March Trip to Switzerland

Elijah and I (along with my mom) went to Switzerland for two weeks in March for my grandpa's 80th birthday party. We had a great time relaxing with family. The only outings we had were to the kids' zoo in Rapperswil and the Zurich zoo. I'm so glad we went; I want my family there to see Eli as much as possible. Here are some pictures:

Aunt Trudi, Eli, and V enjoying some Gummi Bears on Grandma V's laptop 

 Didn't take Eli long to take over Aunt Trudi's living room floor

 Feeding ponies at Knies Kinderzoo

 Petting goats at Kinderzoo

 Feeding Aunt Trudi's rabbits

 Enjoying a bath at Great-Grandma's

 Had to visit the cows at least once a day at Great-Grandma's

 Lovin' on the cats

 Eating paprika shells for his daddy

 Admiring a peacock (who later tried to snatch a candy bar from him - while he was eating it)

 Saying hi to the chickens

 Walking with Great-Grandma

 Planting flowers with Grandma V

 Four generation picture

 Eli, cousin Anna Laura, and Lanos playing

Final breakfast in Switzerland

Trip Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our wonderful trip to Switzerland. For more landscape, less people photos, check out Eric's Picasa album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/102666553946889300606/SwitzerlandII2011

 Chilling on the train

 Eric at the castle in Bellinzona

 Eli LOVED the cattle at Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma's- this is one of our several daily visits

 Teddy bear got a first class seat whenever we were out and about

 Castle at Rapperswil

 At Davos 

 Family at the Rheinfall in Schauffhausen

 Eli loved this tractor... Maybe a future Christmas present?

 Probably Eli's favorite part of the trip: homegrown grapes

 Rocking horse ride with cousin Anna Laura

Eric in the armory at Kyburg Castle

Travel with Baby

We made it home safe and sound! I'll post more on the trip later, but I wanted to record what worked and didn't for us during the travel portion of our vacation.

Elijah was great on the plane. He didn't sleep very well on the way to Switzerland, even though we gave him a small dose of Benadryl. Despite the lack of sleep, he was happy and relatively laid back. On the trip home he slept about an hour on each of the three legs. He sat on our laps, looked out the window, and played with his toys. We never did pull out the laptop for him which made me very happy. Having new little toys wrapped up to pull out whenever he started getting bored worked great for us.

Unfortunately the busy book didn't get much usage. Eli likes it but the book is much too large for airplane trips. I think it will be great for church and car trips. Luckily my parents only had one carry on bag between them, so my dad ended up carrying the book for me. My next project, or one down the line, will be another busy book for airplane trips - just smaller to fit into luggage better.

The other passengers were great. They were all willing to switch seats so Eric and I could sit together with Elijah (although that could be because they didn't want to sit next to a possibly screaming toddler). On the long ride from Zurich to DC (8 hours) a woman was willing to switch so we had three seats together. Letting Eli have his own seat was great. It allowed us to relax more than if he had always had to be on someone's lap. The flight attendants were also wonderful. I know it's their job, but they were all very friendly and helpful. Eli, of course, charmed them all and one stewardess even took a picture with him.

Having snacks along went well too. Airplane food is better than I remember (even though you only get it on long trips) but Elijah didn't want to eat it so having the crackers and such along kept him from starving. It even lasted through the trip for on the trains and buses.

Also, an umbrella stroller was a godsend. Eli was comfortable in it and it was so easy to collapse when he didn't ride in it. It was easy to tuck away on trains and buses and gate checking went as smoothly as I hoped.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and I am so glad my family go to spend time with Elijah. And of course that Eric's parents got to see Switzerland.

I don't have pictures from the trip yet, but here is the requisite Eli photo.

Trip Prep

As we are leaving the day after tomorrow, I really should be packing. But instead I'm procrastinating and trying to keep the blog updated.

In preparation for this two week trip to Switzerland, not only did I spend two months making Eli's busy book, but I scoured the internet looking for ideas to keep him occupied on the plane ride (which is the only part I'm really nervous about). Here are some that we will be utilizing:

1. DVD player - This was one of the most recommended activities, but I think it's going to be my last resort. We'll have our laptop and some old school headphones for Eli but I am hoping to use other methods first.

2. New toys - Thanks to my garage-sale-loving mother-in-law, we got a bunch of new little toys to bring out every so often. I plan to wrap at least some of them up for him to unwrap. Included are cars, balls, slinkies, magnets in a cute little lunch box, Rubix cubes, and others that won't be a loss if they are left behind on the plane or train. I also am going to pack a cheap calculator so he can press buttons and pretend to have a phone without any noises that could bother other passengers.

3. Snacks - I'm assuming that Elijah will dislike airplane food as much as the rest of us, so I will be packing plenty of snacks. I got some great suggestions from friends on Facebook, even though I'm not using them all. What I will have is animal crackers, cheese sticks, teddy grahams, dried cranberries, fruit snacks, peanut butter crackers, goldfish, and dark chocolate covered raisins. Whatever he doesn't eat, I'm sure Eric or I will. I also noticed that they make squeezable applesauce now which I would have bought but I'm sure it would turn out to be a big mess with a 17 month old. But the packets are only 3.2 oz each so you could throw them in your quart fluid bag (the limit is 3.4 oz or 100 mL).

4. Books - This is a given in our family. Elijah has a few favorites that he can look at over and over again so they'll be a staple.

5. Crayons - He's not much into coloring yet, but Eli loves to take crayons out and put them back. I'll probably put a few in a plastic baggie (which he also loves) and take a small notepad in case he gets creative.

6. Sleeping - Eric can't sleep on a plane at all, while I can usually catch at least a few z's. We're both hoping Eli leans towards my tendency here, but just in case we'll be bringing most of his crib contents with us (only half kidding). We'll have either his teddy or his stuffed tiger (with the other being checked through in our luggage), his nuks (the only time he uses them is sleeping but then he needs one in his mouth and at least one in his hands), and his blanket. I'm prepared to hold him as long as he'll stay asleep, so I'll have my trusty iPod loaded with audiobooks just in case I can't sleep.

7. Benadryl - This is a pretty controversial option, but one I'm going to keep in my back pocket. Our doctor said it wouldn't be horrible and we did a test run to make sure it doesn't make him hyper. It calms him down quite well and helps him sleep. I'm not going to dose him every 4 hours, but I think it's a good idea to take it along. (Plus he's still getting over a cold so it will probably help the runny nose and coughing.)

8. Charming the crowd - This isn't so much a time-occupier as a sanity-saver. Several people suggested having your child walk around the waiting area and being cute so if they get whiny on the plane, the other passengers are more apt to sympathize instead of being annoyed. As Elijah is naturally charming, I doubt this will be a problem.

And, of course, here are the requisite cute pictures:

 He is always carrying around his footballs now

 Go Pack Go!

 Helping Dad sweep out the garage

Just being cute