Away We Go

On Saturday afternoon, we began a long journey to our new, though temporary, home in the Netherlands.  Although we had been planning our move for months, I couldn't believe that we were actually moving forward with those plans as we prepared to leave our home for the last time before our return in December.  I had been too busy buying and packing to think too much about what lie ahead...and then it was suddenly time to go...and I started to cry.

I wiped away my tears, put on my big girl panties (and they seem to be getting bigger...I'm hoping that a break from my beloved Starbucks will help me lose some weight over the next few months!), and got on board the shuttle that would take us to O'Hare.  Thankfully, the twins both caught some shut-eye on the ride down to Chicago, leaving us to text last minute messages and post our final Facebook updates before we hit the friendly skies bound for Holland (I never understood why the Netherlands are sometimes called Holland until I watched this video.) 

Maddie hugged Dinosaur close as we pulled away from our house.

George, of course, has joined us on our Dutch adventure.  In fact, both George and his twin are along for the trip!

Apparently, cars put Maddie to sleep.  Airplanes do not.

This guy put up a good fight against sleep on the way to O'Hare, but finally gave in around Kenosha.  

Unfortunately for us and everyone else on our 7 hour flight to Amsterdam, the twins - especially Maddie - probably didn't get as much sleep on our trip to Chicago as they needed.  After we checked our 8 bags of luggage,  made our way to the terminal with the stroller, 2 diaper bags, 2 backpacks, and a purse, changed two wet diapers, and pleaded with the airline to sit together, we finally boarded the plane (which is to say that Jim carried on the two car seats and came back to me with a friendly KLM crew member in tow so that we could disassemble the stroller and carry the twins and our carry-ons onto the plane...AND THEN Jim had to install the car seats!).  By the time the twins were buckled in, we had just a few minutes before the plane began its taxi down the runway!

This is what 8 checked bags, 1 stroller containing two hyper toddlers, 3 carry-ons, and 1 sweaty baggage handler look like.

Europe, here we come!  Not pictured here?  The gentleman who thought he'd turn around and offer me advice about how to handle my overtired, tantruming daughter.  He's lucky I didn't punch him in the face.  

Although the same friendly KLM crew member assured us that our children made little noise during the flight in comparison to others, we were so much at a loss for what to do with our kicking, crying, and screaming children that we resorted to medicating them.  The 1/2 teaspoon of allergy medication seemed to make Will drowsy just as the box promised, but if anything, it fueled Maddie's temper.  While everyone else on the plane slept or watched movies (I would have LOVED to watch a movie!), Maddie threw a tantrum like no other until finally, FINALLY, she fell asleep in Jim's arms...for 30 minutes.

We touched down in Amsterdam shortly before 7 a.m. (Midnight CST).  We retrieved our bags, used the bathroom, exchanged currency, and hopped on the shuttle that would take us to our home in Delden.  Maddie slept the entire ride there.

Until jet lag kicked in, Will was a big fan of our trip overseas...either that, or he had the overtired sillies on our ride to Delden.