And the Story Begins...

I have spent this past week trying to catch up on sleep, doing laundry, and just trying to get things back to normal. I still feel like I am swimming in a mess, but hopefully will be able to have things under control soon.

I want to start off by saying that our trip to Annecy, France OVERALL was a lot of fun. I am saying this because many crazy things happened, and weren’t exactly ideal, but we definitely made some memories. So as I relay my story to you, keep in mind that I did have a good time. I figured I would start at the beginning, and post our trip in parts because we were there for such a long time it would be impossible to write about it all in one post! Hopefully I won’t bore you with too much detail, but in reality this is more for me to remember our trip…so if it isn’t too interesting. Sorry.

Getting ready for the trip was a whirlwind. I had heard of spontaneous vacations, and this was right up there. When I leave for a vacation, I like to have my house clean. There is nothing better than coming home to a clean house. I wish that I could say that I accomplished that, but I didn’t. The few days before we left was spent doing laundry, and running errands. I was able to get all of our laundry done, but half of it wasn’t put away. I got the dishes done, but the kitchen was still in disarray. Oh well. What I did accomplish was a miracle in itself.

When Shawn first told me about the trip, I was really excited. The next few words that fell out of his mouth had me flabbergasted. He wanted me to pack ALL 4 OF OUR BELONGINGS into 2 (yes just 2) standard size rollerbags. I understood his logic. We were flying standby, and you never know what is going to happen. Instead of having to check baggage we would have it with us, and it wouldn’t end up going to someplace if we couldn’t get on the flight. I thought he was crazy and there was no way that I could do it, but I told him that I would try.

I am proud to say that I was actually able to accomplish this feat! I thought that it would be impossible. I don’t think that we have ever been on a vacation where I have been able to do that. In fact I KNOW that we haven’t, but somehow I did it! In the end…I have to admit that it was a good idea.

Despite the fact that we were flying standby, we were very fortunate to get on every flight that we wanted. There was no waiting for the next flight or getting bumped over and over again. We were very lucky. All we had to do was wait for the actual flights, which time was passed by easily with a good ole pudding snack cup. I do have to say that I was surprised at the condition of the terminal. I had never been to the international terminal before, and boy was that a shocker. I was amazed at how run down it was. In some ways it already felt like I had left the country.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the flight over. I was a little worried because it was nearly 11 hours from LA to Frankfurt. Luckily the flight left in the afternoon…and ran right into their bedtimes. They slept the majority of the flight, but also had fun exploring a bit.

I don’t know why, but Caden is fascinated with bathrooms. It doesn’t matter where he is…if he sees a bathroom he has to go inside. There have been many times where he says he “has to go”, but he really just wants to see. Unfortunately, he was also fascinated with the Lav on the airplane. Being a flight attendant it grosses me out, and I hated the fact that he thought it was “so cool.” He was a little afraid at how loud it was inside when you flushed, but got over that by covering his ears. I sure hope that he grows out of his love of airplane lavs…they are probably the mecca of all things disgusting!

When we arrived in Frankfurt, we had to change planes and take another flight to Geneva, Switzerland. I find it strange that even though we had already been through security that we had to go through it yet again! We then had to get on a tram that took us out to our airplane that was somewhere in the middle of the tarmac.

We hopped on the plane flew for about an hour and then arrived in Geneva. You would think after all that we would be there, but we weren’t. We met up with the driver that Shawn’s work had arranged to pick us up and then we drove about an hour west to Annecy, France. By then we were burnt toast! I think that we all crashed on the drive over. Talk about jet lag! We arrived at our hotel, and even though we were exhausted decided to take a little stroll around town before we sank into our beds.

More to come soon…

In the meantime, scroll down and check out the contest that 5 Minutes for Mom is having for KooKoo CaChoo Baby Blankets, and the opening of my friends new frame shop!