every time we travel i think about how difficult it is but have never done a post about it - so here it is - my rant on air travel.i knew that if i could just get us all buckled into our seats on the plane, then i could finally relax. so friday night was a marathon of packing and cleaning. i think i went to bed around 1am. my alarm was set for 3:30am, but mason decided that i needed to get up at 3am instead! we got the kids up at 4:30 so that we could be on the road at 5. madelyn was beyond excited to finally be heading to the beach! she was also very excited about being up so early that it was still dark outside. she was really cute with her constant dialog and questioning - "we're going to the beach. there are going to be crabs...hear the cricket bugs in the dark? ...why? ...why? ...why?"
needless to say, matt and i were both pretty exhausted to start our day. on the way to the airport we were trying to figure out the best way to handle the logistics of getting the car parked, the luggage checked, and through security with two small children. i had worked really hard to make our luggage and carry-ons reasonable. even though we were fortunate enough to get a direct flight, there is always the possibility that your luggage may not be there when you arrive at your destination. and with children that means that you have to carry more with you in your carry on - just in case.
anyway, with all the security it makes it extremely difficult to travel with children. since you can't park curbside, you have to show an id, and pay for all checked bags now we had to try something different this time. after much discussion, we decided to park the car in short term parking, go in and check our luggage, and leave me with the kids and the carry-ons while matt went to park the car in long term parking. we were really lucky that we left so early, especially when the airport exit was unexpectedly closed with no detour marked and we had to find a new way to get to the airport.
security is the absolute worst part of any trip, but traveling with an infant that can't sit upright makes it even worse. you try to hurry because other people are waiting behind you and they make you take off everything - including your children's shoes. so i am trying to get everything off and into bins while tsa folks are taking my bins away from me while i am supporting mason with one arm and trying to answer their questions about "gels and liquids". i bumped mason's arm into the metal detector while walking through which set it off so i had to go through again. then i am trying to get all of my personal items together again while they keep trying to move me farther down the belt as the people in front of me finish getting their shoes back on. while i was buckling mason back into his carseat so that i could pick up everything the 'helpful' tsa lady was telling me how dangerous it was to buckle him in on the table. as she put it, "they can jump off and split their head open on the concrete - it makes a really big mess - you don't want that." gee, thanks for the tip.
really, it wasn't that bad since it was really early and there weren't too many people. it also helped that madelyn was in a stellar mood because she was so excited about getting on an airplane to go to the beach. as i predicted, once we were on the plane i could take a deep breath and begin my vacation. by the way, madelyn really enjoyed having her own seat. she finally fell asleep about a half hour before we landed. doesn't she look comfortable? love.
3 comments:
Fun,isn't it? Last time we flew the person who printed our boarding passes gave us both Victor Chen's. I realized it as we were getting into the security line. I ran back to the check in (butted in line) and told him he gave me the wrong persons ticket. He wanted me to go get Victor and the two kids out of the security line and bring them over to him just so he could see with his own eyes that he gave us two Victor Chen's. I told him no -- we would miss the flight if we did that. He gave in and gave me the right ticket. Get up to the security officer only to be "randomly" picked for a search. Victor was the one who was randomly picked since he was the 2nd Victor Chen to get a ticket for that flight. Errr!! Oh well -- we did make the flight but I was crabby at the security people and check in guy.
That being said here are some things that I think makes it easier going through security -- wear the baby. They don't make you take off an ERGO, moby, etc. That way you have two free hands at all times.
For check in -- we do curbside check in usually. One of us stays with the car (in the drop off area) at all times so security doesn't yell at us. We just check in one at a time then I take the kids and Victor goes and parks the car. We haven't gotten yelled at yet and it prevents having to drag the kids and luggage on the airport shuttle.
I see Maddie found her comfortable position. You need to write a book!!!
Geee air travle sounds fun- can't wait until October when we fly to NY. At least Kinley can hold her own head :)- but we have a connection on the way there that I am dreading. Love the picture of Maddie sleeping :)
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