Europe: an intermission story :)

after our 3 days on london, we were off to barcelona, spain to start our cruise!

before i start those pictures... let me tell you a little story:

so before we left on our trip, i made a call to the airport security because we were going to be gone for 3 weeks and i needed to bring all of chandlers food and formula with us... and i wanted to make sure it wasn't a problem to bring liquid and baby food on the plane because it was over the 3 oz limit. they told me it was okay to bring it as long as it was for the baby and it could be ran through a security tester thing. fine by me as long as i could bring it. so everything was fine from las vegas to london... no problems or stops at all.

now... london to barcelona was a completely different story. so, austin was using the suitcase i had packed for chandler as his carry on... so it was packed with not only her clothes, but her formula, cereal, and about 30 jars of baby food. and then i had pre-made a bottle for her and had a few jars of food in my purse as well. so we put everything through the first round of security and her suitcase gets through just fine... my purse on the other hand does not. after searching my bag, one of the security officers comes over and asks if that is my bag. yes, yes it is. and yes, there is baby food in there. and then, as she takes out the bottle i had made for chandler, she says this:

"i'm going to need you to drink some of this."

ummmm... WHAT!?!?!?

she repeats herself, "i'm going to need you to drink some of this. it's our security policy."

you guys, i about died. first of all, have any of you tried baby formula?!? yea, i didn't think so. second of all, was she serious!?!?

yes. yes she was. i then tried to pass it off onto chandler, asking if i could give it to my baby instead. that was a nice try. but no. i had to drink it. soo... i sucked it up, took one for the team (my baby) and...

 GULP.

instant gagging going on. let me tell you... that stuff is naaaasty. i'm so sorry babies actually have to drink that stuff.

and that was the end of that. she put the cap back on and let us go.

ummmm... you're not going to make me wait here to see if i blow myself up or anything?? nope. free and clear. or so i thought...

so we get to the next security check point. and now austin's carry on won't go through. so i bring chandler over to the next security guy and ask what the problem is. now there is too much baby food in her suitcase to be a carry on. my heavens, are they serious?? it made it through the first round with no questions... and now they want me to go all the way back to the beginning and check in her suitcase. meanwhile, our plane leaves in 30 minutes by this point.

by now, i'm pretty mad. so what do i do? i make a scene. i hand chandler off to austin and all hell broke loose. so, the security manager comes over to calm me down... he personally escorts me back downstairs to check in chandlers suitcase. once we get down there, they want me to pay to have her suitcase checked in. uhh that's not happening. i'm pretty sure the manager knew i was about to get real crazy because he leaned over the counter and said, "just check the suitcase in please."

so... after that mess, he escorts me back upstairs... back through security... and what happens next you ask?? oh, i just get randomly selected for a full blown security pat down.

i mean, SERIOUSLY?

yep... really though, how much can i hide in leggings, a t-shirt, and sandals?? so i get through the pat down and finally make it to the plane just in time for last call.

moral of the story... and some advice for anyone traveling in or out of london with a baby... 

1. don't pre-make any bottle. you WILL have to drink it.

2. don't pack "too much" baby food.

3. don't go through security 15,638 times... you will get a pat down. and the are veerrryyy thorough, if you catch my drift.

and just a side note... because we had to check in chandler's suitcase, we got on our cruise only to open her bag and see that 2 of her baby food jars had broken. i like pureed squash and sweet potatoes all over my clean clothes, don't you??

sorry that was a lot longer then i thought it would be. spain and france are next!