Surviving 18 hours of travel with a 2 year old. DONE.
I'll be honest. I have been living in fear of this flight with Austin since we decided to move to Germany. I would wake up at night in a cold sweat, having dreamt that we were being escorted into German airspace by two F-16 fighter jets due to Austin's behavior. Men with large semi automatic weapons and growling German Shepherds would come onto the plane and berate me for having such a naughty boy. Shiver.
The first flight to Dulles was a breeze, Austin fell asleep as we were taxiing down the runway. I may have allowed myself to get a bit cocky at the ease of flying with a toddler.
The second 8 hour 15 minute flight to Munich? Eh. He was awake FOREVER until finally I put in the Cars movie and kept on insisting he lay down and cover up between Daddy and Mommy. When he finally fell asleep (not without a fight mind you) he was gone for about 3.5 hours. Not to shabby. We only had one serious meltdown, and a few smaller tiffs. Our biggest problem is that Austin is what you might call a "loud talker". So he would be playing with one of the little toys I pulled out of my bag of tricks and playing nicely, but SO loudly. It was killing us. And our neighbors.
The last flight to Dresden to Munich was okay. Except for the time Chris said "we are all going to crash at home" and Austin interpreted it as "we are going to crash ON this flight home". This resulted in him crying loudly and exclaiming that he did not indeed want to crash. Me neither dude. Me neither.
And then we were in Dresden. With our 9 pieces of checked baggage and 6 carry ons. Sweet heavens above how did we have that much stuff? Fortunately Chris' friend Aaron came to pick us up (and all of our crap). Otherwise, there may have been a very angry cab driver. Not that we would have known, since they don't espeakin' the English so well. Just like America!
The best part? When we walked through our front door all of our stuff was here from our overseas shipment! Hooray! It was a bit dusty and disorganized, but it was HERE with us. We dropped all of our stuff and went in search of some food. We ended up getting cheese croissants and heading home for a nap. Man was that the best nap. After we all woke up, we took showers and rode the tram down to the Neustadt area where they were having a city carnival. We sat down at a biergarten for an amazing meal and listened to the Germans sing music from Grease on a nearby stage. It as a bit Twilight Zone- but nice to hear familiar songs. Austin hung in as long as he could, but fell fast asleep about halfway through the meal. I don't think Chris and I were far behind in needing sleep as well. We headed home, worked on getting Austin's room arranged, and hit the sack. Day one done. I'll try to catch you up some with what we have been up to since we arrived later (like unpacking, incorrect food purchases due to label language barriers, etc.). For now, some photos!
Making airplane noises in Yeager Airport.
Easy peasy.
Austin loved the crazy transport vehicles they have at Dulles. They look like Star Wars vehicles...
Austin testing out his new headsets.
And yes, there is chocolate chip cookie on his mouth. The bribery began before we even crossed the ocean. God save us.
And sleep.
Mommy's favorite part of the flight.
Laying in bed for my nap- my new view!
Austin's first tram ride.
Dinner. And a huge bell.
He has NEVER done this before. That was the quietest dinner we've had in a year.
Tram ride home and a very sleepy boy.
