A few weeks ago we decided we would travel to Texas (all 4 of us) for Alan's Grandpa's 90th birthday celebration. The decision to go was pretty last minute, although we were given plenty of notice about this trip. Originally, it just seemed like too much money and the thought of leisure travel with two kids seemed void of leisure.
Then all of a sudden, we decided to go. Not sure why--maybe because finances changed and we had the money, or because we wanted to wear shorts and say things like "ya'll"--nonetheless, we were headed to the happiest place on earth. Wait. Wrong place.
There was a small part of me that wanted to go to Texas to see what I was made of. I wanted to travel with two kids on an airplane, live in cramped quarters for a few days to see if I could do it. I knew my kids could do it--they're resilient. I just wasn't sure how I would fare. And since we have plans to move our entire lives to another country, I thought taking a test run couldn't hurt. Turns out, I am resilient too!
Because I am trying to write this while the girls are napping and in reality, Olive has more of a "quiet time" in her room, which, in reality is not that quiet, I'll include just some highlights from the trip.
We had a lay-over on the way there, so each flight was no more than 2 1/2 hours. The girls did so well, thanks to a stash of lollipops and the iPad. We flew on regional planes, so they didn't handle turbulence as well. After our first flight, Olive and I were sick. Olive was really pale and saying her tummy hurt and I was quietly saying to myself "do not throw up, do NOT throw up". So at the Cincinnati airport, I foundmagic Chewable Dramamine and the second flight was quite dreamy.
The first night we stayed with some Dear Friends who live in Dallas. All four of us tried to share a room. Clementine was in a pack and play, Olive on a sofa-bed, and we were in a regular bed. We put the girls to bed first and through the monitor kept hearing this exchange:
Clementine: O-wiv
Olive: What?
Clementine: Chicken butt
After the 4th time of being called in by Olive, we moved Clementine to her own room so we could get some sleep. Olive did awesome sharing a room with us. It's amazing how kids just all of a sudden grow up. 6 months ago, we tried sharing a room and it was a disaster. I added that to the list of things we just don't do. This was a good reminder that everything is just a season.
The rest of the trip was filled with a lot of time spent at the hotel playground, in our hotel room, and getting together with family each night. Saturday night was the actual birthday celebration. Great Grandma (or "Meemaw" as Clementine calls her) bought special dresses for the girls to wear to the party. This is how much the girls liked them:
Seriously. The crying and death screams lasted for 15 minutes. Much bribing was done to get them to go to the party in these dresses. I think they get their diva-ness from Alan. He's high maintenance.
I'm so glad we decided to go, for many reasons. It was great for Alan to spend time with his extended family; it was so encouraging to see how well our girls do with traveling; and spending time with our Dear Friends in Dallas was refreshing.
I feel like we can accomplish anything; all I need is a stash of lollipops, Caillou episodes on the iPad, and some Dramamine.
- M
Ps. Find more pictures and musings from our trip on facebook.
Then all of a sudden, we decided to go. Not sure why--maybe because finances changed and we had the money, or because we wanted to wear shorts and say things like "ya'll"--nonetheless, we were headed to the happiest place on earth. Wait. Wrong place.
There was a small part of me that wanted to go to Texas to see what I was made of. I wanted to travel with two kids on an airplane, live in cramped quarters for a few days to see if I could do it. I knew my kids could do it--they're resilient. I just wasn't sure how I would fare. And since we have plans to move our entire lives to another country, I thought taking a test run couldn't hurt. Turns out, I am resilient too!
Because I am trying to write this while the girls are napping and in reality, Olive has more of a "quiet time" in her room, which, in reality is not that quiet, I'll include just some highlights from the trip.
We had a lay-over on the way there, so each flight was no more than 2 1/2 hours. The girls did so well, thanks to a stash of lollipops and the iPad. We flew on regional planes, so they didn't handle turbulence as well. After our first flight, Olive and I were sick. Olive was really pale and saying her tummy hurt and I was quietly saying to myself "do not throw up, do NOT throw up". So at the Cincinnati airport, I found
The first night we stayed with some Dear Friends who live in Dallas. All four of us tried to share a room. Clementine was in a pack and play, Olive on a sofa-bed, and we were in a regular bed. We put the girls to bed first and through the monitor kept hearing this exchange:
Clementine: O-wiv
Olive: What?
Clementine: Chicken butt
After the 4th time of being called in by Olive, we moved Clementine to her own room so we could get some sleep. Olive did awesome sharing a room with us. It's amazing how kids just all of a sudden grow up. 6 months ago, we tried sharing a room and it was a disaster. I added that to the list of things we just don't do. This was a good reminder that everything is just a season.
The rest of the trip was filled with a lot of time spent at the hotel playground, in our hotel room, and getting together with family each night. Saturday night was the actual birthday celebration. Great Grandma (or "Meemaw" as Clementine calls her) bought special dresses for the girls to wear to the party. This is how much the girls liked them:
Seriously. The crying and death screams lasted for 15 minutes. Much bribing was done to get them to go to the party in these dresses. I think they get their diva-ness from Alan. He's high maintenance.
I'm so glad we decided to go, for many reasons. It was great for Alan to spend time with his extended family; it was so encouraging to see how well our girls do with traveling; and spending time with our Dear Friends in Dallas was refreshing.
I feel like we can accomplish anything; all I need is a stash of lollipops, Caillou episodes on the iPad, and some Dramamine.
- M
Ps. Find more pictures and musings from our trip on facebook.
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