When I was single and living in Italy, I hopped on the train to go everywhere and it was perfect!  So honestly the idea of train travel with kids sounded like tons of fun to me, but in reality it was going to be incredibly expensive for our family of 5 to travel by train to all the places we wanted to go because, well, anything times 5 gets expensive.

Thanks to Rick Steves we knew what we were getting into when we started looking to rent a car in Europe.  We foreknew about the insane insurance rules, toll charge tags for different countries, and lots of other hidden fees.  Surprisingly, renting a small car in Europe could be cheap, really cheap.  However, renting a car large enough to hold 6 people (our family plus Leah) was proving to be expensive and difficult to find that right sized car in Europe. 

Enter my amazing husband and his skill of the internets!  Josh had looked through consolidated websites and the like but he was finding lots of hidden fees, shady business deals, and could not confirm the right sized car.  Soon enough though, Josh was able to find a coupon from an external site to use on an official Budget site so we could get the right sized car, find an external insurance company (with help from Steves) and all said & done we were able to rent our car for a fair price.

Looking back, renting a car was a great plan for our family especially since the weather was unbearably hot and the car's AC was our only retreat from the heat.  We were able to go our own speed to the cities we wanted, enjoy more of the countryside & mountains, and not to forget, drive our VW van 105 mph on the Autobahn while getting passed by a Porsche Cayenne driving 130 mph.  Seriously, it was amazing!  And, until our kids are big enough to carry their own week's worth gear on their back, I think renting a car is the best way for us to go for if/when we return...

Who would want to miss out on all this fun?!

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Our family trip to Europe was the first plane ride for our three kids. 

Not knowing what to expect or how to entertain a 9, 8 & 5 yr old on a plane ride for 2, 8 & 11 hours, I asked lots of questions and read many blogs/articles about flying with children (this one was great!).  While most focused on traveling with newborns and toddlers, I did read some universal notes that really helped our trip. 

Here's a small collection of them in case you are interested:

- New $10 toy.  Prior to leaving, I let each of the kids pick out a new toy that was a something-to-do kind of toy.  Zeke picked out an album for his sports cards with some extra packs of cards.  He sorted his collection of baseball, football & basketball cards into the album while on the plane.  It was a fabulous idea!  Max got a doodle book that showed you how to draw characters but left a large white area so you could practice right there on the sheet.  It too was fabulous!  Miriam got a little key chain toy called a Tamagotchi.  It is a silly little thing that you have to check in on, feed, play with, etc.  It was small and cute and a great toy for her.

- Socks.  For the trip itself, a blog had suggested the kids wear socks and shoes and not sandals on plane rides because of when they would have to go through security.  While we did let them wear either shoes or sandals, they all had to wear socks and it was a truly brilliant idea.

- Gum, but not too much.  We did have the kids chew gum for take off and landing on the first flight but I think we pushed it too much and by the second flight the kids never wanted to chew gum again.  (I felt the same way.)  I think now it was the flavor of gum, it was fruity not minty, and I think it was a bad choice.  By the end of our flights we just had the kids yawn instead of chew gum and it worked just as well.

- Barf bag on hand.  Oddly enough, there was not a barf bag in front of each seat.  Before taking off I double checked each kids' seat to make sure a barf bag was in front of them just in case.  A blog has said that kids can get sick at landing more often than take off so I wanted them to be prepared.  None of our kids got sick during the take off or landing but Miriam got nauseous during the middle of each long flight right after eating dinner.  She didn't throw up, but she really thought she was going to and dry heaved a few times before falling asleep.

- Journal.  This was our friend Angie's suggestion so before we left I got each kid a hand picked journal for the trip.  To be honest, Max was the only one who used his on the plane, but Zeke and Miriam definitely used theirs on the car rides back and forth across Czech.  Either way, it was great they had a blank book all to themselves to record or do whatever they wanted.  Zeke recorded the things he saw, Max & Miriam wrote songs with dance moves, etc.

- Empty water bottles.  A blog pointed out that it is easy to dehydrate on a plane ride and to make sure to keep kids especially well hydrated.  I got each of the kids the new style of CamelBak Water Bottles with built in straws in hopes of more water drinking and less water spilling.  They worked fabulous!  The only spill was by ME when I spilled OJ into Josh's computer bag.  Yep, that was the one accident on our entire trip.  Lucky me!

- Good meals before flights.  Same blog recommended making sure the kids ate good and healthy meals before getting onto the flights.  Due to timing, I packed a sack lunch that we all ate before we boarded our noon flight to Atlanta because they were not serving meals on that flight.  Having a balanced meal with meat, dairy, grain, fruit, veggies, really helped them.

- Healthy snacks.  I packed a ton, I mean a ton, of granola bars and fruit leather.  I got ones high in fiber because constipation due to nerves was another comment I had read.  While I could've brought more, it was really great for flight-sake and English camp-sake we brought as much as we did.

- iPad.  Our kids don't have game boy/ DS type of toys and most blogs recommended just letting the kids play with those on planes.  However, our kids do have a gadet dad who has an iPad.  Josh loaded the iPad with movies & games for the kids.  This proved to be a huge blessing because all the movies they played on the plane were strictly for adults and not for kids.  We did ration their time on the iPad so they weren't glued to it constantly, a little here and a little there, but they really enjoyed it when they did get to use it.

- A Relaxed Mama.  Like I mentioned, I don't like flying, but God really gave me grace and I constantly kept looking at the kids and smiling and making them feel comfortable and safe.  Only one cutie, on our way to the airport was getting kind of nervous but thankfully, with much prayer, they were calm when the time came to fly.

The Three did a fantastic job flying!  From the 2 hrs to Atlanta, the 8 hrs to Prague then the return 11 hrs back to Atlanta and the 2 hrs to Moline, they really did a great job! I wouldn't have changed a thing except for the timing of the flights.*  That was the toughest part about flying was getting back on the plane in Atlanta for Moline.  We had a long layover and the Three were walking zombies and they don't remember getting onto the plane.  (By that time their little bodies had been awake for over 20 hours and it had caught up with them hardcore.) 

But in all honesty, I can't wait to travel on a plane with them again! 

*Ok, ok... the one more thing I'd do different would be to have us save a little more money so we could let Long-Legged Josh sit in First Class, :)!

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Less than 2 weeks before leaving for Europe, we went on a wonderful camping weekend trip with dear, old friends to NE Iowa.  It was very late on Sunday night when we arrived home and I was still trying to unpack when Josh insisted I take a shower and scrub off.  Even though I hadn't showered in 3 days, I just wanted to finish cleaning and fall into bed.  But I listened to Josh and got into the shower and scrubbed.

While I was scrubbing I noticed a very small "mole" I had never seen before on my upper thigh.  Then I thought it was dirt, so I scrubbed some more.  Then I saw that it had legs. 

It was a deer tick.

(Photo Credit)

I quickly yet calmly pulled it out with my fingernails (which I now know is a no-no) but as soon as it started to walk across the top of my fingernail I SCREAMED!  Josh came running, confirmed it was a deer tick, and due to my screaming/freak-out, he flushed it down the toilet per my request.  I had Josh search the rest of me and then sopping wet I proceeded to wake up each of the kids, strip them down and check them for ticks while Josh researched just what this meant - getting bit by a deer tick.

I was glad that he was doing the research because prior to this I had only known friends who had gone through the horror stories of Lyme Disease.  The first thing he read was that you are suppossed to keep the tick. Doh, Dana!  The sites all agreed that symptoms would not show up for 1-2 weeks, right around the time we were going to be leaving the country.  We decided to wait a day, talk to our doctor, and keep an eye on it.

Within 48 hours both my doctor & Josh agreed that being preemptive and putting me on the antibiotic Doxycycline for 14 days would be best.  The medicine has great results at treating Lyme Disease but it also has all these strange dietary requirements and side effects, one of which being sun sensitivity. 

I tried to stay in the shade, or inside, keep 85 spf on me, but I never thought to cover my hands with sunscreen.  Welp, I ended up with a severe toxic reaction on the top of my hands.  They literally felt like they were on fire, burning fire, cannot be stopped fire, intense and constant fire that was not going away even after many days.

After one incredibly painful night I finally called my doctor.  They recommended switching medicine but the switch would cause more crazy side effects.  Not wanting any other whammies before we left the country, we decided I should finish the entire 14 day treatment of the first medicine.  I tried to keep covered in sunscreen while at camp but on two separate occassions I forget to put sunscreen on my toes and on my nose or even enough on my hands.  I ended up with bright red and blotchy hands, toes and nose for the rest of our trip.  (Hence my Rudolpf nose in all our trip pics.)  

Thankfully, before we left for Europe a friend recommended Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment.  While it didn't cure the intense pain, it was nice to have on my burns and knowing it was all natural, I knew (well, hoped) the ointment wouldn't make it worse.

In all honesty, this whole ordeal was a blessing in disguise.

Prior to this, I had never seen or removed a tick.  Being that ticks were the one thing people worry about at English camp in Strakonice, and I now had full and calm knowledge of ticks and Lyme Disease.  This made for a lot more relaxed mama at camp!  Also, since I had the burns I had the Res-Q Ointment on hand in Czech.  When Max ended up with his entire body covered in hives (as a reaction to a type of grass in Czech) the Res-Q Ointment was the prefect treatment to stop the inflammation of his hives. 

Really, a blessing in disguise!

Here is my PSA I posted on Quora on how to remove a tick:

(Photo Credit)

If you find a tick DO NOT twist, use a match, cover with nail polish, cigarette, etc the tick.

1.) DO grab a pair of tweezers, plastic baggie and antiseptic/soap.
2.) Carefully position the tweezers close to the skin (without touching) and gently place the tweezers on/toward/near the tick's head.  Gently/steadily pull up, making sure not to squeeze the tick's body, which would cause bacteria to enter into the person/animal the tick is biting.
3.) As you are gently pulling upward, your skin should be pulling upward as well with the tick.  The tick should back out, head and all. (Do not touch tick with your hands.)
4.) Look to make sure you have removed the entire head of the tick.  If you are concerned or don't think you got it all, seek help from a physician.
5.) Place the tick into the plastic baggie and freeze.  That way, if you do come down with a sickness they can test the tick or instead of waiting it out you can have the tick tested for your own piece of mind. (Don't do what I did and scream like a banshee and flush it down the toilet.)
6.) Wash the area with soap (antiseptic) and water.

For more information:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/...

http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/how...

For information about what sicknesses are caused by tick bites:
http://www.webmd.com/skin-proble...

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*In honor of my sister Leah, I may use the word freakin' in this post. If I was really going to do Leah slang justice, I'd use crap a lot too, :)!

I was in college the first time my older sister Leah went to the Czech Republic for 3 months as a summer intern for Josiah Venture.  I remember at the time that our family thought that she was freakin' crazy (or maybe just I thought she was freakin' crazy) and it seemed like the strangest place to choose in the world - the Czech Republic, really?  Where is that?  She's going there to teach English to high school kids?  What the?  (Yes, #notquestions galore!)

Well, two years later she went back and moved there commited to serve a 2 year stint with JV.  Now here it is 10 freakin' years later and she is still kickin' it in Czech!

Czech is freakin' perfect for her, not only as a country but also how perfectly she was made her for the job she was called to do there.  It is amazing to see how many lives have been affected and changed because of my sister's love for Jesus and for others.  Those 10 years have seen much fruit and much heartache, and the hand of God was in them all.

As you can imagine she has always wanted family & friends to visit.  My mom, aunts, a few of her college friends, and just last year, my younger sister!  (The real shocker will be if we get Dad in a plane to go there!)  We Cramer 5 have always wanted to go and visit her but it has never been possible, both financially and logistically, or newborn-babily. 

2 years ago we got to see Josiah Venture's 2x3 Campaign presentation.  After seeing that, both Josh and I wanted to not only go and visit her for visiting-sake but also go there to see what Josiah Venture is doing in action.  It took those 2 years of praying, planning, saving & hard work by my husband (with a BIG load of thanks to Dave Ramsey FPU and "Living like no one else, so we can live like no one else" logic) to get everything in place and here it is...

We're Freakin' Going!

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

For the first week we're there, we will be participating in one of Josiah Venture's Summer Camps.  They are English camps for high school kids, they teach English class for the morning, have sports in the afternoon, and have teachings in the evenings.  (With a theme song and hand gestures to boot!)  I will be teaching an English class for the week, Josh will be assisting, and our kids will be right beside us or Leah during those morning classes.  (Well, we'll see how Miriam does, :)!)

We are very thankful/honored to be able to get this first hand experience with Leah and the JV Team.  JV has an amazing impact in the Eastern European countries and I pray we don't mess it up!  (Insert Clark Griswald type of experience here, oy!)

If you would, please pray or keep us in your thoughts for:

- Prepared hearts of us, the Cramer 5. That we would be ready to love, serve and sacrifice for others and each other while on our trip, to be an example as a family, and to be able to pour out ourselves to the teenagers we come in contact with showing them the love.

- Prepared minds for our kids.  The boys are old enough to really "get" what we are doing.  I have been praying for them specifically how this trip will open their eyes to the world as a whole around them, moving out of the "me" centered mindset.  Miriam has a sweet, little, heart-filled attitude, so she gets what we are doing in her special way, so I am simply hoping she doesn't get hurt.  (We Cramer girls have more accidents than those boys, imagine that!)

- Prepared minds for all the teenagers participating in the camp and for what is in store for each of them.  "So, as the Holy Spirit says, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts against Him."

- Safety while traveling everywhere, esp. with 3 kiddos in tow. No sickness, no pick-pockets, no theft, no emotional scars, no abuse, no trouble with the law, no hiccups, no anything!  Let your over-active imagination go wild and pray for safety from that.

- Protection for our business.  Being a business owner comes with a LOT of responsibility, which Josh takes very seriously.  Thankfully we have been given an amazing team of employees to trust to keep things moving while Josh is away but he will still be leaving a hole.

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In case you haven't visited her link before, our friend Vicki has been writing a beautiful blog for many years about their family, their story of adoption and currently, her trip to China right now picking up their little girl Jenna.  Take a moment, visit her blog. It is a beautiful, moving tale in process!  Lots of love to you, Cupps!