7th July 2010
After all the waiting and time apart from Carl, the kids and I were finally due to fly to Norway on April 18th. Then the volcano erupted in Iceland, and our flight was delayed by more than a week! Of all the timing!! So, we waited (it was actually nice to have a little extra time to prepare)...then loaded Dick's van with all our tons of luggage and headed to the airport on Monday the 26th, instead.
It was hard flying alone with four kids, but not as hard as I had feared. I had a lot of advice and some handy-dandy travel packets from Traci and books from Marla under my belt...and we survived! We flew nonstop from Salt Lake to Paris. We were lucky to be seated near the back of the plane, close to the bathrooms, with two little rows to ourselves. The greatest difficulty came with our stopover in Paris. We had very little time to make it through passports and security. I was carrying a blasted heavy server in my backpack, with other electronics and items that had to be unloaded, plus all the kids had to remove their shoes, you know...it was crazy. I kept trying to herd and hurry the kids. The boys were troopers, each towing his own little backpack. We barely made it! Then, in Oslo, we had to load our ten huge bags onto carts and navigate them, one by one, out to where Carl was waiting beyond security. Phew! Well, thank goodness it's over!
It was great to be reunited with Carl! I think I was pretty out of it for a while after we arrived, though, what with the time difference, jet lag, and exhaustion. He says he told me things those first couple of days that I have no recollection of hearing :) I'm doing much better now and gaining my bearings. And we're in NORWAY!
These are the only pictures I have of our flight: the kids sleeping on the plane.
