Friday, January 22, 2010

Airborn: A first flight story (Part One)

Kid Bro Tav (aka Unc) decided that he and the then-wife-to-be would do the nuptials a little different than the rest of the family. Destination: Paris - - Vegas, that is. And seeing as how Chi was chosen to perform flower fairy duties (she got a wand!) and I was selected as a bridesmaid, well, watching a live video of the show just would not suffice. We had to make the journey.

I procrastinated on ticket purchasing; perusing any site key worded "cheap" and "flight" on my searches and then guffawing at their idea of cheap. Now I'm not a little bird, but I am 2BF: budget-frugal-by-force. On payday, just a week before we were set to travel, I found two tickets round trip with no lay overs. Ya's under two for a few months yet, so he was a lap child. Free trip for little man, but big stress for Mommy. Would he handle the 4.5-5 hour flight? Would I?

The night before the trip I packed up every outfit I could fit into one check bag and one carry on. We unhitched the car seat (another checked bag, oh boy!). Marq drove the travelers to the airport, but he wasn't allowed to haul the stuff into the building. As he pulled away, I suddenly realized that I'd significantly overpacked. Art helped me maneuver the bags, stroller, and kids through the security check points, where we took off shoes, belts, and watches; Ya was cool with walking through the metal detector, but getting him back into the stroller and putting his shoes on was a challenge.

Travel bulletins say to allow two hours before the flight, but my folk like to play it safer. We arrived at 8:45 a.m. for an 11 a.m. departure. It took less than 40 minutes to check the bags, undress for scrutiny, and walk to our terminal (the walk through the airport was about 20 minutes. Getting Ya back in the stroller? About 10.)
The hour before the flight was... busy.
@airport (9)
We ran laps through the passengers with our stroller.
@airport (4)
...searched for abandoned trash treasure under the seats.
@airport (2)
...and played peek a boo behind a pole.

We waved at the leaving pilots. We drank orange juice. We tried to steal Chi's DS system.
1.9.2010 @airport (6)
We ran so Mommy could get Ya nice and tired (but guess who ended up exhausted?).

Art, who kept his distance during the wait because kids (and especially babies) are icky, was in an earlier boarding call, so I was forced to handle the remaining carry on luggage, stroller, and untired toddler alone. Finally, they called for families with children under five. Relieved, I took my place in line. I handed the lady our tickets.:

Agent: Do you have tags on your stroller?
Me: Yes. I put the luggage tag right here.
Agent: You need the other tag.
Me: I asked the lady when I checked the bags and checked in for the flight, she didn't say anything about tags.
And then I was told to get out of line, go to another line, and get a tag for the stroller at the "gate check in."

2 comments:

Taylor said...

It sounds exhausting, glad you made it through.

Joy Howse said...

that is just ridiculous. they certainly do not make it easy on moms to travel with kiddos. glad it all turned out ok in the end. now you need a vacation from the vacation. :)