The Plane Ride Over

Wow...
17 checked bags, 8 carry on bags... 6 economy rate tickets and 9 hours 40 minutes later we arrive in Frankfurt, Germany!


We, thankfully, had help at the airport from a kind skycap, who helped load and unload our luggage!

It took us 1 and 1/2 hours just to get our boarding passes!  We were almost thinking we would run out of time!  But... all of a sudden, the check-in line started to move and we made it through w/ about an hour to get to our gate.

Kids did fabulous going through security, in record time - thanks to the stroller!

We had very little wait-time at the gate.  I had enough time to run and get us some sandwiches and gum before we loaded.

We all had the same row - 2 by the window and the rest in the center aisle.  Once we were all settled we tried to get our TVs to work... there was a TV on the back of each seat...well, they did not work!  They were finally able to get 4 of the 6 to work, so Gracie and I traded seats w/ Emma and Evan later in the flight.

So who slept!?  Well...it was not me!  I had a small catnap, Don napped off and on, but much more than I!  Sarah slept on Don's lap, Gracie curled up on the seat and slept most the "night, Emma and Evan slept a few hours...

We finally arrived in Germany about 9AM local time, 3AM EST... The plane had a map that showed our location all night, not only that but it also gave our arrival time, altitude, and distance from our location.  I loved it!

It took us about an hour to get home, Sarah and Grace could not handle the drive and took another nap...but once they got home, they were wired!

We all pooped out for about a 6 hour nap and then we were all up until about 2AM!  Complete jet-lag!  The next night was bad too!  But it took about 3 days for us to acclimate to the new time.