Flight

5am. Friday, August 5, 2016. Everyone up and ready to go. Hauled all the luggage and carry-ons to the front desk for the shuttle. I double and triple checked passports. Here we go!

Airport at 5:30am. Fight is at 8:22am. Plenty of time! We got all our tickets and found 2 bags were over 50 pounds. It was ok to have one but they weren't happy with two, so we shuffled 2 pair of pants from one heavy suitcase to a lighter one and it was good.

We dropped off the checked bags at the scanner and went through security with no issues.  We had a lot in our carry-ons, all our valuables (jewelry, watches, documents) and laptops...they were so heavy. With securiy behind us, the second challenge awaited - how to keep 3 kids entertained for the two hours before the flight left. Breakfast, watching the planes, and the infamous iPads did the trick.

Salt Lake to Chicago: We got on the plane and had to be somewhat split up. Jack and I sat together, Clara was nearby, then Keith and Ian sat next to each other. Jack was a little terror when we first got on the plane, he didn't want to sit in our assigned seat - great, I could feel the glares - he quieted down quickly then fell asleep before we took off. I was able to doze too but was awakened by Ian asking Minecraft questions to Clara, who was one row ahead and on the other side of the aisle. These were my kids, and it was annoying. Jack woke up one hour before we landed - it was a tough time keeping him entertained for that one hour!

Chicago: We got off the plane around 1pm and our next flight started boarding at 3:20. So two hours to find our next gate and eat lunch. The terminal was one loooonnnnggg hallway, we arrived at one end and our next flight was at the opposite end. The walk was good, we found a currency exchange booth - yeah, I know, the exchange rate isn't the greatest at airport kiosks but we needed to get some Euros just in case. We grabbed some lunch and went back to the gate. Jack decided to be a bugger so Keith took him for a walk to quiet him and to make him tired. 4pm flight meant it was 11pm in France.  We boarded the plane. It was a Lufthansa flight and we were booked business class on the upper floor. I have flown business class before, but I've never been on an airplane with two floors! So something new for me.

Chicago to Frankfort:  This was it...no turning back now...in eight hours we would be in Germany and in 11 hours we would be in France. Kids loved the seats, who wouldn't! They asked if they were going to fly like this from now on...I told them they better enjoy it because they probably won't fly like this for a long time. They quickly figured out the TVs and reclining chairs, Jack started pushing buttons too. As we got airborne Jack fell asleep again before dinner was served.

We arrived in Frankfort, found our gate and I went to order some breakfast for the kids since the slept through breakfast on the plane. I asked the cashier if he spoke Englist and he said some words in English but then spoke German - I'm pretty sure he said that I should learn to speak German and next time I'm there I should order in German.

We got on the plane to Lyon and an hour later we landed. We had no problems getting off the plane, getting our luggage and going through customs. Keith kept the luggage while I took the shuttle to get the rental car with Clara and Jack, luckily we remembered Jack's car seat! France has similar laws with car seats so we knew we needed one before we came.

After circling the airport a few times I made it back to Keith and we crammed all the luggage into the back. And got into the care for an hour and a half drive to Grenoble. The car had GPS and we were able to select English. We made it to Grenoble, and our destination services person, Isabelle was waiting for us at our temporary home. We took everything to our 2 bedroom apartment - 3 kids in one room, Keith and I in the other. It's an ok size, we don't feel too crammed. The kids an I crashed for 3 hours - which is not advisable, I know. Since we got to Grenoble around 1 we really should have stayed up until bedtime so we could get into a rhythm. It felt good to sleep...we would figure out the sleep pattern eventually.