Trip to Netherlands

Well, we departed on Thurs, Dec 27th, for the Netherlands. We had a direct flight from Hartford (we were there visiting my parents) to Amsterdam on NWA. It was a hectic start. At first, they said we could not go because we did not have the paper ticket for Leyla showing that we paid the taxes/custom fees on her since she was riding on our lap. After a LONG wait and some calls, they deemed we could pay a $100 lost ticket fee. Since there was no time to argue (now 1 hr til flight departure) we agreed to pay it. The security line was insane. Luckily, Tycho had his crew badge which enable us to go in the crew line (which of course is quicker and really no line). Once on the flight, we discovered the bassinet that we called 3 months in advance to reserve was not on the flight. Since the plane was rolling back from the gate though, we could not do much about it. Leyla slept most of the flight over in the carseat and we made Quinn a creative floor bed (with blankets and pillows) since we had the bulk head row. He too slept well.

During our time in the Netherlands, the babies schedule and sleeping patterns did not work out as well as we had hoped. I think some contributing factors were of course, the time difference, as well as the fact they both caught horrible colds which made them heavily congested. Oh well...

It was an enjoyable time visiting with Tycho's family. For our first five days, all his siblings were staying there with their families too. That made a total of 10 adults and 7 children (4 of them infants). It was busy and a bit noisy to say the least, but very great that we could all spend time together as we do not see them often. Here is a pic of all 17 of us.

New Year's Eve is an important holiday in The Netherlands, and especially to Tycho's family. It was a night FULL of family time, fireworks, drinks, and food. We played some pictionary and Who Wants to be a Millionaire with all the adults. Near midnight the 3 older children were awoken for the festivities. A champagne toast occurred at midnight. Then off to light the fireworks. Many people in Holland buy their own fireworks and set them off in front of their house, so after midnight, it is a sky full of fireworks popping up everywhere. It is fun, but a bit chilly. I stayed outside til 1am. Tycho, his brothers, his Dad, and Bas stayed out there til 2am lighting them off. I will try to include a video clip of it tomorrow for you to see.

The rest of the week consisted of some family time, lots of time spent playing the Wii (very fun!), some shopping, and for me, some work. :0(

We flew home on Tues, Jan 8th. We first returned to Hartford and meet my family briefly as we had a 4 hr wait between flights. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's with them which is down the street from the airport. It was great to see them all again, even if it was only briefly. Then we flew from Hartford to Tampa. Luckily that flight was basically empty so we brought on both carseats (yeah!) and each had an extra seat too. :0) We all slept a chunk of that flight. Unfortunately, I forgot which way to go on the 275 (I blame it on being tired!) and we headed to St. Pete before turning around and heading home. We arrived home around 11:30 and put the babies immediately to bed. It was a long night as they both woke up a few times!