Airplane Travel

Back in February, travels to California left us commuting to the west coast in a plane... with two kids.  What may sound like torture for parents and other travelers, ended up being fantastic quality time for all of us.  And I'm pretty sure our neighbors didn't mind us.  In fact they were too distracted by the screaming kid in aisle 27.  Thanks kid, sorry you didn't like flying!  Anyways, Papa & Mama had so much fun and the kids were rock stars.

That's a lot of stuff!!!

Emma had her own seat - she is a ticketed passenger now!  Which meant she had access to her own TV (we were flying JetBlue).  She had a blast operating the remote and watching cartoons.  And she scored as many snacks as she wanted.  Her favorite snack while we headed west was chocolate chip cookies (she still talks about "airplane cookies").  Her favorite while traveling east were popcorn chips.  TV & all-you-can-snacks - that airline was like a toddler's dream come true.  She also had her own carry-on packed with activities and more snacks, but she didn't need any of it.  She was 90% entertained by the JetBlue provided TV and snacks.  And the other 10% was spent going to the restroom on the plane and asking for more snacks.

Navigating her carry-on through the plane.

"Keep the snacks coming."

Isla did great too!  She was in her happy spot - mom's arms or the Ergo baby carrier.  She slept a lot with all the plane's vibrations and background noise.  When she was awake, she would smile at us and play with mama's headphones.  She couldn't have done any better herself.  Except for the pooping during take off - Isla, why does that always happen?!?!  ;)  I am glad I packed several extra outfits!

"Hi mom!"

My big takeaway from this trip is that I really do enjoy flying with my kids (at least this trip and especially when their Papa is with us)!!!  We traveled during the best time for our toddler (i.e. it wasn't a red eye).  Yes, she skipped a nap, but it wasn't the end of the world.  We had 6 hours of flight time and all we did was hang out - the four of us.  When do we ever get to sit down for 6 hours and just hang out / watch our kids.  It was a really fun time.

A picture of the four of us.  While Emma stares at the TV.  :)