Home Sweet Home!

I've taken a while to post again because I just needed some time to be home.  I'll do some updates soon.

The flight back was a little uneventful.  Louis took his naps and Joe & I watched two movies.  Customs was a breeze.  There was a grouchy flight attendant who was pretty nasty when Louis was crawling on the floor waiting for the bathroom.  She told me the floor was really dirty.  Well, would she rather I hold Louis and make him scream?  And seriously?  Isn't the whole plane pretty germie & gross?  I just smiled and & told her he'd wash.

I didn't get a pic but Louis made another airport friend.  Little Henry was the same age.  He jumped out to scare Louis & then the two of them round around me shreaking for about five minutes.  It was really cute!

Finally a healthy smoothie in the airport.

Louis was SO excited to be home.  He made me read 5 books instead of 3 before naps & bed time and he galloped around for a day or so.

Here he is doing the splits.  No idea where he learned this!

Chillin' on the couch.

I've found him in the basket several times.

Joe and I reflected on the trip a little and here is what we decided.  We are more confident now in traveling overseas with Louis.  I think we could do it on our own next time.  It was nice having my mom & Tom there but we could have handled it on our own.

I think it is easier to travel in Europe with a kid than here.  I felt they were way more relaxed about having Louis involved in our activities.  We never took him to a restaurant or beer garden where he wasn't welcome.  Heck, most had playgrounds outside or toys in the restaurants.  One guy even brought us a huge book of farm animals for him to read.  I never felt like we got glares when he acted out or that people even paid attention to it.

Also, we did not give him any Benadryl, etc on the flight.  It wasn't necessary to make him sleep.  Our flights were scheduled in a way that encouraged him to sleep.

The other thing we would change was less travel time in the car & more on trains, etc.  That way he can at least get up to move around.  He didn't like being in the car for too long.  I also think we should have stayed at least three nights per place to help him adjust.

Overall, I think the trip was successful and I would say DO IT if you are thinking about it.  I always thought having a kid would prevent us from doing the things we loved. Yea, it changes things and we can't do stuff without some planning.  But I want to keep doing fun things and making sure Louis grows up learning how to behave on a plane or in a restaurant, etc.  And there is no way to do that if we don't try.  Happy travels!