Fabuhls: Phew, We Made It!!

Here we are, in Germany, after a long but fairly uneventful trip. Thanks to all who were praying for smooth travels and well behaved children. :) They did as well as I could have asked or expected of a 4- and 2-year-old, so that was a huge blessing. (To David's parents: The flight was NOTHING like our trip over last summer!!!!! :) )
We left Julie's (David's sister's) house around 2 p.m. on Tuesday and arrived at the O'Hare airport with right around two hours to get checked in, through security, and to the gate. Due to some unforeseen car trouble that morning and a frozen yogurt trip that definitely could NOT be skipped, Rhea didn't end up getting much of a nap (or lunch, for that matter, since she had just enjoyed some YoYo Land and didn't feel like eating much after that). That certainly put a damper on her patience and flexibility as a little traveler, but she did ok. (She was NOT a fan of her water bottle going through the x-ray machine, or of her mother having to step to the side to be patted down because Lucia's backpack somehow managed to trip their explosives monitor...?!?!, or staying strapped in her seat by herself while I took Lucia to the bathroom on the plane.) The two hours at the airport worked out perfectly, but only because there were lots of helpful people who noticed me attempting to travel with two small children, plenty of bags, and swinging a pregnant belly around in front of me. We were waved through to the fast lane in security several times, a couple different people helped me get all my luggage to the appropriate counters (or watched my kids for me as I took a couple of trips), etc. I accepted any help I could get and was very thankful for each person who noticed us and chose to assist.
We got to our gate with about 40 minutes to spare, which allowed time for potty, gave Rhea a chance to eat something (she pounded several PB&J's - between her and Lucia, they polished off all of the sandwiches and Mama didn't get any). :-) We got on the plane early and the attendants got the girls settled in with some entertainment - a few coloring books and pens to bridge the time until take-off.
The first half of the trip was fairly uneventful - I pulled out a few little "surprises" I had packed for them on the plane, tried to let them watch Tom and Jerry (though unsuccessfully), and Lucia enjoyed the animated movie "Blue" on the personal screen. (The first ten minutes or so, she watched attentively until she finally told me, "Mama, I can't understand what they're saying because they're speaking Spanish!" Whoops... I then found the English channel and she continued watching happily. :-) )
Rhea enjoyed coloring some, read a few books, watched the little screen (though didn't care for headphones), had some snacks, and simply relaxed. She was pretty exhausted by the time they served dinner and didn't care to try much of her food (other than two cherry tomatoes in her salad and some of the dinner roll). Unfortunately, she kept kicking the seat in front of her, and as it got later and later, she got more uncomfortable and agitated and there wasn't much I could do except for holding down her feet as much as possible and waiting it out until she finally fell asleep. Lucia was out around 8:15 p.m., Rhea not until 9:40!! And that after not really having a nap! Yikes! But they both slept more or less until after we landed (with a few little wake-ups in between). I think I might have gotten around 1.5-2 hours of sleep in myself. So not bad overall. On the first plane, Lucia asked me to tell her what London was like. I told her it was in England and that the queen of England lived in London. So a little bit later, she said, "Mama, when we get to London, do you think we can go say 'hello' to the queen?" When I hesitated a bit with my response, she reassuringly said to me, "Mama, maybe, just MAYBE." (A few days later, she asked me, "Mama, what kind of queen is the queen in London? Is she like the queen who wanted Snowwhite to be born?" I said I thought she was probably a lot like Snowwhite's queen mother. :-) )

After we landed in London, both girls were wide awake and in pretty good spirits (especially considering it was 1 a.m. our time!). Lucia was a HUGE helper by carrying her own backpack and pulling her little suitcase for me. I wish I could've gotten a picture of her, but my hands were full and there was too much to do at all times (plus my camera was buried under all the snacks in my way heavy backpack). Oh well. She said several times, "Mama, pulling all this stuff is hard work, but I'm not going to give up my job!" So sweet and very helpful. :-) It warmed my heart.
Our layover in London was only 1.5 hours, just enough to get from our arrival gate to our new departure gate with another security screening in between. (We even got to ride one of those little black carts through the airport! :) ) I didn't even have time to stop and find the German cell phone to turn it on and call my parents until I was already ON the plane to Germany.

After we had landed in Germany, the only hiccup left to hurdle was the fact that in the past year, they had installed coin-slots on the baggage carts (ones where you get your money back when you return the cart), but of course coming from another country, I didn't have the right coin to get a cart. So once again, I had to figure out how to pull three rolling suitcases, carry a car seat, push a stroller, with a backpack on my back, and keep track of Lucia with her suitcase. Another helpful lady ended up accompanying me through customs and out to the meeting area where Oma was already waiting for us -- we had FINALLY made it!! By this point, I was thoroughly hot, utterly exhausted and my feet hurt, but all three of us were generally in good spirits. If the trip had been any less ideal than what it was, I'm sure I would've been in tears just from sheer exhaustion -- I was pretty close as it was. :-) But the girls did great and my afternoon nap at the house once we finally arrived was heavenly. (I could've slept until the next day. :) )

I'll include a couple of pictures of our travels as well as our first day or two here at Oma and Opa's. We miss our Papa back in Texas, but are thankful we can keep in touch with phone, Skype and e-mail.

At our gate in Chicago, waiting to board the first plane.