Getting to Lausanne

After finding out that we were going to be moving to Lausanne, we had what seemed like an endless list of milestones we needed to get by in order to get there.  One of the last ones that was weighing on me was the trip over with our two little ones (Quinn and Anna) and our 4 big ones (bags).  We were facing down an overnight flight with a 1 and 3 year old and then navigating through airports, train stations, small European rental cars, and tight streets with all of our stuff and tired kids.  Now that I'm sitting on this side of things, the trip over actually went pretty well all things considering.

As we checked into the airport in Burlington, we tried to keep it light and happy for the kids as we said goodbye to Pops and Ama.  It was sad, but knowing we'll see them in about 2 months, made it much easier.  It was very sad to say goodbye to Vermont though as we're not sure when we'll see it again.  My contract is technically 18 months, but that could easily get extended and who knows what would happen if it didn't.  Vermont is, and always will be, a very special place for us and we will always have fond memories (of the summers...).  Back to the airport...when we checking in our 4 huge bags, I lifted the biggest onto the scale and it ready 76 lbs.  Overweight.  'What does an overweight bag cost?', I asked the ticket agent.  '$400'.  Not an option.  Luckily that bag was a new Burton bag I had just bought that was made for situations like this.  The bag easily splits into two separate bags, so our 4 huge bags had become 5 a-little-bit-smaller bags.  

The flight to Newark was quick and easy, and after a two hour layover during which Anna tantrummed her way through the airport for a good 15-20 mins, we started to board our flight from Newark to Geneva. When I handed the gate agent our 4 boarding passes, she handed me a new boarding pass and said my seat had changed.  I told her that's not an option and we had to sit together.  She responded by telling me that a couple traveling together had purchased Economy Plus and therefore I needed to move.  I quickly responded that we are a family of 4 that purchased Economy Plus so I need my seat back.  But with the long line of people behind us, I figured we'd just work with the flight attendant on board, so we just boarded.  Luckily a nice guy in a seat on the other side of Anna, Melinda, and Quinn traded seats with me so we all got to sit together.  

The flight was really easy considering it was the kids first overnight flight.  Quinn and Anna passed the time coloring, watching Daniel Tiger on the iPad (Anna's favorite words to scream are "DANIEL TIGER!"), and sleeping.  Anna slept for a few hours on my shoulder and then transferred to her own seat.  Quinn did his best to stretch out across Melinda's lap.  I was able to sleep maybe 1-2 hours but Melinda probably got none.  The kids probably each got about 5 hours of sleep.  We landed at 8:30AM Geneva time which was 2:30AM our body time.  The kids were not happy to wake up, so we took our time getting off the plane.  We were literally the last people to walk off the plane and Anna was crying hard when we did.  She really wanted something (I can't remember what it was at that time, but it was probably sleep) so she was tantrumming really hard.  She's entered a stage of all tantrums all the time.  Actually, that's a bit overstated.  She's still a funny, happy little girl.  But when she doesn't get what she wants, she's begun tantrumming.  We'll need to get in front of that.  So as we exited the plane and got into the airport and began putting our stroller back together, she was lying on the ground screaming and crying inconsolably.  That was fun.  The pilots and flight attendants walked by, smiled, and all felt bad for us.  We finally got her calmed down and the stroller put together and made our way to immigration.  Since we were the last off the plane, I figured there would be a huge line in front of us at immigration.  But as we walked up to immigration, it became clear just how long her tantrum was.  There was no one in line at all, so we breezed through immigration.  There was no elevator on the other side and the escalator was turned off, so a nice immigration officer (with 4 kids of his own) helped us get the stroller down the stairs.  We quickly collected our 5 (now back to 4) bags and slowly trudged through the airport to the train station.  

The logistics of getting that many big bags and tired kids through the airport and onto the train wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.  We didn't have to wait for the train to Lausanne and immediately boarded and piled our mountain of stuff into a huge space (which we eventually, embarrassingly found out was the handicapped section).  We made a bed on one seat for Anna and she immediately went to sleep.  Quinn was loving looking out the train window, but, after sitting on the backwards seat and watching the things speed by, he barfed.  Luckily Melinda is a veteran of kid travel and had a barf bag handy.  Immediately after throwing up Quinn said 'I feel much better after barfing!' and was fine for the rest of the trip.  We arrived in Lausanne after a 45 min ride and started to haul our stuff off of the train as quickly as possible.  A very nice couple offered to help and each grabbed a bag and lifted it off for us.  So nice.  We walked through the train station of our new hometown and up the street to the rental car place.  We secured our small European car (no idea what the make or model is) and it had two kids car seats inside as requested.  I drove the car with the kids and two bags inside and Melinda took a cab with the rest of the bags.  

We quickly navigated through the streets and got to our new temporary apartment.  Our real apartment isn't available until July 1st, so we're in a temporary two bedroom apartment until then.  The apartment is great and we quickly settled in.  

All in all, the trip over was very easy but it's a trip we'll never forget!