The transition from South Carolina to Italy

Hey friends and family, I miss you all so much. I know we can FaceTime and text but its not the same. Sometimes you just want to meet for lunch, coffee, or a hug and that isn't even an option right now.

When we were checking in 3 hours early for our flight they informed us that our flight was cancelled but we were never notified. The Airlines did what they could and booked us on another flight leaving around the same time as that first flight. That flight didn't work for some reason so the original airlines then had to schedule us on a third airline. At this point we are happy that we are still flying out as scheduled but on our new flight it left very little time to get from one terminal to the next. We flew from Charleston to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Venice. Boarded that first flight and we were in the last rows on the back of the plane. Ever sat in the last row on a plane that holds about 45 people? It's loud and it is right next to the bathroom. Oh and when we looked out our windows all we could see were parts of the plane, no sky. The kids did great. By the time we were up in the air it was time to land again. We had twenty minutes to get off our first flight, get our double stroller that was gate checked (best idea ever by the way), pick up dinner for Nico (since his dairy free dinner was only available on our original flight), and then book it to the elevator, a train, and to our new terminal. We made it. Phew. This flight was great, fortunately it wasn't booked because our seats weren't all next to each other and some really nice people were willing to switch seats so I could sit with at least Nico and Jacoby. We brought plenty of things to do in their bags, but of course once we were on the plane they wanted to watch the movies on board. The best thing I bought for the kids were their Cozy Phones. These are soft and super comfy head phones, and worked great on the plane. They fell asleep with them on and I just turned off their movies and they kept sleeping. They make them for adults too.

About two hours into the flight I changed the boys into their Pajamas, to help make it feel more like bedtime. I gave Mateo and Jacoby children's melatonin to help them sleep. It worked like a charm. I maybe slept two hours total on the 8 hour flight but I had Nico sleeping on me the whole time. We landed in Venice and had to wait for about 15 minutes to get our double stroller. We then proceeded to baggage claim to get all of our suitcases and load them on the airports very tiny carts. We walked around looking for a rental car service, and then David called for transportation from the military but it would be an hour and half before they could come get us. So David walked outside to one of the Italian Taxi drivers and asked if he could fit 5 people, a cat, and 15 bags in his van and take us to Aviano, and he said sure! For 200 Euro. At this point we have been in Venice airport for 3 hours, we are just ready to leave. For those that don't know, 200 Euro was a total rip off we rented a car for two weeks for that same cost. 

For those wondering about traveling with the cat in the plane. My cat Uranus did great. Drugging a cat on international flights wasn't an option so I purchased a calming collar. It worked wonders, and I didn't put it on him I just put in inside his cat carrier. A fun fact about cats is that they can hold their urine for 24-48 hours. So I wasn't too concerned with him going potty in the carrier but I did put down a pad in case he got sick. He meowed for a few minutes on the first flight and then was quiet. Through the airports and the second flight he was quiet, you wouldn't have even known he was on board. The last hour of our trip he started to meow, but there was so much white noise on the plane that no one could hear him. As far as a cat carrier, Delta started making a cat carrier and certifies that almost all airlines approve it for in flight. Its soft so it can fit under your seat without any restrictions. It has handles and a strap so you can carry the bag or put it on your shoulder. It is extremely discreet, which is what I wanted. I really didn't want everyone to know I had the cat. Kids noticed but that was it. 

Delta Animal carrier, I purchased off of Amazon

Cat Calming collar, I purchased off of Amazon

We used a rental car the first two weeks that we were here. Lets talk about European cars. Most are diesel, which are extremely great on gas. Gas is like $8 a gallon here, thankful we get gas vouchers through the military. No this doesn't mean we get free gas, it just means we don't pay taxes on our gas. After those two weeks we purchased a car for David. It has one cup holder in the entire vehicle. They say we shouldn't do anything while we are driving. No texting, talking, drinking, eating, etc. They mean it. Even kids are a distraction when you are driving the speed limit on a tight road and they start arguing in the back seat. The car rides real nice, and we got a great deal and I get to drive it until my van arrives next month. In the meantime David got another rental car which is extremely small, and runs like garbage so we refer to his car now as the Turd. I can't wait for my van to arrive next month. It may not be as great on gas but it sure has a ton of room in it.

We found a beautiful home to rent 4 minutes from base. It is so big, and has everything that we were looking for in a home except one thing. It only has one bathroom. You may think we are crazy for even getting it, but with all other things checked off on what we were looking for this was too good to pass up. We expected it to take at least a month to find a place because everything shuts down for the month of August. But God has truly put us where He wants us and opens doors that needed to be opened. I think we saw maybe three other houses before this one and both David and I knew immediately that it was the one. 

There is a guest entry gate. We can buzz you in from inside the house. 

This gate leads us to our driveway

Our Kitchen minus this table that wasn't ours.

Another kitchen view, no dishwasher my spoiled American friends. Typically the two cabinets to the right are what house the small fridge on the bottom and the small freezer on the top. We got an American size fridge, of course not pictured.

Living room view 1

Livingroom view 2

Living room door

Master Bedroom/window/closet

Second bedroom

Third bedroom (it's bigger than it looks)

Our one bathroom, no tub, only a shower (but hey it has a fancy adjustable shower head)

Going to be the guest room, only room in the house with a fireplace (view 1)

guest room (view 2) we are removing the furniture that the owners left in the house

Bonus room in the basement/garage

This is our entry way. On the other side of the doors are all of the bedrooms. On this side of the doors is the kitchen and living room.

Our one AC wall unit. We have only been running it at night. 

Steps leading up to our amazing attic/third floor of the house. Going to be a huge playroom for the boys.

Panoramic view of the amazing attic/future playroom. Yes, there are four sets of windows and what you can't see in this picture are the deadbolts that are on the tops of them all that can't be opened without a key or by little children. I know some of you were worrying.

Video demonstrating how we open our windows.... its so cool. And not all houses have screens, we were extremely blessed to find one with screens to keep my cat inside and the bugs outside. 

Due to computer saving issues, having three boys, one in school and two at home it has taken me over two weeks to complete this blog. We are still waiting on our home goods shipment to arrive. Once our house is set up I will take better pictures. Thank you everyone for the continued prayers. It  has been a long journey but I am so glad our family is back together again.

By the way, if you watched the video above I mentioned I wasn't done with my hair yet. Now I am done. I also have my first hair appointment in Italy today. As you can see in the photo I have very little purple left and a ton of grey.