Grammie & Papa's or BUST....

The time has come again from me to make the pilgrimage to Florida for everyone to meet our newest addition, Samuel and for some summer fun with the family. Finally, the day had arrived and it was time for the boys and I to fly to Florida. I can tell you that most people I told I was traveling alone and without Cookie and only with Elijah and Samuel thought I was crazy! This thought and comment also came from their loving father and my darling husband who would NEVER travel alone with one of them never mind both of them. On our last trip (Texas) Cookie informed Elijah that he would not be flying with him again until he was at least 10 and at that point he would need to be able to purchase his own ticket. I on the other hand am determined to make sure my children are excellent travelers because otherwise they will never see most of their family! Anyways on to how our trip went....

Finally it was travel day Saturday July 19th!!! I had been talking the trip up and getting Elijah prepared in an effort to make it exciting and something he would want to do. I was successful because starting from Friday morning until when we finally arrived at my parents he was just continually saying "I go Papa's Plane!", so in case not many of you knew my father now has his own plane also known as JetBlue flight #461. I'll be honest our day did not have the best start since there had been a power outage the night before which resulted in me over sleeping. I think I am the only mother who has a toddler and an infant that would sleep late enough to result in missing a noon time flight. So after rushing around getting a few last minute things together I woke the boys up, does anyone else have to wake their 2 year old at 9am? We do our morning thing but in high speed and Daddy loads up the mini van while I finish feeding Samuel. Of course Elijah had resfused to eat breakfast this morning and Samuel has decided it will be a marathon nursing session. Finally a half hour behind schedule out the door we go. I am proud to report that I was able to pack everything we needed in ONE suitcase. Funny how prorities changes once becoming a mother since there was a time in my life not that long ago that I could not even travel in just one suitcase but now I have packed all 3 of us and what we need for the next 3 weeks in one suitcase and a diaper bag! Next obstical in our time crunch and running late no gas, we need to stop to get gas which we do and eventually are on our way to the airport.

I drive to the Logan since when Cookie drives it is like Driving Miss Daisy. I am shocked we arrive right on time even though we were are half hour behind schedule. Cookie and I decided I would check in curb side instead of him coming in, I hop out everything goes smooth with check in. We say a very sad but quick good bye to Daddy and off we go, Samuel in the stroller, Elijah with his blankie holding my hand and diaper bag hanging off the stroller. The automatic doors slide open and we enter the airport, instantly Elijah attempts to let go and run but I grab him and as any good mother would attempt to scare the crap out of him and tell him that if he runs away from mommy that someone will take him and he will NEVER EVER see us again or be able to come home, his response "OK, I go Papa's plane please". Next stop security where the line of course is extra long and not moving very quickly but Elijah does great waiting in line. We clear security with out any issues from either of the boys and Elijah is behaving and listening the best he ever has. What he is doing however is telling every person that he comes in contact with that he is infact going on Papa's plane. We get to the gate and it is packed so I let Elijah do some running around until it is time to board. So in an effort to keep him occupied we count planes and trucks outside and he again tells everyone that says hi to him that he is going on his Papa's plane!

Time to board! I ask if our row is full and yes it is they gave away the middle seat so now I will have to hold Samuel the entire flight and gate check his infant carrier, bummer! Elijah is now jumping out of his skin while we are going down the jetway. I gate check the stroller and infant carrier and on we go. We settle into our seats and the flight attendant comes over and gives Elijah and Samuel their wings. Elijah is thrilled to have "sticker wings" and informs to her of two things first that Samuel is his baby and this is (you guessed) Papa's plane! I explain to Elijah what is going to happen at take off and we are chatting about the luggage being loaded and the trucks, Samuel of course is being perfect as always! We start to taxi out & I start to nurse Samuel to assist in his ears, Elijah has his drink and is ready to go. We start to speed up and his face lights up with excitement! He looks like he is on a ride and like his face could split open he is smiling so wide. We take of and Elijah screams out at the top of his lungs "BLAST OFF!!!!" I could not help but laugh and it actually brought a tear to my eye that he was doing so well.

Three hours to go....We were traveling at nap time but Elijah decided against it. Like his mother I think he was afraid to sleep in fear of missing something happening. The women that was sitting in our row moved (thank goodness) so we had a little extra space. Everything was going fantastic Elijah was coloring, we read a few stories, we had a snack and then Elijah pooped! GROSS awful toddler poop! I put Samuel in the sling and off to the extremely small airplane restroom to change him. The flight attendant informs me that we can not all go in there together becuase there are only 2 oxygen masks, I explain that he needs a diaper and she then informs me that I will need to keep the door open (no quick pee for me) so we leave the door open. OK back to our seat for the rest of the flight, only an hour to go! I start explaining how we are going to land with a bump so Elijah doesn't get scared and is prepared for what will happen. The pilot tells us it's time to land. Elijah with wide eyes looks out the window and then we land and just as loud as when we took off he yells "TOUCH DOWN!!"
We got off the plane with no problem to be welcomed by Elijah's Kiki just on the other side of security. Got our bag, loaded the kids and our stuff into Kiki's car and off to Grammie & Papa's.

Seven hours door to door we arrived at Grammie & Papa's without any problems or meltdowns! I am still in shock at how easy our travel went & have already started praying our return is half as good. I guess it's true your children really do behave and listen when you need them to. I have to be honest this trip was a huge accomplishment and I am very proud of my boys and how well they did and also at the fact that I was determined to even attempt it! Fingers crossed going home is just as good!!!!

Off to get some sun and fun in the pool!!!!