The kids and I made a trip to Boston to visit my parents for a week. Amazingly, this was Isaac's first flight! By the time Kayla was a year, she'd probably been on at least 6 flights! But, now that she isn't a free ticket, we try to drive rather than fly. Plus traveling with 2 is a little more difficult, so we travel less anyway. Kayla was amazing on the trip. I opted to pack really light and carry on all of our luggage, to avoid $50 in baggage fees. However, that meant that we had 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks, a purse, a Boppy, a lunchbox with food/drinks for the kids, a stroller and the 3 of us! With security, where you have to take off your shoes, your belt, your watch, and put everything up on the conveyor, it sure took us awhile! Thankfully, everyone was patience (Kayla and Isaac especially!). Still, it took us more than 10 minutes from when we were first in line until we were able to leave... yikes! Kayla carried her own backpack and pulled her own suitcase and did a great job of listening to me. Of course, at our layover in Chicago we had to walk nearly a mile... and that can't be much of an exaggeration. At one point she asked if we could take a break! I piled the 2 suitcases on the stroller, put backpacks in the storage below the stroller, Kayla stood on the footrest and Isaac sat on top of the suitcases while I pushed! It was quite the balancing act as I tried to push it all!
We had a fabulous time while we were there. My parents had planned a bunch of activities for Kayla to do and she had so much fun doing them. Grandma took her to the library story time, they went to the circus, and Grandpa took her to the Children's Museum! Isaac stayed at home for these activities, since he's too young to really appreciate them, so it was really special for Kayla to have 1-on-1 time and all of their attention!
At home, Kayla and Grandma decorated Easter eggs! This was the first time for her and she absolutely loved it! Then we had several different Easter egg hunts! Kayla squealed with delight each time she found an egg!
Isaac got a few eggs, but he did not like the way the grass felt on his knees, so he was walking on his hands and feet!
Isaac enjoyed playing with their Tupperware drawer and pot & pans drawer!
Both kids loved "Grandpa's big bathtub!"
It was sunny and warm during our trip, so we made it to a park! The kids both had a great time.
And we all enjoyed swinging on the swing they have on their deck.
And the kids enjoyed playing with Grandpa's banks!
Kayla got to help make a birthday cake for Isaac. She LOVED it. He did not. I'm not sure what this kids deal is, but he does not like cake!!
And of course they enjoyed just some relaxing time with Grandma and Grandpa too!
The plane ride back nearly did me in. I think it's easier when we travel to MA. There is a really short flight somewhere which is less than an hour. I can handle anything for that short of a time. Then we have a layover and we are on our long flight. Even if the long flight is bad, it doesn't matter, because we are at our destination! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I know as soon as I get on the ground Grandma and Grandpa will be there to give me a break!! On the flight home, we have the 2.5 hour flight first. Isaac started crying the MINUTE I sat down in our seat. So, it wasn't his ear pressure changing, it was just that he didn't want to be confined. He screamed (screamed, not cried) for nearly the entire flight. I tried to nurse him to calm him down, but he kept pulling off and screaming more, so that wasn't bringing him much comfort. Eventually he fell asleep for about 30 minutes. But when he woke up he was back to his screaming. I felt so bad for all the people around us, and I felt bad for Kayla who I had to nearly ignore while I tried everything to calm Isaac down (not that anything worked). Then we had a layover in which I again had to walk nearly a mile. I dreaded getting on the next plane. Isaac was still a pill, but at least he didn't scream the whole time (just part of the time!). As soon as the plane landed Kayla took off her seatbelt and while we were taxiing she lost her balance and fell into the aisle and hit her head hard on the metal of another seat and her back on the floor. She was screaming, and in turn, Isaac started screaming. I was nearly in tears as I was so exhausted. Everyone on the plane was so helpful; I think everyone felt so bad for me, and so many people gave me looks or actually said, "Been there... sorry!". They carried all of our bags off the plane, helped me get the stroller set up and get us on our way. I just couldn't wait to see David and know that I was not alone anymore. It was.... well, a horrible experience. Not so terrible that I would never do it again. But I'm not eager to travel like that anytime soon. Again, Kayla did so great (minus the seatbelt thing. She also took her seatbelt off DURING THE LANDING on our first flight, and likely would have smacked her head against the seat in front of us if the lady who was sitting next to her hadn't held her back. Clearly we need to have a seatbelt discussion on our next flight!). She was such a great helper and entertained herself so well. Isaac was a pill. And I should have known better.... 12 months is a hard age to travel because they want to move all over the place and there is so much going on that they don’t want to just sleep all of the time.... but they aren't really old enough to bribe with food/candy/stickers/new toys/etc. It was challenging to travel, but our time there was so relaxing that it was worth the effort! We really had a great time and a fun visit, and I am so glad we went! Thanks mom and dad for making our trip so special!
