Switzerland 2018: Getting home and some last thoughts

We (of course) were running slightly late for the airport.  We always seem to be running a little late.

Note to anyone traveling with kids:  make peace with being a little late for everything.  No matter how much of a buffer you have, a potty emergency, hungry baby, inconvenient diaper change, something will make you late.

When we were checking in there was some confusion because for our second leg, there was no boarding pass for Flynt because he was a lap baby.  Since we change airlines this confused the Swiss air guy and made us a bit late.  The Zurich airport is huge and of course we had to go to the furthest away part of the airport so this was mildly stressful but we got to our plane on time.  The real problem happened when we were boarding and looked at our tickets for the first time.  We were not all seated together!?!

Jeff was in the middle seat in the row in front of Wren, Flynt and I.  We had developed a good system on the last flight for dealing with the kiddos but it required two adults, not one.  It is very hard to reach things in the bag in the seat in front of you with a rather large baby on your lap.  Despite our pleading, no one would give up their aisle seat to trade places with Jeff so we had a 10.5 hour flight to look forward to with out us being able to work as a team very effectively. 

Flynt was handed over the seat back and forth between Jeff and I when I needed to go to the restroom or take Wren or just to take a break.  After Flynt knocked his jar of apple sauce on my lap while I was unsuccessfully trying to feed him and the lady next to me and I got in to a mild yelling match about it she did switch seats with Jeff for a couple of hours in the middle of the flight which helped tremendously.  The way the flight timed out, Wren was awake except for the last 1.5 hours so it was a very long flight and took a lot of effort to keep both kids happy.  It was not fun.

Once we got to Chicago, we had to re-check in after customs since we changed airlines.  They said we should have no problem not having a boarding pass for Flynt.  Of course when we went through the security check the lady was not going to let us through and I was about ready to start crying or get arrested (I was done after the last flight and asked about 6 times to make sure this was not going to be a problem when we checked in) when another TSA person told the other lady it was fine and we could go through.  Thankfully, Wren and Flynt slept the whole way home and still slept good that night.

Lessons learned and traveling to Switzerland with kids:

• Book your flights with the airline of the longest leg even if it is more expensive.  We booked through united and the long legs were Swiss Air.  This prevented us from being able to pre-pick our seats even though Jeff called both airlines.  This is why we were unable to sit together even though we had purchased tickets even before Flynt was born.  
• Check your seat assignments at check in, not at boarding.  There is a possibility that if we would have caught this at check in it could have been fixed.
• Switzerland has the BEST playgrounds
• Switzerland is kid friendly but that doesn't necessarily mean baby friendly
• Many restaurants did not have high chairs and those that did only had one so if we were not there first, we were holding Flynt all dinner
• Not all bathrooms had changing tables
• I am not breastfeeding anymore but I didn't see anyone breastfeeding and I also did not see a single place for a woman to breastfeed a baby besides in the airports
• The clean play space for Flynt was amazing.  The $19 collapsible ball pit was fantastic and worth 10 times what we paid.  We used it almost every day
• The light weight picnic blanket was also great (monkey mat) and we have used that several times since the trip as well
• Switzerland is amazingly beautiful
• There was a oddly high number of Asian tourists in Switzerland: the 4 highest number of tourists come from China (after Italy, Germany and Austria, which they share borders with).  This was mostly odd because people kept taking pictures of our kids. Admittedly, they are adorable but its weird to think that Flynt might have an Instagram following in China as the Swiss pack baby.
• Public transit was amazing!  If we had just a little less luggage it would have been so simple.  I just felt like I always needed one more arm (but I feel that way at home most days too)
• People say to not take your kids on vacation because it is a lot of work and they wont remember it, and it is a lot of work but Wren still talks about Portugal (which was before she was 2 over a year and a half ago).  I'm not sure what she really remembers and what she is remembering from seeing the pictures but in her mind it was fun.  She likes to travel and the idea of vacation.  If nothing else it is time to really spend enjoying and being with your family.  This is the most time Jeff gets with me and the kids and it is special and fun.
• The main place where I missed travel before kids was meals.  I missed having my relaxing glass of wine and my slow leisurely dinner.  Instead it is trying to keep kids happy (mostly Flynt) and get out of the restaurant before kids get grumpy so I'm juggling kids and taking turns eating with Jeff and it was not what I look forward to with vacation dining.  Because of this, we ate in a lot more than we ever would have before kids because it was easier and ultimately more relaxing, but I missed vacation dining.
• Take the time to make sure its fun for your kids and do somethings they like (and enjoy them too because kid stuff is fun
• The main takeaway is vacation was awesome and I love my family and I can't wait to see where we go next!!!