Steps 57-5,000

If you're reading this blog because you genuinely want to know all 5,000 steps we took to get to Sweden...sorry. :(  Steps 57- 4,995 mostly involve ignoring your blog, tearing your house apart, checking airline regulations, stuffing vacuum seal bags full of clothes, and praying that some poor, unsuspecting TSA agent doesn't try to search your 49.7 pound suitcase.  Thankfully that didn't happen.

We've been in Sweden for almost a week, now.  The house in Sala is unpacked.  There's a bit of food in the kitchen.  Clothes are hanging on the line.  And 3 kids are simultaneously napping...at an acceptable time to be napping.  So it must be time to finally blog from Sweden!

First, a little catch up:

Step 4,996: Hop a JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh to Boston.  We were greeted at the counter with the pleasant news that we could check 2 bags per person for free, since this was the Icelandic Air policy.  We'd been told that when you travel internationally the policies form the first airline carry through to subsequent airlines.  Evidently, it's the international flight's policies that count.  Scott said we should have packed more.  I (the main packer) stared at him briefly.  We quickly rearranged a few items to check 1 more bag and lighten up the carry-ons a bit.

The kids were pretty excited about the air travel, which helped immensely!  Here they are at the start of their big adventure at about 11 AM Pittsburgh time:

The first flight went well. The kids got their pilot wings.  It was Adrienne's first airplane flight, but of course Roanin and Cora needed their wings when they saw Adrienne's.  Roanin was introduced to the wonder that is silly putty.  Thankfully, the wonderful grandmotherly type who sat next to him (he was across the aisle from me) borrowed part of her husband's newspaper so Roanin could experience it's full glory.  I forgot that essential piece of equipment.  Scott was smart enough to make Cora go to the bathroom in the airplane lav, and then mention the huge, loud sucking action it would make when it flushed.  She didn't use an airplane lav for the rest of the trip.

 One flight down and they're still excited enough to be dancing.

Step 4,997: Airport security Round 2.  The bad news in Boston was that we had to go through security again.  Pittsburgh security was a breeze.  Shoe stayed on.  Electronics stayed packed.  All Vrtiskas and bags zipped through.  Boston wasn't quite so breezey.  Shoes had to come off.  Bags had to be unpacked.  When we got through security in Pittsburgh we filled up water bottles and received several on the airplane.  We tried to dump all of them down a nearby water fountain in Boston, but we missed a couple.  So those bags had to be searched.  The TSA agent was trying to be helpful and was going to get a test strip to check the liquid in the water bottle, but I was finally able to convince him to just dump it for me instead of involving more TSA agents in what was quickly becoming our family's fiasco.  Trying to juggle 3 kids, claiming bags, reshoeing, and not letting them touch the precious bag search table for fear of a full-on pat down was a bit much.  We thought we had everything and everyone safely out of the security zone, when the very helpful TSA agent had to call me back to claim my purse.  Uh, yeah...I was planning to bring that with me.

Step 4,998: Fly from Boston to Iceland.  Icelandic air was awesome.  I don't have any recent
international airline experience to compare it to, but it was great.  They handed each of the kids one of these cute little backpack/blanket swag bags and a bottle of Icelandic water.  We'd seen the same bottled water in Giant Eagle a few weeks before.  Roanin was confused about why you would buy it in the US when you could just go to Iceland to get it...umm. We might have created a problem with the kids' distance perspectives by taking this trip. 

They read this book during the Childrens' Story at church awhile back about telling people that Jesus loves them. 

It emphasized that we should spread the word everywhere by juxtaposing Iceland and Timbuktu.  Roanin's response was: "I'm going to Iceland!"  Faraway point fail.

As thankful as I was for the in-flight movie screens, I wish the kids had spent a bit more time looking out the windows during take off and landing.  Here's Cora's version of what she and Roanin did most of the 5 hour flight to Iceland. Headphones - check.  Snack bag - check.  Neck pillow - check.  Adrienne was more rambunctious.  We managed to get OJ, hot coffee, and Icelandic water spilled in various volumes during the flight.  Very productive. 
She was a pretty happy traveler, though.  Our biggest problem was that she wanted to be dancing in the aisle most of the time. 
This is what Roanin and Cora missed outside their windows as we went in for a landing in Iceland at about 11 PM, Icelandic time.





 We had about 2 hours to spend at the Iceland airport.  We went through customs, which was much easier than security, thank goodness.  Scott did notice that the customs agent used a liberal amount of hand sanitizer after processing our family.  huh.  We took in the art:




(Notice the midnight sun through the skylight.)  Then sat down for a we-made-it-to-Europe celebration snack.  But first, Adrienne tipped her chair backward and smacked her head on the hard tile floor, so we had to get ice in Iceland.  It seemed appropriate.  Here's the proof that we had a snack in Iceland: Just in case your Icelandic is as rough as mine, here's further evidence:

Isn't airport food awful?  geeze.







Step 4,999: Fly from Iceland to Sweden.  We left Iceland around 2 AM local time.  Here's what Roanin and Cora missed out of their windows this time:

The sun never truly set, as if flying across 6 time zones wasn't disorienting enough.  The flight to Sweden was about 3 hours.  The girls had finally had enough of traveling toward the end of the flight and cried/fussed/screamed for half an hour.  I find 30 minutes out of 12 hours of traveling perfectly acceptable.  They all finally passed out just in time to miss a first glimpse of Sweden.  

 

This could pass for a view of our neighborhood.

 

Step 5,000: Arrive in Stockholm!  Wahoo!  We landed at about 6:30 AM local time, 12:30 AM Pittsburgh time.  All flights and lay overs went as scheduled and all our bags made the transfers.  Success!  We celebrated by playing with giant chanterelle mushrooms in the kids' play space.