Florida Vacation Day 1: Plane Ride

My crazy boys on our first family flight.

At the beginning of the year, Eric and I decided to purchase some plane tickets and join his parents for part of their winter vacation to Pass-a-Grill, Florida.  We were excited to have a chance to get away from the Wisconsin winter, but also slightly overwhelmed by the idea of taking our first vacation as a family of four and flying with kids for the very first time.  The thought of being that mom with the screaming baby on the plane terrified me, and we also had no idea how Asher would feel about flying (he tends to be afraid of a lot lately).  To help him prepare for the adventure, we asked him a couple of times after we bought the tickets if he wanted to go on a plane ride and made it sound fun and exciting.  Unfortunately, we quickly realized that it sounded a little too fun and exciting and had to curb the vacation talk due to a certain boy who could not understand that we were not going flying at that exact moment in time.  So, we stopped talking about our vacation with Asher and mentally tried to prepare ourselves.  I started packing about a week before we left using my PackTheBag app (this is one of my FAVORITE apps...it makes packing with kids SOOO much easier, I'm not sure I'd survive packing to go places without it), and by Friday evening all of our bags were lined up in the Dining Room ready to be loaded into the van the next day.

On Saturday, after breakfast and a little last-minute packing, we loaded up the van and the kiddos, said goodbye to Emma (who staycationed at home with some friends from church), and headed up to Mitchel International Airport in Milwaukee to begin our adventure.  Although I believe I had packed fairly light considering all that is required for a toddler and a baby, we still had a TON of luggage (3 large bags and a carseat to check + a stroller, carseat, 2 backpacks and a diaper bag to carry on!).  Because of this, Eric and I decided it would be easiest to drop Avery and I off at the airport with the luggage to wait while he and Asher parked the car and took the bus back to join us.  This was a great idea, but there was a problem.  Eric had to stay outside by the van with Asher, while I had to get a cart with our luggage piled up, my carry on items, and a stroller holding our sleeping baby into the airport on my own.  Since I couldn't leave the luggage or the baby alone, the only thing I could do was push and pull inch by inch through the doors and to the closest seat I could find to wait for the rest of my boys.

Avery sleeping in the carseat/stroller next to our mountain of luggage.

After waiting with Avery for about 15 minutes or so, Eric and Asher joined us but immediately departed again because Asher had dumped his water bottle all over his pants and was completely soaked.  Eventually, we were all ready to check in and then find our gate.  I wasn't really sure what to expect as our little family made its way through the airport, but I was pleasantly surprised.  Everyone seemed to be very helpful since we were a family with small kids and although the security check point was a pain as we had to send EVERYTHING that we had through the scanner (meaning taking it all out of the stroller and folding it up), the people there were surprisingly patient and helpful...although I was very happy that it was slow at the airport at that time and we didn't have a large line of people behind us.  Eventually, we did make it through and were able to find our gate.  We thought that we had given ourselves plenty of time to get to the airport and to our gate, but by the time we made it there we only had about 20 minutes till boarding,which was not much when you consider pre-flight diaper changes/bathroom breaks and a quick lunch.  I bought a sandwich (and spent WAY too much on it!) for Asher and I to share, and by the time we had scarfed it down everyone was lining up at our gate.  Again, we were happy to see that they moved us to the front of the line to board in our group, taking a bit more of the stress out of the day.  We handed over our boarding passes, walked the tunnel to our plane and found our seats to enjoy our first flight as a family and our boys first flights of their lives.

Eric & Avery waiting to board the plane.

Asher getting settled and enjoying the view of the tarmac.

Once we were on the plane, everything was smooth sailing (or should I say smooth flying?) from then on.  The kids both did great on the flight and several people commented how well behaved they were.  Asher spent the flight reading books, playing with some toys, looking out the window, enjoying a plethora of snacks, and got some wings and an activity book from one of the flight attendants.  Avery spent the flight on my lap nursing, cat-napping and watching everyone around us.  He also decided to let out a good poop mid-flight, forcing me to use the plane's bathroom and changing table.  I survived the experience, but was horrified by the tiny space (with the changing table down, the space was so limited that if I backed up at all the door would open...I honestly don't know how anyone larger than me could do it).  The tiny space also horrified me because it put EVERYTHING within reach for Avery who was rolling around and getting his tiny paws on all that he could...making this germ-a-phone mommy completely disgusted!

Eric & Asher reading books.

Me and my lap buddy.

Happy Guy.

Eric brought our GPS along for the ride.  I believe it clocked us at a maximum speed of 515 MPH.

Toward the end of the flight, Asher did start to get a little antsy, but soon after the pilot announced that we would be landing soon and he was again distracted by the sights below us coming into focus. We landed safety in sunny Florida, and immediately lost some layers to take in as much of the warm southern air as we could.  Soon afterwards, we exited the plane and boarded the airport tram to find our luggage.

We sat in the front of the tram, so that Asher & Eric could pretend they were driving it.

Video: Asher & Eric "Driving" the Tram

When we reached the other part of the airport, we made our way to the baggage carousel and quickly found our bags.  We got them outside and were greeted by Eric's dad soon after.  Although Asher knew that he would be seeing Gramps soon, the look on his face when he showed up was still priceless! :)  Gramps hugged the boys while Eric and I squeezed all of our luggage, the stroller, two carseats and the five of us into the rented crossover, and together we headed South to Pass-a-Grill, Florida on St. Pete's Beach...

Asher riding through the airport in style...FYI: I was holding Avery-he is NOT in the carseat beneath his big brother! :)