Traveling

We had a few big airplane trips to wrestle with this summer.  I'll admit that I went in to it all with very low expectations*. 

 Not in a pessimistic way.  More in a 'I know that this could seriously rough' way.  I think it helped.  Compared to what I was prepared for the trips were a breeze.  (*I am all into crisis management though - so I think having low expectations comes with the territory.)

I joked with another parent-friend that a flight before kids was definitely not glamorous.  After kids, if you fly without them, it's kind of a vacation (they bring you fooooood!  I could read a whole boook!)   I definitely didn't bother taking a book.  I slept.

And I'm glad we ended up packing light.  Besides, it's better to use the extra space to pack fun treats like a mini helicopter (which Owen flew for almost the whole DC-Miami flight - too awesome!)

It helps to bring along a cute, happy baby.  People LOVE them.  And we found out that bringing a smallish one is a double bonus because of the bassinet.  The bassinet is your ticket to the good life because it means you have to sit in a bulkhead row.  SCORE!  Leg room AND instant bathroom access.  It also means that everyone waiting for the bathroom will play peek-a-boo with your cute infant (who is supposed to be sleeping in the bassinet) at 2am.  And apparently a lot of people need the restroom at 2am.  Babies love this and it seems to make the other passengers happy too.  Win-win (win).

We just took it slow.  And kissed our cranky (or happy...) babies a lot so we'd remember that we love them so much that we couldn't bear to leave them on the other side of the big, big ocean.

Scheduling in loooooong layovers helped too.    I don't know who needed them more but they were a great chance to rest and see a new place at the same time.  

Even though it was over 40 hours of flight time this summer (not counting layovers or car time) I we actually had fun

Which really had nothing to do with my planning (or low expectations even)

In fact...looking back at our flying 'adventures' I can only attribute it to a whole lot of grace, protection, and mercy.

So some major thanks got given (and get given) to God.  

 In sum, what I learned on summer vacation:  Less packing, more praying and take a cute baby with you for entertainment.  :)  [ And on long flights try to get a bassinet. ]