The boys were ace getting up at 3.45 on Friday morning. The porter at the hotel arrived with a trolley that was too small, he had to go and get the big one. We headed downstairs to discover a ford galaxy as our taxi. Not big enough. We ended up with 2 taxis. We got to the airport at 4.30 and went to check the bags in. Took an age.... Thanks to the cat. We got checked in by 5.10, then had to walk to the other end of the terminal to drop off the cat and the car seats. Again took ages, as the cat had to have here box screened, and they couldn't get the machine to work.... Eventually got it screened and said goodbye to the cat, not knowing if we were going to see her again. We got through security quickly (thank god for business class, and priority boarding) and were in the business lounge having breakfast by 6am. Our flight started boarding very soon after, so we headed to the departure gate. The sun was just coming up as the flight to Munich took off. It was nice to have a bit more space on a small flight.
We landed in Munich, and had to get a bus from the airplane to the airport terminal. A bit of hassle, but not too bad. We went and checked in and went to the next departure gate. By now it was 10.20, and we had been awake for 6 hours. The boys were starting to feel it now. We boarded the plane to find all the Lufthansa flight attends in traditional German dress. I think it was because it was Oktoberfest in Munich this weekend. We had a good clump of business class seats together which was nice, paul sat with Isaac and I had seb on my lap and Oliver next to me. Both seb and Isaac fell asleep during take off. Isaac slept for at least an hour, Seb was more like 20minutes. The boy still was not well. The stewardesses on this flight were absolutely fantastic, attentive, but not in your face, and a good mix of German and American. Seb was an absolute nightmare on this flight, he cried a lot. There was an older couple in business class who obviously didn't believe in children being allowed in business class. Everytime seb made a noise( and he made a lot), they looked over and glared. Oliver and Isaac however were super. I think Oliver played iPods for at least 8 hours on this flight. Isaac played iPod, watched tv, and was generally really good. That boy is made for flying. It was a very long flight, nearly 10 hours, and we were very glad to see the back of that plane. It was so nice to get off in Charlotte. It was 3.25pm local time. We had been travelling for 16 hours....
We joined the queue for boarder crossing. Somehow we ended up near the front, thank goodness. Boys were still very impatient. The lady on immigration was very good, quick and with a bit of a sense of humour. We got through with no problems (other than grumpy children), and went and awaited our luggage. Got all the bags, then went on the hunt for the car seat and the cat. They were waiting at the edge of the carousel. Again, I cannot fault lufthansa for their service, a lady was waiting there with the car seats and the cat. Lucy smelt a bit, not surprising after being in a small box for 16 hours. Again we had 2 trolleys and Oliver had the buggy. We went out of the terminal into the heat to await the bus to take us to get our car. The boys were still very excited..... Got to the car rental place, and paul got the biggest minivan he could. We loaded all the suitcases and other paraphernalia into the car and set off on the journey to Greenville. I think all the boys were asleep with in 20 minutes of being in the car. It was a very pleasant journey down the I85 to Greenville. I popped into the pet store then the supermarket to get seem essential supplies. By now, Isaac had hit the wall, and was so overtired, it wasn't even funny anymore. We got to the hotel and checked in as quickly as possible. We got the boys to bed, and tried to fathom our new life in America........
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