Our Trip to Latvia has Started Out a Little Crazy!
Y’all, I have said it a million times, but there should seriously be a tv show about our crazy family!!! There is NEVER a dull moment, and we literally do the stupidest stuff.
I describe our family as a traveling circus. The craziest stuff happens to us…
~Like my husband getting arrested and put in jail for an unpaid traffic violation that we didn’t know about from a year earlier.
~Or like my husband almost getting arrested months later because the car we had just purchased from someone still had the tags on it and they belonged to a registered sex offender. Yeah. He almost got handcuffed for that one.
You can’t make this stuff up, y’all!
~Or the time that my husband super glued his mouth shut.
Why do all of these include my husband? hmmm….
~Okay, so there was the time that I wondered around the mall crying for an hour because I thought someone had just stolen the shoes I had bought. I was 9 months pregnant at the time, and I was causing quite the scene. Until I realized that I had put the shoes in my car earlier that day so I wouldn’t have to carry them around.
~Or maybe the time that I took Phenergan every day for a month, thinking it was another medicine I take daily, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was so sleepy all the time!!
See?! We are highly entertaining. If something can go wrong, it will go wrong with us. It’s just guaranteed.
We’ve gotten used to it. We wouldn’t be “us” without some drama, ya know?
So I don’t know why I am surprised that we’ve had a crazy first couple of days in Latvia.
To start things off, when we were at the airport on Saturday to fly to Paris, our pilot didn’t show up. And the pilot on call couldn’t make it, so finally the third pilot showed up two and a half hours later. We made it to Paris, but we missed our connecting flight to Copenhagen. :(
So we had to wait 9 hours in the Paris airport for a direct flight to Riga.
We made it to Riga at 10:30 last night, but our luggage didn’t. They said is was in Amsterdam. huh?! We were never supposed to go to Amsterdam.
We finally got to bed around 1:00 am, and the first thing we had scheduled for Monday was a 2:00 pm appointment with the Embassy doctor and a passport appointment for Sania to get a new passport picture.
I forgot to mention that Sania started running a fever as we began our trip, and she still wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t set our alarm because I knew the latest I would sleep would be maybe 10:00 am. #firstmistake
You see, I am an early riser. I get up at 5:00 am every morning. Sometimes earlier. And if I don’t set my alarm on the weekends, my body still wakes up around 5:00 am, like clock work. Sleeping to 7 or 8:00 is sleeping late for me.
I remember waking up once in the middle of the night to give Sania some medicine because she was running a fever. I would have used Peppermint oil for her fever, but I realized I left it at home for Adam’s stuffy nose. #secondmistake
The next thing I remember is waking up and looking at my phone. It was still a little dark outside, so I assumed it was early morning. WRONG! It was 2:23 pm!!! P.M. Y’ALL!!!
Our Dr.’s appointment was for 2:00 pm! I thought I was dreaming. “That can’t be right!” I thought. Maybe my phone was messed up? I checked the “world clock” on my phone, and it said that it was 2:23 in Riga, Latvia as well. HUH?!
Still completely dazed and confused, I looked at my emails to see if our Lawyer had tried to contact us. Panic began to set in as I saw a thread of emails asking us where we were. They didn’t have the address of where we were staying because we were supposed to call them in the morning and give it to them.
I started freaking out and yelled at Cy to get up!!! And then I heard a knock on our door. Looking like a hot mess, I opened the door to see our sweet lawyer, Kristine, standing there with a smile on her face.
The first thing I said was, “We just woke up. I am so embarrassed.”
She explained we still had time if we could get ready in 5 minutes and to hurry. Just one parent and Sania had to go. She left to wait for us out front.
Cy quickly got ready while I put some clothes on Sania. Our poor sick little girl didn’t know what was going on, but she was a trooper. We didn’t have our luggage, so they couldn’t brush their teeth. Luckily, I had some gum in my purse. :)
Five minutes later, they were out the door.
I was still freaking out and trying to get my bearings. I was praying they would get there on time and figure everything out.
In the meantime, I tried to “freshen up” with absolutely nothing. Didn’t go so well, but who cares, right? I’m in Latvia and won’t see a soul I know! So Jonathan and I walked down the street to get some coffee.
I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that ALL FOUR OF US slept over 14 hours!!! How in the world did that happen?!! #stillbaffled
Gratefully, they made it to the Doctor’s office and were able to get everything done. We met Cy and Sania at McDonald’s after the appointment, and YES, I had a Coke. #survivalmode
A couple hours later, we found out our luggage was in Copenhagen, not Amsterdam, and we wouldn’t be getting it for another day. ugh. But that did make a little more sense since Copenhagen was supposed to be our destination after Paris. So we went to a local store and bought toothbrushes, deodorant, a brush, and a few other essentials like chocolate. ;)
We went back to our apartment and got a call that someone from the airport was dropping off our luggage! We were confused because we had been told we wouldn’t get it until tomorrow, but no complaining here! Hallelujah, Amen!
Well, we celebrated too soon. It was only one of our pieces of luggage. But thankfully mine! Just wish I had packed all of my toiletries in that suitcase as well, but I put them in Jonathan’s luggage since it has a hard case. #thirdmistake
It was now evening in Latvia, and we all took showers to feel better. Sania and I actually had clean clothes to put on because I packed her stuff with mine, but Jonathan and Cy are wearing the same clothes they have had on since Friday. I kid you not.
We had to do some hand washing of the “essentials” in the sink tonight. Our apartment only has a washer, not a dryer, so we had to dry them with a blow dryer. ha!
There have been some other bumps in the road that are too hard to explain (like some paperwork we forgot,) but I think we are going to survive.
Please pray that Cy and Jonathan’s luggage show up tomorrow, so we can start feeling like normal again.
In the mean time, you can watch this video Jonathan created of the first day. He is vlogging each day of our trip on his youtube channel, “It’s JHutch.” He is working on our Day 2 video now.
Stay tuned to the craziness!!
No, your not the only family who says this….and we know your plight! Just wish we all didn’t feel so “special”! Praying for you all!
I’ll keep praying that things will go smoother and work out. Oh my! I’m so sorry for your family. Praying you’ll get home safely.
Oh goodness this sounds lie something out of a movie! Maybe they will make one about this journey(: I am enjoying following your adoption journey and will pray for peace, grace and for the rest of your luggage to arrive soon. Blessings.
Your “adventure” might not seem funny to you know but later you’ll all remember all the problems and laugh. How boring a trip if everything went smoothly. My son (29) and daughter (32) and I went to New York from our home in California. My son’s luggage didn’t make it the first day, I just kept thinking how lucky we were that of the three of us, his was the one that was delayed, he was such a good sport about it. Have fun on your trip, you’re making great family memories.
Oh my, you must be exhausted! You need your oils. I pray that Sania will feel better soon and that you will get through all of this and home safely. Sania is certainly making lots of family memories with you.
i always read your posts, but rarely comment and just had to this time. your family sounds like ours. every time something crazy happens, my husband says ‘this is what it is like to be me/us’ LOL
your post did make me laugh out loud. i believe you could write a book! hope the luggage shows up soon. been there done that and learned meds ALWAYS go with you on a carry on! i’ve also learned to take one change of clothes with me on a carry on. i know that doesn’t help you now.
thank you for being real with your readers and i hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly. sometimes ‘boring’ is good. lol
Oh my word Traci! My chin was on the floor while reading this! I didn’t know your stories about Cy either. I’m so glad you can laugh/ talk about all this … so I hope you don’t cry. ! This is kinda funny too… right? But you’re right, you can’t make this stuff up! I’ll be praying for the rest of the luggage to show up. At least the boys can get by longer with out all the stuff us girls need! Thx for sharing your adventures! Praying for you all ;-)
I think this is called “Enjoying the journey!” It was quite entertaining (for us), and totally sounds like chapters from some of my stories!
Just keep thinking how nice it is that you are not back at the beginning of the whole process – and how nice your own bed will feel when you return home, solidly and forever, a complete family :))
Oh my! So I had to laugh at the first part of your post, then I felt sorry for you and now I just want you to make it home safely and with all your belongings. Bless you all and I’ll be praying for you.
WOW! That was crazy! Glad you can laugh at all the craziness. Hope tomorrow and the rest of the trip is much smoother.
Hope your girl feels better too :).
First let me say that I have been praying for you and your family that all would go well and you would have a safe trip. Now, having said that,…..I am so sorry, but I laughed till I about cried! It’s not really funny all these crazy and sometimes I’m sure kind of scary things happening to you all. But the way you told them and trying to picture it all in my mind! Especially the one on Cy about the car with those tags and you taking Phenergan and wondering why you were sleepy all the time…I spit!! Bless your precious families hearts!!! These things may happen, but look at the end result, a loving, caring, funny, and an awesome family, strong in faith and willing to do whatever is needed for each other! As I said, I pray for a safe trip and I can’t wait to hear more!
I pray that the rest of your trip goes smoothly. Your Sania is absolutely adorable! And her big brother’s love is so evident! What a beautiful family you have!
That you can find the humor in the craziness speaks volumes about your heart. It doesn’t diminish the frustration of dealing with the craziness but sometimes we just have to find the humor or we’ll go nuts, right?!! Thank you for sharing ALL the reality!! I was laughing out loud and woke up the family, “What are you reading that’s so funny?!” :-) We’ve had some traveling entertainment, but I’m pretty sure your family’s experiences “win”!! Hang in there and we will pray the rest of your trip is “boring” and uneventful!!!!! :-)
I hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly. Thanks for keeping it real. Praying for you guys!
Sounds like my family! Love the video! you and your family are precious.. makes me smile!! Praying for safe travels for the rest of your trip! God Bless you and your family
All of these cities make me think of Ticket to Ride — Europe. If you don’t have that game, you need to get it. Your family would love it.
Sorry to hear about the luggage not making it when you did etc.
How great that Jonathan is making videos of the trip. I can see that Sania keeps you all in stitches! She is so cute and you are all so blessed to have each other.
Praying for you to have a safe time in Latvia and a safe return home.
You are so precious dear Traci, thank you for sharing your ups and downs with us. We have all been where you are and you’re just so honest and refreshing and so funny too! You are so delightful. Something I learned from my last trip is to something I learned from my last trip is to keep your receipts from buying your toiletries because of your mislaid baggage because you should be able to claim that back from the airline.
I have been to over 70 countries and just learned this packing tip from another blogger a few months ago……Put complete outfits for everyone on the trip into all of the luggage. Then if one bag or more are lost, everyone will still have clothes in the luggage that arrives with you. I think that is so smart and wish I had known it long ago.
Genius! That would have definitely been a big help for us! I have always heard to put one full outfit in your carryon bag in case they lose your luggage, but obviously I didn’t do that either! ha! :)
Curious how you use peppermint for fever. I’ve used peppermint for a number of other things but I would like to add fever to my list too!
Praying for safe travels.
You can apply it to the bottoms of your feet and the back of your neck (adults.). For Children 3 and up, I would dilute it with a carrier oil like coconut or olive oil.