That time I slept 14 hours straight

Wikipedia says that jet lag west to east is harder. But I think our downfall this time, was a bit of hubris on my part. I already started drafting a blog post on jet lag after recovering rather successfully in Spokane after a few days. Of course, we had some of this:

The ill-timed post-slip and slide floor nap.

The 5 am naked walk about the property.

We employed the following strategies:

1. Gummy Melatonin before bed. 

2. Eating meals at normal times

3. Expecting bad behavior from all parties involved

4. Not planning any activities for the first week. This was mostly because the unvaccinated kids had to quarantine for seven days. PB^2 planned a night away five days after arrival, but alas, Carmen was not ready to be chill for 24 hours without the mama.

For the boys, we used the alarm clock that turns green when they are allowed to get out of bed. (To see if that worked, please refer to strategy 3.)

For Carmen, I would put her to bed in her own little sleep tent. When she woke up in the middle of the night, I would let her snuggle in bed with me until it was more or less morning. Not pictured: The 3:30 dirty diaper wake-up and then Carmen falling back asleep on mommy for an hour while mommy tried not to gag AKA Carmen's revenge.

Jet lag was also a bit more manageable because it was over 100 F/38 C the whole seven days in Spokane. Thus, early morning was truly the only time we could get out without feeling like we were in a sauna. The way back to Berlin was a different story. Per usual, we tried to get as much sleep as possible on the plane:

We scored a middle seat and a super sweet college kid who appreciated Carmen's charm.

The littles were definitely worse for the wear on the last Iceland to Berlin flight. 

We came home to dinner, fresh fruit, wine, flowers, and even a banner (best neighbors ever).

And then the craziness ensued...

Paul was manning the boys; I don't even know what kind of middle of the night shenanigans was happening with them. I believe it was a good five days for Hugo to adjust. Crosby was pretty well back on schedule after three days because he is a big boy and an expert traveler.

Carmen on the other hand, took about ten days to adjust.

Night 1: I kept on falling asleep with her in my arms in my chair. I'd wake up, try to put her down in her bed, but she'd wake up. Long story short, she ended up in my bed for the whole night. She slept I think sort of normally, and this mama did not. Carmen had a pretty on-schedule day so I thought we were on track. Right? Wrong.

Night 2: Carmen fell asleep for 2 hours, and then woke up at 10 pm. She seemed pretty awake so I attempted to make Naan bread (unsuccessfully) and then I put her down in her bed at 2 am and I went to my bed. 

The next thing I know, Paul comes in and says, "It's 4 o'clock." me "4 o'clock in the afternoon?" Yes. That's next level exhaustion - sleeping 14 hours straight when both Carmen and I are "healthy". We woke up and went to meet Eva, a friend visiting from Spain, at the park. Mind you, this is the first time Carmen met Eva. Here she is after knowing Eva for five minutes:

Carmen needed a warm-up period to our family in the US. Maybe what she really needed was 14 hours of sleep? Or maybe Eva has a special touch?

In any case, the 14 hour sleep - while restful at the time - threw our schedule off for the next week or so. The strategy lesson learned: 4. Use an alarm clock to wake-up in the morning, otherwise there will be a longer period of this:

"I don't know where my bed is, but this will do." Carmen Mae 19 months

How was the flight?

Not to toot our own horns, but these kids are the best:

Carmen helps push the cart at the airport. Note - you will see our two large bags on the trolly. We managed to come home with four bags because:

Bam!: Reunited with the Sexy Hotness sleeping bags. These his and her walkable sleeping bags were waiting for us in Spokane to bring back to wear on our balcony in Berlin this fall. Worth an extra bag?

I mean, yes, Hugo fits in there.

Also, it came in super handy for the hot tub budget busting session with Uncle Tyler. 

The forth bag was filled with who knows what, but I digress. We got to the airport over three hours early which was overkill. We couldn't check our bags yet - so we made our first of many, many Starbucks trips this trip back:

Why yes, all three kids are eating pink frosted donuts before getting on a three, and then seven, and then one hour flights. This is why I let them eat ice cream pretty much every day - so they are ready. 

Also, pro-trip the Starbucks cake pops in the US are pretty much the perfect size treat.

How was the new Berlin airport, you may ask? While you can get some background reading here or here, our experience could best be summed-up with a photo with a close-up.

This is the "family activity area" by our gate. Notice anything amiss?

Yup, those are live wires underneath the chair. While I'm being a grump - I'll just lay into my subpar airport observations. First of all, a key component of a child area is something for the kids to climb, jump, or generally use to get the energy out. A table with books and legos is a start, but not enough. Also, the bathrooms were also a ten minute walk away, which any parent of a toddler will tell you is not optimal. Finally, in an unrelated to the kid's zone, there are still non-functioning parts of the airport. For example, the fish restaurant where I ordered lunch only offered cold sandwiches because their exhaust system has never functioned properly. Before the epic German vaccine roll-out fail, BER was the pinnacle of political embarrassment. 

Ok, back to the sunny-side of life, we bought a couple things for the airplane to keep kids happy.

1. Cozyphones. I found these cozy phones, one kitty and one frog for the boys. They stay on their heads easier than regular earbuds and could double as an eye mask. (Good product, just wish they weren't made in China.)

2. Fox neck pillow. Ok, this was a splurge buy from when I went to the drugstore to get plane snacks. Crosby had a plain blue one from a previous trip which understandably was not a crowd pleaser by comparison. I told the boys about our trip literally two days before flying so as to keep the trip a surprise for Grandpa and Uncle Connor. As we know Kids + Secrets = No longer a secret. This is Hugo trying out the pillow two nights before our trip.

Other plane toys that are not pictured: 

3. Big bag of pipe cleaners 

4. Crayola Mess Free Wonder Markers - these pens mark only on their accompanying special paper. 

5. A Montessori busy board. This travel purse teaches little kids how to button, tie, etc. It was a little too advanced for Carmen but I think still has potential, especially if it helps your kids learn how to dress themselves. ha!

6. Icelandic Air Party Pack - the boys got little drawstring bags with stickers, an eye mask, and headphones.

Our strategy of shows on the first three hour flight, sleep on the longer seven hour flight, and then a free-for-all on the last short one to Spokane, worked out great:

Free-for-all = Girls sleep. I still don't know what the boys did on this flight.

But the real question about travel with kids is: how is/was the jet lag?!? That my friends, is the subject of the next post, stay tuned.