Heading Back To Sweden

Let me just recap our trip home as this was the worst part of our entire 10 week vacation. We were booked to leave St. Louis May 15th. On the 15th I had anxiety the entire day, mostly due to all the baggage I had. I was worried about incurring extra baggage fees. Why do airlines think that one piece of luggage per person weighing 50lbs is enough for a 10 week vacation. Come on. I swear baggage limitations should be set depending on the length of your stay and if you are travelling internationally or not. The weight restrictions are the same for international as they are for domestic and I swear we pay more for our international tickets than we do domestic. Anyway, back to the matter at hand...

I had anxiety and anxious to get my bags checked so that I could breath in relief. Got to the ticket counter and this wonderufl lady helped me as the self check in counter was working for me, something about the type of ticket I had. I weigh my bags, all four of them and three of them are over weight by 1-3lbs. I am looking att all my fully packed carry-ons wondering where am I supposed to put the extra weight.

I manuevered things around. I squished. I stuffed and I managed to get everything in and at the right weight. The ticket lady gave me the ok to have one bag weighing 53lbs aka "heavy" but the other ones I had to be 50lbs or under. I did it! I breathed out. Relief! Then I began stuffing stuff in the carseat covers that were also going to be shipped. Mind you, she was not aware of my deceitful manuevers as she was busy with several other customers at the same time. She ticketed and bagged the carseats and my "extra stuff" that I had no room for anywhere were safely stored in the carseats...PHEW!

Now it was off to the gate. We were good with time, had about 1 hr 30min until departure. When we got to the security line I got to go express aka bypass all the other passengers since I was travelling alone with two kids. Since I went express goodbyes were quick but nevertheless sad. Many tears were shed. We headed to our gate. With time to kill and two tired kids we went to the bathroom a couple of times and snacked. Aleksander is nearly impossible to put to sleep out and about...he's so nosy.

About 45min before departure time we are informed that our flight would be delayed because one of the pilots did not show up and we had to wait for another pilot whose flight was due to arrive at 7:45pm. Our scheduled departure time was 6:30pm and was now pushed forward to 8:05pm. This was ok, as we were supposed to have a 3hr layover in Chicago before heading on to Sweden. Well, as you may assume, the flight did not end up leaving until 8:15pm. Arriving in Chicago shortly after 9pm but taxiing to the gate took 20min. In an effort to guarantee that we would make our flight I asked the flight attendant when we boarded if she could contact my connecting flight (SAS which is partners with United) and let them know we are coming. I also asked if she could set me up with one of those cars that drive you through the airport to help expedite my transporting to another terminal. She said she was unable to do so. I am slowly beginning to panic. Fortunately the kids fell asleep on the plane but I had to wake them to get us quickly to our terminal. We landed at terminal 1 and I had to get us to terminal 5. I put Aleksander on my front, Enzo in the stroller, a 13lb backpack on my back, Enzo's trunki under the stroller and my handbag secured on my mommy hook on the stroller. I asked the gate agent to notify the plane that we are on our way. She said sorry, can't do that. With 35min to spare before take off I RAN and RAN through the airport. Sweating bullets but determined to make it. We had just missed the train and had to wait 10min for the next one to take us to the int'l terminal. Once there I get to the security gate and am then notified by an SAS agent that the gate is closed. We missed the flight, with 10min to spare. Tears flowed. I balled. No cell phone I had to contact Mattias. SAS let me use a phone. Disappointed rang out on both ends of the phone.
Enzo was listening to my whole conversation and began saying, where will we go? Where will we sleep? What will we eat? Where's a safe place for us? etc. etc etc.
I was determined to be compensated for the inconvenience. I had two kids who were exhausted and I was beyond exhausted but fueled by adrenaline. I found a United agent who told me that the delay was due to weather and therefore I was not due any compensation. I told him that was not true. So he did me a "favor" and gave me a hotel voucher and a food voucher for $15. Our flight did not leave until 10:05pm the following day.

We shuttled to the hotel. Put the kids to bed. Called United to rebook our flight. Went to sleep and then planned to spend a whole day in bed, well in the hotel at least until it was time for us to leave. Nana had arranged for us to stay in the hotel until we needed to leave for our flight instead of the original check out time of 3pm. Nice! That following afternoon we walked the streets around the hotel to a Target and found some dinner before it was time for us to leave.
We got to the airport early, around 7pm to make sure we had seats on the flight. Once handed our boarding passes I could relax.

The flight was a breeze as the boys slept...Enzo slept from take off until landing. Aleksander fell asleep before take off and then woke up after 5hrs, was awake for about an hour and a half and then slept until landing. NICE!

All our luggage made it and our sweet Swede was waiting for us at arrivals.

At the airport, getting ready for goodbyes.

The boys playing in our hotel room.

Enzo enjoying a yummy milkshake we got at Potbelly sandwiches. YUM!!

In Route To St. Louis

The time came for us to head back to St. Louis. Which also meant that our vacation was coming to an end. Leaving hurt because we knew it would be awhile before we would see each other again. Enzo even cried when we were leaving but I am not quite sure if he was crying because we were leaving there or because we weren't heading to Sweden right then.

As you can see in the pictures the boys were happy in flight. Aleksander slept very little and thus was exhausted by the time we got to Granddad and Nana's house. Nosy little rascal. We thankfully had a whole row to ourselves, however Aleksander went from the row to the aisle most of the flight.

However it was nice to go somewhere sunny and leave the Washington rain behind.

So What Have Our Days Been Like?...

Our days have mostly been spent indoors. Anyone who knows me knows that that isn't easy for me. I get restless, not only do I get restless but I have a four year old with a TON of energy, who needs to be taken out and activated. I joke with Mattias sometimes and say, we need to take our pet out for a walk. But the truth of the matter is, Enzo and I are both equally energetic and both need to have activities to keep us busy, otherwise we get bored.

So, we've been indoors with the occasional run to the store. These small outings have been appreciated, better that than nothing. It has actually been good to stay relatively close to home as the boys have been quite tired.

It's been EARLY mornings here and wakeful nights. Unfortunately, we are all in the same room which has led to a lot of wakeful evenings or early mornings. They have been waking each other up. I do think some of it is partly due to excitement and anticiaption on the kids part. They are curious, want to see what's going on, etc but PLEASE let's sleep until at least 7am. You would think after the jetlag and the minimal sleep during the travel that they would sleep hard and long, but nope! An example of my morning, this morning, Aleksander woke up at 5:52am, not ready to get up but making noises and trying to get back to that sleepy place but then Enzo wakes up from the noises from his brother and me trying to hush Aleksander. Enzo then is wide awake and his constant chatter interupts Aleksander on his way back to Lala land which then led to all of us just getting up. I grinned and beared...no grudge towards my early risers this morning.

Kudos to those single moms and military wives out there. You who do this day in and out all alone. I am without Mattias for 2 1/2 months and already after 5 days I am wishing he was here. Even if he is usually gone to work and the kids are in bed by the time he gets home, it's nice to know you are not alone. I long for his company at the end of the day and weekends. And here I am all alone, no sleeping in, not like I get that at home, no taking turns doing the bedtime routines, making dinner, cleaning etc... I fly solo now! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, naps, baths, bedtime, story time, etc is all on me. I am not complaining, really I'm not, I am just saying I love my husband and I miss him!

That's pretty much what our days have been like thus far. This weekend shall be exciting as we are heading to Chicago on Friday via train, going for some deep dish pizza and shopping on Michigan Ave. Hopefully the windy city will treat us nice. And then next week we will go to Arkansas to see one of my college friends. Haven't seen here since she came to see us in Sweden in 2008...super excited to see her boys, meet her hubby and be in awe of her pregnant belly.

Our Trip In Review

We made it! It wasn't necessarily easy but we made it. It broke my heart to walk away from my Mattias. The week prior to our departure I was on him for constant cuddling time and attention.

The morning of our departure. It was a rather emotional and tense morning. Enzo was eager to go and we were wanting time to stand still.

One eager Enzo.

All our bags and stuff. I swear I packed light. Took about a weeks worth of clothes for the kids, maybe a little bit more for Aleksander but he's a baby. I don't even think I took a weeks worth of clothes for me. But then the travel bed is packed in there, a mattress and all the other baby essentials. Plus we had to have three suitcases so we didn't exceed the weight limits. UGH!! This was my least favorite part of the trip...baggage!

Days prior to our departure Mattias was trying to get some extra cuddles from Enzo but Enzo was being Mr. Tough guy and he would say, "I'll give you a hug when we leave" or he would laugh about the fact that Mattias was going to be home alone and we were going to America. But the true colors came out when we were at the airport. At the security check when it was time to separate, we all kissed and hugged and as we proceeded to walk through the entry way to the Enzo took off screaming for Mattias. Not once, but four times. It broke my heart but at the same time it made me smile to see him show his real feelings for his Pappa and for Mattias to see those feelings.

The flight went well. The boys were excited, well Enzo was, Aleksander was just nosy. He was so nosy that he only slept about 3hrs on our first 9,5 hr flight to Chicago. And of course he slept while Enzo was awake and when he woke up Enzo went to sleep...so typical! This meant very little almost non existent shut eye for me.

Thankfully we sat by a decent guy who could watch Aleksander when I needed to go to the bathroom or take Enzo so we never had to test having all three of us in the bathroom at one time.

In spite of the fact that Aleksander insisted on being awake more than sleeping, he was happy. I got several compliments about how well behaved my boys were and how easy Aleksander seemed to be. The guy who sat beside me told me as we were landing that he was nervous to sit by us at first but was relieved when he realized how calm and easy my kids were.

Big boy Enzo. Enjoying his flight, he requested that we sit by a window next time. Hmm, not sure. Having the bassinet for Aleksander was helpful.

So our first entry into the US was Chicago which meant we had to go through customs and pick up our bags and then recheck them. I had a bit of anxiety for this procedure. It was about 6:30pm when we landed in Chicago. We had to then stand in an extremely long line for customs, I had an extremely tired baby on my front and heavy backpack on my back and Enzo's trunki that I somehow got the responsibility of pulling along. After we made it through the line we then had to pick up our bags. Here's our two carts...this was hilarious and exhausting! After dropping off our bags we had to then go stand in a security line that must have been the longest security line I have ever stood in. Then again, everything seems long and draining when you are exhausted and are carrying more weight than you should.

Our first day in St. Louis. The weather was beautiful!

The boys taking a bath in Granddad and Nana's tub. They loved it, especially Enzo.

Doesn't this look like the Blair Witch Project?? It's the park behind their house. We were headed out for a morning run on Monday.

Pre-run but it wasn't much of a run as my tire was low on air...UGH!

Black Jack Park, Black Jack MO

Today Is The Day

We are all ready for our spring vaca! We are going to miss Mattias terribly. Enzo doesn't seem to get the fact that Mattias isn't going to be right around the corner. Mattias wants to cuddle and cuddle with Enzo but Enzo is like, "oh, I'll give you a hug when it's time to leave." But I know after day 1 he'll be missing his pappa. Besides all the tears that will be shed at the airport, (I am terrible at saying good-bye...just terrible), we are looking forward to our trip. I think it will be really nice with a change of scenery and for the boys to spend quality time with my family.

All packed! I/We tried to pack so lightly but how is it possible when you have two kids. Travel bed, toys, clothes, back up clothes, etc etc etc.

The boys hanging on their last evening together for awhile.