Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Hungary '18..Part 1 "Making it to Hungary"

"You're doing what?!" "Are you crazy?!" These were not uncommon responses when we told people we were going to Hungary with our 2 month old.

When David and I got married I told him that when we had a baby I would want to go to Hungary soon after so my grandma could meet the baby. I also wanted to go when they were fairly little, as it is easier to travel with a sleepy 2 month old than an active 6 month old.

My grandma, aka Anyuka, has been going downhill the last year and a half. When we found out we were expecting, we started looking at tickets right away. In May, we found a great deal and my mom agreed to go with us! Later, my sister Lillian, her husband David, and my brother Andy decided they wanted to come along too. 



It was only 1 day till we were leaving and all I had done, as far as packing is concerned, is put together this pile of gifts and random things on the floor #lastminutepacker




Itinerary

Friday 
After work, David, Reese, and I leave for Chicago and spend the night at a hotel.

Saturday/Sunday
2pm - Be at airport to check in and meet Mom, Andy, Lillian, and David there.
6pm - Departure to Munich
8:30am (7.5hrs later)- Arrive in Munich
11:30am - Departure to Budapest
12:45pm - Arrive in Budapest
1:45pm - Head to Anyuka's
4:45pm - Arrive at Anyuka's!!!!

Now, the time change may have made that a little confusing. In total, we were anticipating that the entire trip would take almost 19 hours from arrival at the Chicago airport to the much-anticipated reunion at Anyuka's house.

Friday morning I still hadn't packed a single thing!!





The forecast was calling for snow, so we were keeping a close eye on the radar. David worked from home on Friday, with the hope that we would be able to leave a little sooner in the day. Things didn't go quite how we had planned. We were very thankful our flight wasn't leaving till the next evening, since we left 5 hours later than we expected!


~ Thank You Jesus Moments Before Even Leaving the Country ~

1.) Anything we forgot we remembered before leaving Wells Co. so we were easily able to turn around.
2.) We only had about 15 minutes of bad weather.
3.) Before leaving I put one last load of clothes in the wash and ended up ruining my favorite shirt. I was sooo bummed. Imagine my excitement when we were 2.5 miles from our hotel and I spotted a Target!
4.) We got to our hotel at 1am Chicago time 😴. We asked if they had a late check out and how much it would cost. Because we got there so late and didn't have to be at the airport till 2, we weren't sure what to do with all the extra time. We were so excited when she said "You can stay till 1pm free of charge."
5.) I ran into Target before our shuttle came and they had the exact shirt I had ruined!!! I love how God cares about even the small things!!

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare! Another Thank You Jesus moment! It turned out we needed that extra time. Since we had purchased our tickets back in May, before Reese was born, I obviously couldn't book his ticket. I had called to make sure we would be able to add him after he was born and they said we could. When November came around, I called and had him added to our reservation as a lap child. When a couple weeks had passed and I hadn't received a confirmation email, I decided to call and see if anything was wrong. Good thing, too, because I discovered once I called that they not only got my email address wrong, but they also had misspelled his name and got his birthday wrong! A 97 year old lap child!! I mean, come on! How does that happen! I was assured that the problems were fixed..and that though I wouldn't see the changes, it was all fixed on TSA's side. Imagine our surprise when we had all kinds of problems with his ticket at the airport. They had to cancel his ticket and issue another one. The lady told us we would have to let them know in Munich. 



Like father, like son




We got checked in and my family met us at the gate, where we realized we were missing the diaper bag 😓! In the craziness of trying to get all our bags, we accidentally left it at security! We were able to board and leave without further incident..for now.. 



I had packed along lots of earplugs to pass out to passengers around us. Reesie did AMAZING!!! He slept 7 hours of the 7.5 hour flight! Thank you Jesus!!!


Oh Munich! The stress you offered! Because of low sleep and a long flight, we totally forgot to tell them in Munich about the problems with Reese's ticket. We were the last in line to board the plane, and when we gave them our boarding passes I remembered about Reese's ticket. "We weren't expecting a baby! You should have come to us right away!!" My family went ahead and boarded. When it looked like it was going to be a little while yet, I sent David ahead so he could get the stroller/carseat checked and the bags stowed. And there I was with my 2 month old, who thankfully was sleeping, waiting for them to figure things out. I could tell they were not happy with me at all! It was one of those times you really wish you spoke the language so you knew what they were saying about you! The whole time I'm thinking "He's a baby!! He's sitting on my lap and it's an hour and half flight, just let us on the plane already!!" I think it was about 20 minutes later when they finally let us board! Imagine my embarrassment when David told me they had announced on the plane that they were delayed "because of a ticketing issue with a woman and her child"!!


Thankfully we all arrived safe and sound in Budapest!!


More to come..someday 😄