The Stroller

We decided to buy a new stroller for our time in Germany because the only two people we know that have lived in Germany with kids (thanks Tanya and Lindsey K.) said that a stroller with big wheels and lots of storage was essential. Yes, that would mean stroller number four for our only child. So spoiled. After some research we decided on this one in gray and blue.
Look how much Cooper loves it.

I liked this particular stroller because it had big wheels, tons of storage space, a tray for Cooper's snacks (invaluable when he starts to get fussy while we're out and about), and a tray up on top worth cup holders for me.

When we left SFO, we gate checked our stroller as usual and assumed it would be waiting for us as we deplaned in Frankfurt so we could use it en route to our gate in another terminal for our flight to Berlin. When we exited the plane we saw a few other stroller and some wheelchairs, but our stroller was MIA. The Lufthansa agent said that it would actually be waiting for us when we got off the plane in Berlin. I was pretty annoyed that they expected us to walk a mile holding our infant child in our arms and dragging our five pieces of carry on baggage to the another terminal, but whatever.

When we arrived in Berlin, no stroller was there to greet us. The attendant assured us it was coming out at baggage claim but at this point I was beginning to doubt. We waited until all the bags came out and the carousel stopped. (Keep in mind that at this point we had been traveling for almost 14 hours, of which I had slept only and hour and Pat not at all. Luckily Cooper had been great on the flight so my patience wasn't running too low, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have lost it at this point. But I was pretty anxious to get to our apartment and relax.) So there we were with our ten bags weighing hundreds of pounds trying to figure out how to locate our stroller. Finally we found the lost baggage counter (they call it Lost and Found). At first they couldn't locate it, but eventually they found it that it never made it on the plane in San Francisco! When someone finally realized it they threw it on a plane to Munich so it could catch a flight to Berlin, but it wasn't going to get there until late that evening. They promised to deliver the next morning.

I was starting to worry a little only because they stroller is like my car here. I have no other way to get out of the house unless I want to carry Cooper the whole time, but he is heavy! Luckily, as promised, the stroller came the next morning. Only problem was, it looked like this:
They broke the wheel off!
I sometimes like to think that duct tape can fix anything, but there was no hope for this wheel because the axel had snapped. The tray in front was also broken, but that I could have dealt with. At this point I was freaking out because upon arrival in this foreign land I had no stroller, no internet, no phone, not even a land line!

After a few angry phone calls, we got the number for the company that handles insurance claims, but they weren't open until Monday. In the meantime, Lufthansa promised to bring a stroller by that we could use until ours was fixed or replaced. I was so relieved when the doorbell rang a few hours later, only to be greeted by this:
SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!

I was speechless. It's not like I could just throw a blanket over the seat...look at that straps, the wheels, the brakes, the handles...it's all PINK! Poor Cooper. He's been a good sport though, good thing he's too young to care. We still don't have any idea when we're going to get ours fixed or replaced, but I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later. At least we're mobile now, so I ought to be thankful for that. And we've got internet. And a phone. Yay for progress!