfortunately he woke up about 15 minutes later when they switched the lights back on. From that point on it was a very long flight. All three kids were awake until about 10:30 pm when they finally switched the lights off and Alex and Ruby had a little Benadryl.

Alex was our best sleeper. He slept until 4:30 am. Ruby slept until 2:30 am and then played musical chairs. Henry only slept in his carseat until the man across the aisle turned on his reading light at 12:30 am. From that point on, Pete and I took turns holding him while he slept on and off.

Ruby made friends with one guy in our row (Christopher) and was soon chatting away telling him more than he wanted to know. Fortunately he was really nice and allowed Pete and I to have a break from trying to entertain her.

After 11 long hours we landed in Zurich. We had exactly one hour to make our connecting flight. Of course Alex and Ruby didn't want to carry their own backpacks and Ruby didn't want to walk. So we made it across the airport in the following manner:

Pete carrying his briefcase, a carseat and Henry
Me carrying a duffel bag, a diaper bag and a purse while pushing a stroller filled with Ruby, her backpack and 2 pillows

Luckily for us we were able to go through security AGAIN, only this time I didn't have to take off Henry's shoes. Our flight to Geneva was only about 45 minutes which the kids handled really well.

In Geneva, 9 of our 10 bags arrived safe and sound. This meant that while Pete reported our missing bag and rented a car with Ruby, Alex and I were stuck with the job of getting the rest of our things out to the front of the airport to meet the shuttle driver. Henry chose this exact moment to fall asleep on my shoulder. So, Alex pushed an airport cart with 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 pillows and a carseat. He couldn't even see over the top and had to follow my voice. I was left pushing an airport cart with 4 suitcases, the stroller, duffel bag, diaper bag, purse and sleeping Henry on my shoulder. I had a small sample of what it must have been like for a handcart pioneer......except it wasn't freezing, I wasn't starving and I only had to go about 1/4 of a mile to where the shuttle was parked.

Anyway we made it up to our house and unloaded our bags. Pete was not far behind with Ruby and our rental car. After having a quick look around we headed for the McDonald's drive through. It was hilarious to watch Pete ordering in French over the wailing of Henry and Ruby.

We finally ended up at our hotel at 12 pm California time.....9 pm local time.

Bienvenue en Suisse!