Embarking on a USA Adventure with Kids

Finally! Time for our big USA with kids holiday adventure. Normally when my alarm goes off at 05:00AM I am not that happy, but today I am! We packed all our luggage yesterday, this morning we only need to shower, get dressed, check our hand luggage and, quite importantly, wake up the kids. They do not entirely share my enthusiasm for getting up this early today. Although I can cheer Floris up by waking him saying: “Floris wake up, we are going to the States to see the bears!”. At 07:00AM sharp the taxi arrives, I see 3 suitcases, one seal bag (with the Deuter Comfort Kids III child carrier), the stroller, 2 children backpacks, 1 adult backpack and the diaper bag disappear in the taxi, impressive! I really tried to pack as least as possible, I didn’t totally succeed.

Smooth Arrival at Schiphol Airport

We have a smooth arrival on Schiphol Airport; unloading all our luggage, check-in and pay a last visit to the grocery store to buy some bread rolls for our the flight. We pass security and customs without any delays. The kids are impressed by everything they see. When we pass the customs, we see a play and discovery corner from Nemo, a Dutch science museum for kids. We can have a coffee while the kids play. At 10:30u boarding starts. As we are travelling with young kids we have priority boarding. This way we have some time to unpack all our kids entertainment tools in the plane.

Ready for our Holiday in the USA with Kids

Floris is sitting next to me and Lotte next to Kevin. We have everything to entertain them: Ipad, window stickers, coloring book, reading books and some tasty snacks. Besides Lotte screaming: “Scary, scary” during take-off it all goes very well. The flight from Amsterdam to Chicago, will take up to 8:30 hours. We all sleep about 2 hours, the kids entertain themselves really well and we even have time to read our books, the little miracles of life ;). They kids don’t like the children meals at all, luckily we bought the bread rolls.

Connecting Flight Rush in Chicago

After touch down in Chicago we need to rush as we only have 1:45 hours to catch our connecting flight. We will arrive in Terminal 5, catching a train to Terminal 1 for our departure. Before all this, we have to pass customs, pick up our luggage and check the luggage in again. When we arrive In Terminal 1 we need to pass security, which takes some time as we are carrying milk for Lotte which has to be swapped. The minute we arrive at our gate, boarding starts: yes we made it! Our plane switch is exactly at Dutch “kids bedtime” the choice to take the stroller as well as the baby carrier with us, was a really good one 😉

Final Stretch: Chicago to Denver

Finally the last stretch of our trip to the USA with kids: Chicago to Denver, the flight takes app 2 hours. As its very late (Dutch time) the kids sleep before we are airborne. When we arrive Lotte still sleeps in the baby carrier, Floris is awake “because we are finally in the USA to see the bears”. He is quite disappointed when he doesn’t spot a single bear at the airport. When we get our luggage one suitcase seems to be missing, we find it back at the odd sized luggage. After collecting our luggage we wait 20mins for our hotel shuttle. We are travelling almost 18 hours now, Kev and I are feeling a little exhausted as well. As it is 32 degrees and dinner time, we decide to man up and go to a nearby restaurant for dinner. We eat really really fast as Floris is experiencing a total meltdown, which we can’t blame him for as he is on the road now for about 20 hours. Around 07:30PM we are all sound asleep, at 2:00AM I am staring at the ceiling totally awake, around 04:00AM Floris asks ”Mum can we go for breakfast, I am hungry”. An early start of our first day in the States!

Tips & Tricks for USA with Kids

• If your kids are bad eaters, take food with you they know and like. Hungry kids are grumpy kids
• When walking around the huge airports a stroller and/or baby carrier comes in quite handy
• If you aren’t a USA resident you have to fill out a customs form at the plane. Put a pen in your hand luggage, only fill out one form per family
• When arriving adjust to the local time zone as soon as possible, this way your jet lag will be disappear the fastest

Ready to go at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Floris sound asleep in the plane

Watching “Fireman Sam” at the Ipad with a headphone