To Europe and Beyond!!!

Posted on July 6, 2023  •  2 minutes  • 425 words

We visited family before our jaunt across the pond. This meant we had an 8hr flight to Frankfurt, not a longer one from the West Coast. Pro: Less time on airplane. Con: Kids sleep great, but with dinner, there was no way to get anything more than 5hrs of sleep for them…1 for me.

With a big of a delayed flight and customs, we didn’t have much time. Bathroom yes, coffee for Dan no. The kids were troupers though. When we went through security, Max ran through the body scan and they were okay with just patting him down. He put his arms out and a man sitting in a chair lightly pats him down. Then says ‘okay’ and Max launches himself into the man to give him a hug. My little hugger, will hug anyone he can…even the equivalent of a TSA agent in Germany. The guy was so shocked, but hugged him back and laughed quite a bit.

Easy flight to Nice, but we landed minus one bag. Super easy to report it and we were on our way. Hopped in a classy Benz taxi and I rewarded the kids (and Dan) with a lifesaver mint. I don’t know why, but they are obsessed with these. You can usually get them to clean the whole downstairs with the promise of just one. Sam insisted I give one to the driver…always looking out to make sure everyone gets some candy.

30 minutes later at our Airbnb, which is so adorable…think French villa, but in the heart of Nice. Huge courtyard, coi pond, outdoor table on the patio, grassy area, so much room for the kids to run around. I generally have the rule to NEVER book a place without reviews, but when our previous one was MIA on responding and I saw this one, Dan insisted. And probably cheaper than it will be in a year when it has a lot of great reviews.

So tempted to crash, but we rallied and walked 30min to the port. Max tripped and got a bloody nose but was a champion and wimped for a whole 20 seconds and then walked the rest of the way. He then proceeded to talk about ‘when I got my bloody nose’ the rest of the day…and the next one. Met up with my cousins, got some food, Aperal Spritz, gelato and then opted for the bus home. And yes, I fell asleep on the bus. :)

We all crashed hard by 7:30pm and Max set the record for sleeping 14hrs!