The Long flight to Stuttgart

How many bags does it take to fly the Leadbetters to Germany?
We took 5 bags,
3 carry ons
2 animals
It took two cars to get us to the airport. Thanks to my dad and Mr. Brinkerhoff we were there with plenty of time.
Nick wanted to help the nice delta man to make sure his 'woof woof' and 'kitty kat' were properly tagged and ready for the trip.
This is Chris trying to take our picture. Granted its shakey, but my favorite part is the two Germans behind us that were obviously laughing. Needless to say, this wasn't 'take one' maybe take 52..... This photo was taken at the beginning of the Atlanta to Stuttgart flight.
The Flight departs Atlanta at 6PM. they served dinners (yummy pasta) and a complimentary alcoholic beverage! The movie was the Secret of Bees (Chris was thrilled). Nick watched the Fox and Hound (curosy of the Carson family) Around 9Pm they turned off the light in hopes that folks would get some sleep.

Everyone gets a great airplane pillow, blanket and awesome 'eye cover' Nick couldn't quite figure it out. (The rest of the passengers did!) He was so excited to be up, he didn't want to fall asleep. He fussed a bit and finally gave in. Mom shared a row off three seats with Nick, while Dad moved across the aisle to his own two seat section. Nick slept for a good few hours - but man does he THRASH around in his sleep! Needless to say, mom's sleep wasn't as solid since she kept making sure nick wasn't thrashing himself off the seat!
At around 7:30AM (Stuttgart time - 1:30 AM Atlanta time) they woke us up to start serving breakfast. Yummy warm bagels and bannans. It was super cute when nick woke up. His first words were 'Nick still up?!' he couldn't believe it!
We went through customes rather quickly and found the 'woof woof' and 'kitty kat' safely on the other side. Nick was asking them about their up. Pauli couldn't wait to run outside. Cayman was just shivering.
One little note - before we left, Stacie and I spent COUNTLESS hours running to the Vet and the USDA office to make sure we had all the proper paper work and stamps for the animals to fly over. The Delta guy scanned it at the hartford office to make sure everything was o.k. for the Germans. Chris kept all the information in his binder. When we arrived in Germany, NO ONE asked to see the information!! I wanted to show it to EVERYONE, but no one was iterested. Guess its good piece of mind =)
Also, Cayman was the hit in the airport. All the Germans wanted to come up and say hi. They kept asking is she was mine - sounded like they wanted to claim her. Although Chris was more than willing to pass her along. Nick kept a tight hold of his 'kitty kat'
The jet lag isn't too bad. Since you basically land at 9 in the morning. You really just stay up through the rest of the day and are exhausted by the evening. Not bad really.
Chris's friend Jack met us and the crew at the airport. He packed up 50% of our gear and took Chris is get his car for the rest of us. Nick, Pauli and I stayed at the airport for a bit. Folk were so friendly and kept coming up to Nick and Pauli. I really need to learn German since I feel like sucha heal when I have to say Spreckense English?!?