Ireland Part 1: The Arrival

The exception that proves the rule: a sunny, clear day in Ireland!

As you probably know about a year and a half ago Chris's parents moved to Ireland. It was intentional - not forced by circumstances - and they are thoroughly enjoying it there. In fact, they are in the process of buying a house there. So this year we decided to go visit them. This is the last year before Jacob starts kindergarten and the last year we don't have to worry about the school calendar. This meant we had an additional opportunity: go in the fall, leave the boys with nana and grandpa and spend a couple days in Munich during Oktoberfest. 

The preparations were intimidating. The boys have always been great travelers, but they had not ever traveled internationally. We had three flights to get there: San Francisco to LA, LA to London (Heathrow) and Heathrow to Dublin. At that point we were picked up by Chris's parents where we piled into a rental vehicle for the two hour drive to Oranmore where they live. It was a 26 hour travel day and since it started at noon we were awake longer than that. We all got some sleep on the plane but it wasn't a lot and it was the quality of sleep you get on a plane. 

The trip went smoothly up until Heathrow. We had been warned that it is a bit of a maze and you have to go through several security checks even though you never leave the secure area. So we were prepared. But at the first security check my messenger bag was pulled. That bag contained only clothes, books, paperwork, pull-ups, and wet wipes. I had been told on a previous trip (the last time my bag was pulled) that sometimes wet wipes show up as a large container of liquid so when the agent started going though my bag I told him that must be what it was. He said that should never happen because it "shows up orange" and if the bag was pulled over wet wipes someone was getting slapped. Sure enough he goes through the bag and finds nothing. He pulls out the wet wipes and runs it back through and hands the bag back to me saying "I'm off to slap someone now" - all, of course, in his very proper sounding British accent. We were working our way through the maze when we realized something. On the flight we had been offered "flight cards" - basically customs cards. The flight attendants told us we only needed to fill one out if we were leaving the airport. If we were connecting to a different flight we did not need to fill one out. THEY LIED. Should you ever fly through Heathrow do yourself a favor and take the flight card. Fill it out during the flight. I mean you are just sitting there anyway. If you don't you may just end up having to fill out four separate cards (one per person) in block lettering while sitting at passport control. And your children may choose that precise moment to lose their minds. After all they have been cooped up and haven't slept much. Maybe you won't be traveling with kids but still - fill out the cards on the plane. If you don't need them then you wasted a couple minutes while you were stuck on a plane. If you do need it you will have it ready and won't have to waste time filling it out while trying to figure out the maze. 

In any case, I had the boys run back and forth off to the side of the line while Chris filled out the forms. We proceeded through more security checks - including having our pictures - and got to the terminal an hour before the flight. They hadn't set a gate yet so we sat in the main area and got out books. I proceeded to start an email to my parents saying we had made it that far when out of nowhere Jacob threw up. Thankfully Heathrow not only has good signage, but also wonderful people in purple jackets whose only job is to help you. They got someone to clean up, we got Jacob cleaned up - luckily he didn't really mess up his clothes - an headed for the next plane. Alex fell asleep at the gate and woke up only after we landed. It was dark and rainy when we landed and, of course, we still had a two hour drive. Jacob threw up a few more times over the next couple days but we think it was more congestion than food. Alex had a similar problem the second night but things calmed down quickly after that. 

What I was not prepared for at all was the toll that jet lag would take on the boys. It was hard to tell if I was jet lagged or just exhausted - I slept just fine but I slept really late. But both of them woke up sick at various times and when they weren't sick they still woke up at 1am wanting to know when it would be day. They finally fell back to sleep around 4. And Alex was a force to be reckoned with. I am hereby replacing the phrase "stubborn as a mule" with "stubborn as a jet lagged two year old". They say the best cure for jet lag is sunshine but if you've ever been to Ireland you know the problem with that. It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful - but not that sunny.  Other than that time and routine are the best cures. Chris and I left for Munich on Tuesday morning (after 3 nights in Ireland) and Chris's parents reported that the boys slept well, ate well, and seemed to have adjusted. Thank goodness! I was starting to wonder if we would get the chance to see Ireland outside of Chris's parents' house. We did - in those first two days - visit a couple playgrounds, walk around Oranmore, and have dinner in Galway. Also in Galway, we went to a pub and experienced a "trad session" - musicians coming together and playing traditional Irish music. We didn't stay long because we wanted to get the boys back at a reasonable hour but it was very cool.