Daley Ponderings

Very early in the morning, we got up, had breakfast and said goodbye to Sarah (all the other Dutlers said goodbye the night before.) Janet and Stephan came to pick us up and we crammed all ourselves and stuff into the mini-minivan. They took us to the Basel airport where we spent quite some time trying to figure out our seating arrangements. The week before when Jon called, they said he'd better call within 24 hours of the flight. When he called then, they said he should have called earlier. Finally they worked out something but Jon would still have to talk to the boarding desk people in Frankfurt.

We said goodbye to the newlywed couple and went through security smoothly. We got to our gate pretty much in time for boarding. That first flight went smoothly and we arrived at Frankfurt on time. The flight attendant gave me a blanket for Faith since it was -15°C and we had to go outside because it was a little plane. We took a bus to the terminal and then went through security again to get to our new gate. There was a water fountain there for us to fill up our water bottles. Jon wandered the whole airport (with an unhelpful airport map) trying to find us some breakfast. He ended up going out through security, into Germany (getting his passport stamped) to where there was a McDonald's, and then back out of Germany (another stamp) and in through security.

While he was doing that, the boys were running around “our” small section of airport with a new little friend named Lauren whose mother is from Texas, but they live in Germany with her German dad. She is three and understands English fine, but doesn't speak it much yet. Her mother is the only one who speaks English to her at home.

Noah had a screaming fit over something and I made both boys sit down quiet and still in their chairs for a while. Jonathan did great and Noah got himself together after a while. After that incident they were fine.

The place we were resting was not actually at our gate, because that one was more crowded. Nearer boarding time, we moved all our stuff over to our gate. Jon waited a long time at the desk waiting to talk to people about our seats. While he was still there, inefficient Frankfurt airport made us go out of the waiting area again and stand in a crazy long line to check our boarding passes. Finally Jon joined us, stating that they had changed our seats even while we were one our first airplane, and the best he could get was me and Faith in a bassinet seat with him and the boys one row behind.

I sat down near the beginning of the line but out of the way, holding a sleeping Faith in my coat. Jon and the boys progressed through the line and I stood up when they got to me. The boarding area was beginning to get crowded and there were still many people in line behind us. We waited a very long time and finally they said families could board. We headed down a stairway but still they made us wait. Children and babies were getting impatient. My arms were tired but I was thankful that Faith was still asleep. It turns out there had a been a big mess in the plane and they had not finished cleaning it up yet. Finally we got in the plane. Jon had the boys sit with me and figured we could talk to the people whose seats we were taking when they got there.

The first man was happy to switch when Jon said, “Do you really want to be with the baby?” (The man directly behind us, however, said as he first got in that he loves babies and not to worry about anything. This was the man that Jon talked to quite a bit during the flight.) The other lady wasn't as happy to switch because she really wanted an aisle seat, but the flight attendants found her one elsewhere. Eventually even that first man found another seat, so I had the boys with me and Jon had a row to himself!

Overall, this flight went much more smoothly. Firstly, we knew more what we were doing, and secondly, it was in the middle of the day instead of the middle of the night. However, there was one 2-3 year old girl in the bassinet row next to us who was completely undisciplined and unhappy. She stood at her parents' feet screaming and whining during boarding and taxiing. Finally, the flight attendant told the mom that the plane could not take off unless the girl was seated and belted. Well, this set off an even louder, higher pitched, constant stream of screams. And the parents weren't even trying to calm her, just resigning themselves to the noise. Eventually, even before the takeoff was finished and seat belt light turned off, the mom took the kid out of her seat and held her in her lap. The girl fell asleep, which brough peace to the rest of us. It's incidents like these that help me realize how much the hard work of training your kids in self control pays off. Of course our kids aren't perfect (note Noah's outburst above) but we help them and they are much better able to control themselves. It's no service to that girl to let her have her way all the time. She was miserable.

Lufthansa provides all sorts of interesting things for the kids to do on the plane. We hardly needed any of our own things. The boys liked the jello desserts, but I did actually eat most of the rest of their lunches. I had a goulash that was really good. The “breakfast” was a mustard-stuffed sausage roll that was also good. Jonathan told the flight attendant how much he enjoyed it and she was quite pleased.

Jon and I watched Ghost Town on the plane, which was a sweet story. I could tell some places where they had edited it for the plane, so I can't wholly recommend it. After that were some Discovery Channel stories about African animals, including a giraffe birth. Jonathan put on his headphones for that and enjoyed it. He also liked playing around with the music channels. Noah's favorite part of the headphones was – Grandma did you guess? – plugging and unplugging them.

Jon, Noah, and Faith slept. Jonathan and I did not.  We deplaned relatively quickly. It took a long time for the luggage to come; the conveyor belt got stuck a couple of times. The boys got out some energy by running around a pillar.

Going through customs was smooth and then Jon went to check the bus schedule. We watched a kinetic sculpture while taking turns going to the bathroom, and then headed out to catch the bus. We all slept on the bus.

Soon, we pulled into Concord and Phil was there to meet us and take us home to Hillsboro. We had dinner and then an early bed. The kids and I were up at 4:30 (but I was thankful that Faith hadn't woken me up at 3) and we are only just starting to get over the jet lag this direction. Jon adjusted right away, and I think I would have as well. But the boys are having a much harder time than they did on the eastern journey.

Overall, it was a fun and interesting trip. The Swiss people are courteous and helpful, even to a family that knows about 20 German words collectively.  (I can hear Jonathan singing, "Ja, Winter, Wasser im Schnee!") Switzerland is a clean and beautiful country to visit.

However, my recommendation is that you shouldn't travel internationally with children under five. Jonathan did great, being interested in museum things and other city sights. Noah did like some of those things, but will not remember it. Having to deal with diaper changes out all day added hassle and luggage to our day trips (and hindered my ability to see some of the places.) And Faith was quite tired of being tied up in the sling by the last couple of days.

Despite spending most of her days being held, Faith did learn how to roll over during our stay in Switzerland. She can also do a kind of crawling that's rather like an inchworm. I suspect the belly/commando crawl will be upon us soon.

Noah's accomplishment of the trip was learning how to put both his mittens on all by himself.

Thank you to everyone who helped us with this trip: Mom and Dad, Janet and Stephan, Valda, Richard, Diana, the Dutler Family, Stephanie, Aubrey, Elaine and others in Switzerland. The Gabriels, Linds, and Marc in Pittsburgh, watching over our houses.

After attempting to get over jet lag in Hillsboro, and even having a morning for skiing, family-style, we headed back to Pittsburgh on Friday, January 16^th.

It was fun, but it's GOOD TO BE HOME!!