Kansas Part 1: Airline Travel! / The Wallace House

Kansas Part 1: Airline Travel!

Monday, March 16, 2015

The boys and I are so excited that we are spending two weeks with my sister and her three littles in Kansas! My sister suggested this trip just a couple months ago and since we haven't seen her family since our family reunion in July we decided it was a great idea and booked some flights. We're having so much fun here already and I'll keep you updated on all our fun adventures but first...airline travel.

I wasn't nervous about traveling alone with both boys (2.5 and 14 months...while 23-25 weeks pregnant) until about two days before we actually left. And then I suddenly realized that I actually was very nervous about the experience! On our flight to Kansas we had to change planes which did not sound fun with a toddler, a baby and all our stuff. Turns out we even had to go through security again! Luckily, everything turned out even better than I could have anticipated!

Our flight departed at 8:05am so we had to wake the boys up before 6am in order to head to the airport. Phillip wasn't very happy about being woken up but Jack was pretty excited when I told him we were finally going on the airplane! He kept telling Tom "I get to go to the airport like you, Daddy!" ...because we've dropped Tom off at the airport a time or two (or eighty) when he heads out on business.

Daddy walked us to security and then we said our good-byes. By the looks on the boys' faces, I don't think they understood we wouldn't be seeing him for two weeks.

And then I was on my own...with my hands very full.

Originally, I hadn't planned on bringing a stroller and was just going to carry Phillip in an Ergo and have Jack walk. That plan was thrown to the wayside when my doctor advised me to not carry Phillip in the Ergo through the airport (being 23 weeks pregnant) and so I begrudgingly brought along my stroller. Even though it was a pain to have to fold it up through security it turned out to be much better than using an Ergo. I already was carrying quite a bit of weight with my diaper backpack and laptop bag (slash all-the-things-that-wouldn't-fit-in-Jack's-backpack bag) and Jack's backpack since he didn't want to wear it most of the time. It would have been really difficult for me to have Phillip's weight too! Plus it turned out Jack didn't want to walk all through the airport (duh) so both boys ended up in the (single) stroller a good portion of the time.

Once we made it through security (thank goodness they sent us through pre-check so I didn't have to remove my laptop or shoes in addition to folding up the stroller and trying to get everything through the x-ray machine while managing both boys!) it was pretty smooth sailing. The boys were both thrilled to watch the planes through the window although Jack was pretty concerned that he couldn't see the front of one of the airplanes which was blocked by the walkway. He kept asking me "where's it's head?"

Getting ourselves alllllll the way down the teensy-tiny aisle (I was carrying a laptop bag, bulky diaper backpack, an Ergo, and Phillip!) was an adventure but once we made it to our seats the boys were so excited! Except for when they fought over looking out the window ha.

We were so lucky and even though it was an almost completely full flight (I think there was one empty seat!) we ended up with a whole row even though we technically only had two seats. The flight attendant was so awesome and told me to sit the boys each in a seat so it looked like they were taken and she was directing people to all the middle seats that were left even though we technically weren't taking our window seat.

And then I got super lucky again when Phillip fell asleep at take-off.

And my spare seat came in really handy when I laid him down for the rest of the flight.

I brought a toddler-sized backpack full of toys & goodies (plus some overflow in my laptop bag) for Jack to keep him entertained on the flight but most turned out to be duds and we ended up with just a few winners. Another post coming soon on what we packed (along with what I recommend packing and what I recommend leaving at home)!

I'd say the favorite toy by far was this super easy pom-pom container I made the night before we left. I just cut a small hole in the top of a Glad container I had laying around the house and filled it with pom-poms. When you are ready to play, dump the pom-poms out and let your toddler (or baby! - Phillip could totally do this too and loved it!) push them all back in through the hole.

Jack played several times in a row. At first he just put them in by himself in a random order but then I had him put them in by color. "Okay, can you put all the yellows in now?" He loved it and it was great for color recognition.

When he got tired of the pom-pom game I pulled out a doctor kit I had bought at the dollar store specifically for this trip. Jack had so much fun giving me and Mr. Bunny very professional check-ups! He listened to our hearts and gave us shots, medicine, and stitches. Over and over and over again. Mr. Bunny was a very good patient.

Pretty soon we were landing and making our way to our connecting flight. We had a little bit of a layover so we pulled out some lunch and then some activities from the backpack. I got super lucky on flight #2 because Jack fell asleep within 20 minutes after take-off and Phillip followed suit just twenty-ish minutes later. Before Phillip fell asleep he entertained himself with the pom-pom game (seriously, make one!).