Traveling Home

Our travels back home went pretty good. We left a pile of toys and gifts to be mailed back to us and also a bag of clothes that are too small for Linnea and Davin. I can't believe how much she has grown in the short time we were there. Fredrik said it has something to do with the Swedish formula but I think it was just time for a growth spurt. She is now wearing 12-18 month size clothes or size 74 cm in the European sizing. I am not really looking forward to buying more clothes but maybe I can get my mom friends to donate their old kids clothes. ;)

We left Hudiksvall at 9am on the train to Arlanda which the airport near Stockholm, Sweden. Both Olle and Irene accompanied us to Arlanda to help us with all the luggage. This time we had 5 bags to check since we had the booster seat that we bought. We actually had to check the stroller as well so that was disappointing. I think I will skip a big stroller the next time we go and just bring a small umbrella one. Hopefully, in two years Davin will no longer need one! We just didn't use the stroller very much at all while we were in Sweden. It was a good thing that the luggage carts were free at Arlanda and you are allowed to put children in them too. It made it much easier to carry our 5 carry on bags too! Diaper bag, computer bag, my purse/computer bag, Davin's carry on bag and our carry on bag. Somehow I am going to have to figure out how to travel with less STUFF!

Our plane was running 1/2 hour late but that worked out just fine since it took us a while to check in since the reservation I made was a bit screwed up. I don't know what happened but it thought we were 5 people. Somehow, it thought that I had an extra infant! Unfortunately, it meant that we had to get our boarding passes for Copenhagen when we arrived. Security was a lot easier than when we left. They didn't swab my wrist brace this time nor did they search the diaper bag as thoroughly. Davin also understood more what we were doing so it was easy to get him to cooperate. Anyway, even with the delay we still had enough time to get through the passport check, make our potty breaks, change diapers and eat lunch. It's a good thing we decided to eat at the gate since no sooner had Fredrik taken his last bite of sandwich did they call for us to board the plane.

The flight to Copenhagen was very short (about an hour?) but we had a lot of room to spread out. Of course, Davin and Linnea fell asleep but then we had to wake them up when we landed. It was a short 45 minute nap for them. We arrived and found some luggage carts again and they were free too! I love that you don't have to pay for them and it makes having the stroller even less important. We got our boarding passes after waiting in line and we had just a few minutes before boarding began. Again, this was enough time to get food, go potty and buy some candy for Davin. He wanted to buy candy every time he saw a shop. It didn't matter that I already had candy since he always wanted new candy! Well, I managed to find some tiny container of candy which was a big improvement from the other ones that he wanted. They were almost as big as he was!

The flight from Copenhagen was pretty good too. Again, I wished for more sleep but at least Fredrik and Linnea got some. I sat next to Davin again and he didn't sleep at all during this flight. We also forgot to pack a sandwich for him so the only thing he could eat on the flight was bread and drink juice. That meant going potty every 20 or 30 mintues! I did get him to play on his "new" Nintendo DS (it was Irene's that she gave to him) and I might have been able to sleep except for the darn potty breaks. After Linnea took a nap she just wanted Mommy the whole time. We took some walks down the aisles and she had fun visiting people. I saw only one other baby on the plane and they got the row with the bassinet. I am not sure how you reserve that spot but not like it would have helped us much anyway. Linnea only likes sleeping in her car seat so our seats worked out just fine.

Our plane landed in Seattle with no problems. We made our way through the passport check where we needed to wait for our luggage to arrive. It was nice that we didn't have to pay for the carts again and that Davin was able to sit in them while we waited. Everyone was very tired and Davin practically fell asleep on our decent. I forgot to mention that I was starting to feel much better after the flight from Arlanda so I was able to eat most everything. Unfortunately, when we landed in Seattle I started to feel nauseous again. I told Fredrik that I just needed to stay 10,000 ft in the air to feel better. Finally, all our luggage arrived and of course the stroller was the last piece. Then we hauled everything over to customs and dropped off our bags. We needed to have our carry ons searched again and then we went to wait for the luggage again out in the main terminal.

Papa (my dad) was picking us up and he was just circling outside waiting for us to arrive outside of the baggage claim. We did a quick transfer of the kids into the car while Fredrik and Papa collected the luggage. The carts are not free in this area so it took a few trips to get all our bags. Then we headed to Papa's house to drop him off and get something to drink before we headed home. Linnea fell asleep almost immediately while Davin kept himself awake by watching a movie on the way home.

It felt weird but good at the same time to be coming home. It took a bit to adjust to driving my car again and my foot kept wanting to push the clutch in. Irene's car was a stick shift. There are also a LOT more cars here than there are in Sweden. Even at 5pm on a Sunday night there were so many more cars. I also didn't miss stupid drivers either. Someone swerved into my lane at one point and another person almost didn't stop when they were pulling into the road. I forgot how aggressive you have to drive in the USA! It was nice to see the city lights of Seattle but both Fredrik and I commented on how many lights there were! All the hills surrounding the city are lit up when in Sweden, it was just small pockets of where the city was and then it was farms and such between the cities. It was funny because once you leave Seattle, there are less lights and houses that you can see from the freeway but we both know there is more behind the trees. In Sweden, there would just be more forest.

It was good to be home at last. Linnea transferred to her room without much troubles and Davin fell asleep on the stairs while we unloaded the car. We didn't last much longer. Fredrik made tea and we watched a few TV shows and then fell asleep too.