Back home again!

Ready as we're going to be for the long-haul flight

I thought I would take a minute and update you on how we're settling back into life in Switzerland. We've been back for almost two weeks now, and I have a hard time posting about jet lag until I know Baby K is fully past it; I'm always worried I'll be all excited that she's back to normal, then out of the blue she'll throw us for a loop and be up all night.

Watching all the other kids run around

The flights and jet lag weren't too bad coming back this way. DFW Airport really needs to up their game on the whole kids area situation. I've gotten used to traveling in Europe, where virtually every airport has an enclosed kids/family area. The big blue sculpture thing in Terminal D was the best I could come up with at DFW to let Baby K walk around and get some energy out pre-flight. It sort of worked.

Trying hard to settle in for the flight

I think the worst thing about our flight from DFW to London was the sheer amount of time it took them to do meal service for the flight. Our plane took off around 6pm and the lights finally went out around 10pm. That is a long four hours on a plane with a baby girl who really needed to go to sleep. Then for breakfast they turned the lights back on about an hour before we landed, waking Baby K right back up.

Ridiculously tired during our stop in London

Luckily, we sat next to another mom and two-year-old daughter who were also flying solo. Both Baby K and the other little girl were great little travelers. One other thing about our flight I have to note...there is a huge difference in women versus men flight attendants. All of the ones on the way over were females, some with children, and on the way back it was all males in my section. There's just a big difference between being willing to take Baby K so I can grab a bite to eat or go to the bathroom (women) and offering me more wine with a look of sympathy as the most helpful thing you can offer each time you pass (men). Just saying...

Exhaustion finally wins on the way to Geneva

We used Baby K's jet lag to our advantage the first couple of nights back by going to dinner and celebrating Swiss National Day. We stayed at a friend's house for dinner and socializing until around 10, and Baby K hung in the whole time, like a champ. For the first four or five nights Baby K would wake up somewhere between 8pm and 11pm, play for an hour-ish, then go back to sleep. Not too bad, and it seems kind of normal after our third trip to the US.

Feeling good after a short nighttime "nap"

Now, since we're back to life, August is the month of holiday in Europe. Not that everyone gets a month off or anything, but the majority of people go on some sort of vacation, and many of the smaller shops and restaurants close down. Needless to say, both babysitters are on holiday until mid-to-late August, so Baby K and I have a lot of time together to get back into the swing of things and get the house back in order after being gone for a month.

"Helping" in our garden

Of course, one thing that's different for us is that we're a one-dog family now. BK reported that Tobs had much more pep in his step after Baby K and I returned. He's started playing again, lets Baby K "love" on him quite often and is generally very happy to have his people around. Tobs is a much better traveler and socializer than Tanner was, so he's been to dinner with us, been on a car ride with us, and rarely barks. To be completely honest, when we got home the first thing I felt was relief. Relief that Tan was no longer in pain, relief that our days were no longer scheduled around when he needed insulin, relief that I would be sleeping through the night, relief that our life just got much more flexible. That may sound bad, but it's the truth.

Happy that his baby was back home

So there you have it- what we're up to. We're being spontaneous this weekend and heading off to Berlin; it's been somewhere we've wanted to visit for a while. Monday, BK suggested that we see if we could make it happen, and so we did. I have the essentials booked- flights, hotel, and babysitter. We'll take it from there when we arrive!