Flying With Two

We recently got back from a visit to California.

I had Scott’s help for the trip out, but an awful 3 hour delay in Chicago under blazing lights and without a quiet place to rest right at the girl’s bedtime left us both trashed long before our arrival at my parents’ house.

For the return trip, I was on my own… or so I thought.

The stage was set for disaster:

• We left on a Saturday afternoon and Caitlyn (5 months) hadn’t pooped since Tuesday. Yeah.
• Caitlyn, a loud but generally content baby spent all day Friday refusing to nap and spitting up like crazy. Yuck.
• I returned with extra stuff, having heeded the siren call of fresh citrus from my parents’ backyard, free children’s books, and hand-me-down clothes. I hate to travel heavy with two kiddos to shepherd as well.
• It’s 7 1/2 hours of travel time, plus early arrival at the airport, and car rides to and from the airport.

I was looking at over 9 hours with a charming but excitable 3 year old, a cute little ticking poop-bomb, and too much luggage to carry.

But you know what? We won!

Here’s how the score shook out:

Against

1. Both flights were late, thus throwing off The Schedule.
2. The first delay had me jiggling a hungry baby for 30 minutes and then breastfeeding a screaming baby (discreetly, of course) when we finally took off.
3. The second delay made the layover 3 1/2 hours… in Vegas. Poor packing drove me to buy airport food out of desperation.
4. As it turns out, Mackenzie and Caitlyn both sleep best on my lap but they don’t share the space very well. On several occasions, they kicked the other one awake accidentally.

For

1. By some miracle, I ended up on the first leg with three people I knew: My brother, my dad and our good friend from Bay Photo were all bound for photography conventions in Vegas and helped with checking my luggage and tying Mackenzie’s shoes at security.
2. I found a place a the Vegas airport that sold vegetarian burritos and I was able to sub guacamole for cheese to procure a decent meal, white tortilla notwithstanding. Fuel is critical for the patience and happiness of a nursing Mama and an active three-year-old.
3. Aside from a half hour of majorly cranky baby on the plane that had our seatmate rubbing his eyes and people in the next row up shifting in their seats, both girls were remarkably well-behaved. Caitlyn napped at the airport and the girls took turns napping on the second leg.
4. Mackenzie charmed the socks off of every person on the plane and everyone she encountered at the airports. I was seriously in awe of her skills. Girlfriend can work a crowd.
5. Scott picked us up at baggage claim (at 1am!), delighted Mackenzie with a wee banana as a surprise and shouldered our luggage with a smile.

So, we live to fly another day. 😀