We arrive in Germany...

Our flight left at 12:45pm from Tulsa on Sunday.  It took two separate cars to get Matt, Kellan, and I and our 12 bags, 2 strollers, Pack N Play and car seat to the airport.  We off-loaded most of these when we checked in, but carried quite a few with us (2 carry-on suitcases, a duffle bag, two back packs, a diaper bag, stroller and car seat) throughout the rest of our journey.

We made it through security (which we mistakenly thought would be the hard part) with ease.  I snapped a photo of K while Matt was gathering our things back together.  K looked at all of our luggage and told us we were crazy.

Fortunately, FedEx was kind enough to fly us over in Business Class on Delta.  That made for an incredibly enjoyable flight.  The first flight was from Tulsa to Atlanta, and K did great.  We read books, played with bottles and had fun looking out the window.  He fell asleep promptly upon landing in Atlanta.

I didn't take any pictures on the flight from Atlanta to Dusseldorf, as I was too busy enjoying to wonders that you experience when flying in business class on an international flight.  After getting situated and drinking a glass of champagne, we departed Atlanta around 6pm.  Once we were up, the food extravaganza - a five course meal - began.  K and I were in the very front row, so there was a wall in front of us and then the wall of the plane to our right.  Our seats were like recliners, so I lifted my recliner and created a little playpen for Kellan in front of his seat.  He played with his cars, ate dinner and read books.  After dinner we read books and put him back in his car seat and he went to sleep.  Then he slept for almost the rest of the flight.  About an hour before landing, we were served breakfast and K woke up and ate.  Not a bad way to travel.

Sadly, upon our arrival in Dusseldorf, we deplaned and found that the pull cart to which we attach our car seat and our stroller had been delivered to the baggage claim, not to the gate.  We had been putting Kellan in the stroller and then stacking about two bags on the car seat dolly.  Now, we had no stroller or a place to stack bags, so we had to carry Kellan, a total of six bags and a car seat.  Fortunately, there was no one around to see Matt throw all of these bags down a flight of stairs after we carefully formed them into a precarious pile (after multiple failed attempts where they crashed to the ground) only to find that there were no working elevators we could use.  

Once we got to customs though, we obtained two baggage carts and it was smooth sailing.  Our driver was waiting outside, we loaded all our bags into his van and headed to Cologne - about 30 minutes drive away.  Even though it was a dreary day, in my excitement, I couldn't help but snap some photos.

I realize that my son is 18 months old and technically should not be taking a bottle.  But we only use it in emergency situations (NOT at bedtime).  I would say that the end of a 12-hour trek across an ocean and many hours of lost sleep constitute an emergency.  He did a great job kicking the binky and I'm sure he'll do a great job kicking the bottle once we get settled here.  Dismounting soapbox.

Driving through Dusseldorf

Next stop, Köln!

We arrived at our hotel at about 10am and ordered room service.  After filling our bellies, we all napped from about 11am to 4pm.  At 4, we unpacked, then showered up to head out for some dinner.  Fun Fact about Germany: Almost everything shuts down on weeknights after 7pm or 8pm.  And almost EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays.  We barely made it to the grocery store for some diapers!

Monday night we went to bed around midnight and then slept until 11am this morning.  Each day, we are putting K down one hour earlier until he gets back to his normal bedtime of 7/8pm.  So far, he is handling the time change like a champ.

I took LOTS of pictures on Tuesday that I will be posting tonight or tomorrow that capture this bustling city.  We are so excited to finally be here and I can't wait to share each day's adventures with you!  The internet is super slow at our hotel so it takes FOREVER to upload photos to the blog!