Baseball and Batman

Today's conversation on the way home from school:

Mom: What did you guys do at school today?
Izzie: Gym and music....no art.
Mom: Oh, that's cool. What did you do in gym (side note: I didn't know they had a separate gym class until today!)
Bubbie: Baseball
Izzy: No we didn't!
Mom: Did you play with bats and balls?
Izzy: We didn't play baseball. We hit balls against the wall. Mine were red.
Bubbie: It was baseball!
Mom: Did you use bats or tennis rackets with the balls?
Izzy: Tennis rackets, like daddy's but smaller for kids. Mine was purple.
Bubbie: Mom! You can't use bats...they are for batman!

More on driving - merging and traffic

Driving from WFP (outside of Rome in a "industrial park") to home today, I ran into what I have learned is the typical Roman traffic issue....or so I thought.

Most highways and large busy streets have very short merge lanes (when I say short, think two car lengths), which combined with Italians' inability to slow down, makes merging challenging and scary. Every time I am merging I think of my good college friend, Sarah Montgomery (I hope you are reading this!) who would yell at merges in LA, "its like a zipper....one car in front of the other..." She's right...how hard is it to let one car in front, ensuring traffic moves forward? Instead, these poor merge lanes (which end in walls, fences, sidewalks, buildings) end up being horrid traffic nightmares during rush hour. There is a particularly poor one on the highway from WFP to our house, which combines a major turn in the road with a merge, where traffic inevitably backs up for at least a mile or so regardless of the time of day. Near misses, scrapes with death and other such horrid moments are common at this particular merge and this morning was no exception, with the highlight being the man behind me (yes, I am the only person besides my husband who uses my mirrors in Rome) crossing himself as he changed lanes. Luckily, we are in the center of Christianity, and crossing oneself seems to be a common way of avoiding crashes, and it worked for him (no, don't look or slow down while driving!).

So, after making it through this merge, I happily picked up speed with the rest of the traffic, thinking about what exciting thing I would do today. As I drove along and got closer to our exit, traffic again got bad....hmm....I don't remember there being a bad merge here, must be another deadly accident (tragically another problem with Roman traffic). As I slowly moved forward with the other traffic, I was shocked to see a little bird limping around the road, with everyone making room for it...hence slowing down the traffic! Everyday a new thing to learn.....

Kids, Friends and School

Everyday on the ride home from school I get the newest update on our friends at school. Izzy, who was petrified at first, now has 4 friends ("the other Isabella", Alex, Arabella and "the other girl"), and seems to really enjoy going to school. She is definitely part of a little group of American girls. We invited Alex and her mom over last week for our first playdate, and while Alex is a girl and "normally plays with me" (said with a small, pensive sad face), she chose to run rampant with Bubbie around and around the house. After eating some cookies (no, not home made....I went to the local Pasteleria to practice Italian!), drinking some juice, running around the house, running naked in the house, emptying all of the play plates and food onto the back patio table, and then having a long discussion about pooping at other people's houses, Alex and her mom had to leave. Alex's mom had the brilliant idea of hosting some of the Americans and Brits stuck in Rome due to the volcano for dinner....nice idea!

Bubbie and friends is a different story. While he entered school full force, and has no problem running up to kids and starting to play with them, he hasn't made friends yet. Yesterday it seems he got in a fight with the "big boys", and while he stood up for himself, it didn't help his friend-making ability. Sadly, this lack of friends, and the fact that he feels the "big boys are after me", has made him not like school. The challenge is that most boys in his class are Italian and as he explained "I don't understand them, so it makes me sad".....What to do?

Communists in Rome?

In case you still believe Europe is full of Communist Pinkos.....

So, if you missed it, the car is a "Pinko" spelled with pink letters....

Off to visit Granny and Grandad in Abingdon!

We are off this weekend to visit granny and grandad this weekend....the kids are happy and looking forward to the plane ride! They "play" airplane alot, with Izzy packing her bags with food, toys and clothes (such the practical one!) and Bubby flying the plane! Hopefully this excitement will spill over into the real plane ride!

Shopping in Rome

Now that I have somewhat conquered my initial fear of traveling out of the house and can speak survival Italian, I have started to move away from the large super markets for our shopping. This is really where the fun is, as there are so many little shops and outdoor markets to explore. I started with the small supermarket near the kids school, which even though it is a supermarket, is tiny and only has a small handful of what we need for the family. Then, I ventured to the cookie store down the street....very important. Decent little sugar cookies, the chocolate meringues are the best (voted on by the wondertwins....hands down the best), but very nice and patient woman who puts up with me trying more and more Italian each time I go. Next was the little fruit and vegetable stand by the kids school (all of this is in an effort to miss the morning traffic back home....if I don't do this it takes me 20 minutes to get the kids to school and 1 hour to get home....and my doctor has restricted - wisely - my caffeine intake). Lovely woman, with lovely freshly picked, seasonal fruits and veggies. I've noticed that the prices have gone down the more I go....I wonder what my ultimate level will be? I then found the organic market....lovely, and with multiple types of yeast and rising agents! Ha, I knew there had to be a logical place to find such things....This weekend we found the pork butcher and procuitto store....spent almost 100 dollars on cut ham!!!! Yummy....even Izzy tried a bit! Eventually, I will spend the majority of my mornings looking for the freshest ingredients for dinner....too bad I have no idea how to cook!!!

More on the driving saga- Dangerous Pedestrians

Pedestrians can be just as dangerous as the drivers in this fair city. It is difficult for me to decide which stellar story to tell first....the crazy man with a broom, or the suicidal gold diggers?

Yesterday, we are driving the kids to school, as we do every morning. As I've noted, people drive insanely fast on our road...one that is over a thousand years old and has many tourists idly walking up it where there are really only sporadic sidewalks. Down the street from us lives a little old man and his wife. At first they were stand-offish when we walked by to get to the parks. Lately, he has begun to say Bongiorno or Salve when I walk by. But, yesterday, when driving to school the little old man let yet another side of his personality out. I pulled out of our driveway in front of another car (as one must do on our street in the morning), slowing down that car considerably. As I drove past the little old man with a broom he chased me with the broom, eventually catching up to me and hitting the car with the broom!!!! Now, I guess he thought I was going to fast, but this begs the question, if I was going too fast, would he have been able to catch me?

A couple of weeks ago, Richard and I were driving with the kids. As we neared the Appia to turn towards our house, a man jumped in front of our car from no where....luckily I was able to swerve out of the way, and didn't hit him. As I drove (shaking) away, Richard explained that there are people here that are so desperate that they jump in front of cars to get injured and hopefully receive insurance money. That is desperate and sad...and I was hoping that was the last time this happened. But, no...last week I was driving by myself on a fairly busy street. Luckily there were not many cars around, as when I approached the stop light a man jumped right in front of the car....literally almost hitting it! I swerved and jammed on the breaks, and luckily everyone was ok.....Sad and desperate....

Bagels, bread and rising agents!

So, after struggling with the one word "lievito" for the past month, I have finally figured out the small (yet very important) differences between yeast, baking powder and baking soda! For some reason, maybe my poor Italian is to blame, the Italian language only has one word for all rising agents. If you have ever tried to use active yeast in place of baking powder or baking soda in place of baking powder, you will understand why this is a HUGE problem (yes, next to world starvation and people not being able to access clean water). I've made flat scones, very bready banana bread (yuck...trust me) and flat biscuits. But, I now think I both understand the difference in English and more importantly which brands to buy for each in Italian. Based on this, I made a fabulous White Amish bread yesterday that no one will eat.....except me! And I am now boiling my first ever bagels....I'll update on the progress after I try one this afternoon:)

UPDATE: The bagels were YUMMY and as my husband said this morning "Lovely, we are out of bagels!"....ha, ha, ha. I think he'll have to wait a couple of days to get some more.

Driving in Rome

As many of you heard, I am petrified driving in Rome. I'm not sure which part is more petrifying....our 1998 Honda Civic that has many "issues" or the drivers or maybe the small streets, but whatever it is, I'm petrified. Some of my favorite moments since arriving include:

--Noting that many of the motorino drivers actually have their cell phone jammed between their ear and their helmet, and are talking on the phone while they drive on the wrong side of the road to get around traffic. Many of them kindly honk at you with a "toot toot" or flash their lights to remind you that they are there as you drive head on into them. No, they don't move over into their lane.....

--Having to drive around a man who was moving his car from the autoshop, with hood up, down the street the wrong way in search of a parking spot. So, put another way, I am driving to get the kids, and out of nowhere a car comes at me, with his hood up (i.e. he can't see out of his windshield). When he notes that I am there (breaking like crazy!), he backs up and waves as I pass.

--Having a car passing me on the left, as I am trying to turn left into my driveway. Please note our driveway is a small alley-like turn off of the very narrow, walled Appia Antica, where there should be two lanes, but the tourists and buses help drivers make it into a three lane road. This person tried to cut me off as I was turning. Thankfully, I stopped before the crash occurred.

There are so many more, I made a video of my drive to the supermarket and to get the kids from school for your viewing pleasure. My fear is....one day this will be normal and I won't be able to drive in the US again!

Parking is fun too, and I will do another whole foto gallery on fun parking!

The saga of Batman

Bubbie thinks he's Batman, though he hadn't seen anything but a birthday card and a t shirt with Batman before yesterday afternoon. He leaves the house with a jacket hood over his head (cape) and a pair of purple toddler sunglasses (mask) on everyday for the past two days. This morning on the way to school he told me about two mean girls at school (the 3, 4 and 5 year olds are mixed on the playground). When I asked him why they were mean, he told me they didn't believe him when he told them his name. Of course I asked, "what did you tell them your name is? " "Batman". Hmmmmm.......We then discussed what to do the next time he saw the girls. When we got to school Ms. Ana said "Hi Batman". Hmmmm......I am beginning to see the problem. He wore the jacket and glasses all day and all night, and has them stored next to his bed in case he needs to help someone in the middle of the night. So tonight when Carmen and I were giving the kids dinner, and Bubbie didn't want to eat his vegetables, I told him Batman could fly only when he ate his vegetables.....to this Bubbie replied "Mommy, I am a pretend Batman, and I can't fly, so I'm not going to eat my vegetables".

Gelato on Saturday Afternoon

Closing and opening times of shops, museums and restaurants in Rome are somewhat challenging to learn to the new comer. Some shops are open straight through at set hours from morning till night (the newer shops...more "modern"), while others stick to the old ways opening sometime in the morning, closing in the middle of the day, and then reopening at night. Then others open from Tuesday through Sunday, closing on Monday, while others are closed mid-day on Saturday, and others all day Sunday. Since posting hours is not necessarily done systematically, it is a "hit or miss" experience going to small shops, especially on the weekends. So, today when we decided to go to a shop to purchase Richard a new watch, we were disappointed to find that not only was the shop closed, but it had no hours posted. After the initial disappointment, we decided to go to a kids park to show Daddy. This beautiful little kids park has a lovely playground set against the wall that our house is near (see photo!). Today we learned that chasing pigeons at this lovely little park is by far more exciting than playing on the kids play equipment. Izzy was on a pigeon hunt, trying to catch a big one (read this like you would read the "Going on a Bear Hunt" book)....Bubbie was trying to catch one to help it and take it to his veterinary. After 20 minutes of terrifying the pigeon population in this little park (helped by others in the "under 5" crowd), Izzy let me know she was too sweaty to catch one. When asked if she wanted some gelato, she said...."Since I couldn't catch a pigeon, I guess gelato will do".....(see next picture).

Priceless: Four year old quotes

So, after spending much more time with the kids than I had previously done, I have realized the beauty and comedy of 4 year old quotes. I've decided to start a running list of priceless ones on this blog....both to remember, share and embarrass them when they are older!!! Today's installation goes something like this (we are sitting in the car, waiting for Daddy to finish dropping off the laundry):

Mommy: Please stop kicking the seat.
Bubbie: Why?
Mommy: Because you could break the seat, and remember, we are borrowing this car.
Bubbie: Why?
Mommy: Because we are waiting for our cars to be finished.
Bubbie: But, I'm making your car mommy.
Izzie: Is it done?
Mommy: Please stop kicking the seat.
Izzie: Why?
Mommy: Because I'm the mommy, and I asked you to stop.
Izzie: Why?
Mommy: No more asking why.
Bubbie: Why?
Mommy: Quiet time.
Bubbie: What's wrong with why mommy?
Mommy: Quiet time.
Bubbie: Why? Is why bad?

Thankfully, Daddy came back at that point....
Stay tuned for the next priceless moment from the world of the wonder twins.

Working from Home

Working from home seems to be a difficult option, even with Carmen staying with the kids on the other side of the house! Ethan keeps coming in with various complaints, from the average (my sister hit me, Carmen won't play my game, etc.) to a variety of unusual ones (purple monkey won't play with me, I have to make a phone call and its too loud out there, I want to work, but they won't let me). I haven't figured out how Purple Monkey isn't playing, but he is currently in time out for the mis-adventures of his owner. Poor guy. Subsequently, Ethan has come in to request the release of my prisoner....to which I obligied but relayed the message that Purple Monkey kindly requests that Ethan be good so he doesn't go back into timeout. I explained that Purple Monkey is sad when he's in timeout, to which Ethan asked...how? Purple Monkey isn't real, so how come he is sad? Selective pretend play.....

Another point of challenge on this "working from home" option is the office, which is currently not only the box storage room (who thought it was a good idea to bring everything from the basement? And did we really need 15 glass vases? Oh...that is my fault!) but it doesn't seem to have a working outlet, so no electronic equipment for me:)

Purple Monkey

In posting today all of the previous thoughts and writings, I realized that I haven't really provided a good essence of being with the kids all day long. While some of the together time is tiring, frustrating, and overwhelming, some of it is absolutely hilarious. Take this evening, for example. We have a lovely Bolivian woman, Carmen, who helps take care of the kids. Tonight was our date night, and so, there I am getting Richard at the train station, where I give Carmen a call to let her know something I forgot. Ethan takes the phone and tells me that Carmen said I was going to kill him. Uh oh...I hear Carmen in the background saying..."la llave.."and realize that Ethan has lost (for the millionth time in less than 24 hours) the key to our new mailbox (which we haven't figured out how to hang yet, and so has become a toy!). Ethan then explains that purple monkey is locked inside the mailbox, and without the key, purple monkey can not come out. Carmen gets back on the phone to explain that they are searching for it, as I am laughing in hysterics...as fortunately, I know that I have the other key, which I have secretly put away for a situation such as this one. I'm not sure what this says about me, 1) I knew this would happen, and yet Ethan play with the mailbox anyways, 2) I was prepared and hid a key, and 3) forgot to let Carmen in on the whole thing! Upon getting home, I find that Carmen has miraculously gotten purple monkey out, without the key, yet the mailbox is no longer a toy.....

This is after a night during which Ethan decided going to sleep was over rated, so pestered me with unanswerable questions. For some reason (maybe the Planet Earth videos they have been watching?) almost all of the questions were related to animals, monkeys in particular. My favorite: "Mommy, have you ever seen a real purple monkey?" to which I answered "no", to which he responded "me neither, but I keep looking!".....Oh to love a purple monkey.

Quick Update - End of Feb

We had a nice week in Bormio last week with Richard's family, where Izzy was too scared to learn to ski (thanks to a rough, lady's-man Italian teacher!) but Ethan loved it. After a long drive home (through Pisa!) we arrived this week to many activities. I visited the first school for the kids, and while it is not the loving, beautiful environment of their last school, it seems pretty good (http://www.ambrit-rome.com). If all works out well, the kids will be enrolled by the end of the month. The even bigger news is that we received our shipment of stuff from the US the same day we received our new IKEA couch and hutch! Needless to say the house is a disaster, but at least everything arrived safely! The experience of the guys unloading in this house, with the poor dogs locked in the bathroom (the only safe spot for them!) and getting the items from the 20 foot container into a "smaller" truck and up our "driveway" is one for a time when the boxes aren't looming.....but, wow, what an adventure. Hopefully this evening when Richard comes home there will be a bit more sanity!

Gardening in Rome

So, the other day I asked the woman who owns the house if I could start a small vegetable garden in one of the corners of the backyard. The response was great...of course! No problem, but you could just help my lazy husband fix his up...he has one in our yard that he hasn’t done anything with in years! She asks if I had done a garden before, I reassure her that I have, but haven’t in a few years.

The next day as I was getting ready to go out, we happen to see her husband, who asks me if I know anything about gardens and if I would like to see his. Of course...so down we go to his garden, which is at the bottom of a large hill next to the soccer (football!) pitch. Oh, and of course you have to pass the pit to burn dry garden trash. It hasn’t been tended to in years (he explains he has a back problem and cant work the garden), and has a rotting pile of "compost" next to it. Hmmmm....there are three areas that are separated by old bricks, with rocky soil clay-like soil. Weeds abound, almost choking out the artichoke, onions, garlic and fava bean plants that still exist. The discussion that followed was precious, and probably not replicable. He proceeds to ask if I know what I am doing, explains how the garden works (i.e. which plants are acceptable and where, and how to apply the compost, and which plants are boring -- strawberries and melon -- and where I can get acceptable seeds). I get a lecture on not planting "house spices" (i.e. basil, rosemary, sage, etc) in the actual garden, but near the kitchen for easy access. Basically, I am allowed to clean up his garden and maintain it for him, maybe adding salad greens and definitely adding tomatoes (only if he approves of the seeds). To assist, he walked me around to all of the hiding spots for his gardening tools. Apparently, he likes to keep them out in plain view, but his wife puts them away. Too much information on the status of this relationship! Wow....much more complicated in ways I didnt expect (I was expecting pests and bugs, no composte, etc) but the space is better than our back yard so I thought we should give it a try. I agreed to start working on the garden (to this I was reminded that the growing season here is much different than in the US, and come March I am already too late!).

So, today was one of the first sunny days (better said, sunny mornings...raining this afternoon) since this discussion. The kids and I went out to the garden to assess the situation and see how much work it is really going to be. I started with the artichoke side, getting rid of all of the weeds that I could by hand, turning the compost pile a bit, and loosening the dirt around the artichoke plants and the area for the potential salad greens. I added some of the better looking compost for kicks! The kids were excited at first, pulling weeds with me, sword fighting with the bamboo posts for the tomatoes, exploring the old shed, but quickly got tired and bored. It was a fun morning, ending in dirty hands, muddy pants and a huge hunger that we fed with BLTs (without the L and T for Izzy)!

More to come on the progress of this garden...it will be a miracle if anything grows!! Any advise on growing and tending artichokes, onion and fava beans welcome!

Our Roman Neighbors

So, now that I have a moment with the kids asleep and access to email, I thought I would share a couple of interesting things. The restaurant we went to our second night (and our neighbors to the east) is a historical site (of course...what isn't in Rome?)....here is their website (www.anticaroma.it). The photos in the photo gallery look pretty much like the inside...we ate in the room with the arch, and had a lovely converstation throughout dinner with the owners son, who happens to be a fanatic of Harley Davidsons! Our house is literally across the street from the catacombes of san callisto (http://www.catacombe.roma.it/) which has sheeps grazing above them, loud sheep that do not like the rain! We are near the San Sabastian Gate of the Wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Celio_-_Porta_san_Sebastiano_1973.JPG), which makes a great landmark when I am learning my way around! And surrounding us is the newly created Parco Regional dell' Appia Antica (http://www.parcoappiaantica.it/it/index.asp)...we are about 150 meters up from the cross roads of the Via Appia Antica and Via Ardentina (on the Appia). Richard and I run along the Viale Caffarella, a beautiful dirt road behind our house through the Caffarella valley.

Day Seven: The Beach

After a long day of shopping and exploring grocery stores and learning how mall electronic stores function, our friend Nicola invited the family to join him and his kids to the beach. It turns out to be quite close, a mere 30 minutes from our house (with no traffic) and fairly easy to get to. Forgetting that today is Valentine’s Day (aren’t we all romantics!), we decide to head to a restaurant Nicola knows about near a public beach. We get there and the sun that had begun to sneak through the clouds has squarely gone back into hiding, leaving us a chilly, damp day to explore the beach. The kids romp around, learning that Nicola’s kids’ Italian and French can not communicate with our kids English. Nicola’s son Natan is an avid collector of snail shells, and quickly finds the snails hiding spot near our pile of stuff. The gents go off to the restaurant to see what our wait time will be for some fresh seafood, and find that all of the tables are booked through the afternoon…Valentine’s Day! Meanwhile, the kids get into much mischief and it begins to sprinkle.

Luckily, Nicola’s Italian is quite a bit better than ours and he finds that the restaurant has snacks, including fresh procuitto crudo paninis, which we all happily eat under a palm umbrella in the rain. While not the sunny Roman beach experience we were anticipating, a successful romp in the sand, exploration of places for future adventures and a nice time out of the house!

Day Four: The Roman Snow Storm

We woke up this morning to snow…snow in Rome? Really? This was the same day that DC woke up to an additional 20” of snow following their existing 30” on the ground….some might say we brought it with us….they would be wrong! So, after turning the heat up in our thermically unprepared house (two rooms of metal lined, one pane windows great for the summer heat) and making sure the kids had their sweaters on, we watched in wonder as the snow kept falling. This wasn’t small, dry flakes, but the large, wet ones. At first they melted on contact (helped by the 50F day we had the previous day). As the snow continued, it started to stick! The dogs went crazy, and we saw all of our neighbors and their kids leave their homes in wonder….playing in the snow until the thunder starting to rumble and lightening could be seen in the sky! What an incredible storm.

When Richard came home that night he let us know that a Siberian cold front had passed through, leaving the memory of snow. It had been the first time in 25 years that Rome had seen snow! Good thing it didn’t stick, as there aren’t any snow plows in town or any surrounding towns!

Day Two: Beating Jetlag

After the first day, consisting of waking up (except for poor dad) at 11am and attempting to make it through the day with grumpy twins, we are successfully close to a schedule today. While Izzy refuses to eat anything….from scrambled eggs to “baby hotdogs” to chicken nuggets (they aren’t the same mommy!), Ethan is enjoying the culinary adventure of being in Rome.

And, how, might you ask, is Mommy holding up? After a evening of deciding that I was really having a panic attack and not a heart attack, and subsequent poor sleep, I seem to be rallying. That is to say, I haven’t had today’s panic attack….waiting anxiously for it to come (ha, ha, ha).

On this rainy, cold day, the kids decided that we should have a cooking project, utilizing the ripening lemons on the lemon tree growing next to the 100 year old Wisteria. Each kid had picked a lemon on our day of arrival with pure joy and happiness that comes with extreme jetlag and over stimulation. So, we used these lemons to make lemonade…..noting, of course, that we don’t have a strainer, nor a juicer, nor a pitcher. So, we made a mess of the dining room table, mixing lemons, sugar and hot waterJ Currently, as we take our first nap in Rome (I’m not tired mommy!) the lemon “popsicles” are freezing in the freezer.

Departure

While we both knew the departure would challenge even us, I don’t think either of us was prepared for the disaster that it was. Thursday night before our Saturday departure a snow storm of historic proportions was predicted for Friday and Saturday. At first we both felt it was an exaggeration typical of Washington DC weathermen. But, upon waking up on Friday, radios were humming with the news of this storm, the magnitude and more importantly the school and government early closures. Alas, at 1pm, two hours before the kids’ school was to close on their last day, the snow started to fall. With half of our chores done, we retreated to our hotel room with ample supplies to last through to Sunday. We also changed our flights to leave on Sunday….which most people predicted would not take off.

On Saturday we awoke to over 20” of snow….through which Richard had to tramp to let the dogs out and feed! The snow continued through the day, ending as I headed out to walk from the hotel to our house to attend to the dogs. The hotel ran out of food, and no business (except 7-11!) was open all day…thankfully we had enough food for three meals. Granted, not healthy, hot meals, but meals nonetheless.

The excitement really began Sunday, when we headed to the airport at 7am to pick up a large van for the dogs. After a slow, icy, slushy ride in a small Honda Accord, we successfully completed the first phase of our departure. Richard took the van to our house, ensured that everyone had marching orders for the upcoming week, while I raced back to the hotel room to quickly stuff everything we owned for the next 2-3 months into 8 bags (and two car seats!!!!). Unfortunately, I didn’t pay too much attention to the location of critical items, such as cords, electronics, etc.

Richard had wisely lined up two friends willing to drive in the snow (historically the second largest snow fall in DC recorded history!!!) with our 8 bags, two car seats, babes and mom to the airport. This is where it got fun!

Imagine, two huge dogs in crates, two kids in strollers, and 8 bags (and two car seats!) trying to line up at business class check in….what a site! Of course, in DC the porters wouldn’t help, as we had parked one door down from United’s counter….so, we had to find ones that would at least load up and bring the stuff inside. Since the very nice (ha!) lady at business class wouldn’t help me line up, and Richard was returning the van, and his friends were parking their cars, there I stood with the kids jumping up and down, the dogs wailing loudly, and the bags piled high! Eventually, Richard and his friends returned to help move the items to the line, where I stood to check us in. While the business class woman insisted I could check the dogs in at that line, we quickly realized that there was a completely different line for animal check in. Richard raced to line up there with the dogs (ok, so race is pushing the definition of the word a bit), where a large group was slowly checking in and there was one woman with a small dog in front of him. Two hours to go until the flight left. After an hour waiting in this line, which didn’t move, and having me freak out because we still had to go through security, Richard asked if he could move to the front of the line. The woman at the counter agreed. After a lengthy, slow process of placing all of the paperwork we had brought onto small cards, hanging the cards on the crates, placing a plethora of stickers on the crates, and then agreeing to let the dogs out one last time, the crates were checked. With 30 minutes until our flight took off, we were told the crates were not appropriate for airline travel…..now what???? United kindly (ha!) sold us two new crates, which we had to pay for with cash (find an ATM!) and assemble while in line. No wonder the line moved so slowly.

After finishing this adventure (thankfully Richard’s friends were kind enough to stay and assist!) we ran to the security line. Luckily we got to stand in the business class line….unluckily, the line wasn’t moving! With 10 minutes until the flight was to leave, the line started to move, and we got through as our flight was to take off. Fortunately, we saw the board as we ran by with strollers flying, that said our flight was delayed due to “weather”…..allowing us to go to the bathroom and get some snacks. We finally got boarded onto our flight about 1 hour late (thankfully), only to wait another hour. Towards the end of the hour, a nice woman from the ground crew came on board to let us know that Max was on board…no problems. What about Meghan we asked….uh oh. Meghan was not on board….and the woman thought she might be the dog just boarded on the Brussels flight…oh god. After a nerve splitting 20 minutes, the woman returned to reassure us that Meghan had been on board, no problem. And, so the flight begins in business class (no movie service!!!!).