Today we left on our much-anticipated trip to Florida. My great aunt, who is ninety five years old, asked us to come visit her. Never ones to turn down offers to spend time with family on the beach, we gladly accepted.
My major concern about the trip was the flight; specifically, I was worried that Caleb would be upset by the noises and sensory overload that come with a plane trip. We spent the week before the flight reading books about airplanes and airports. I have to say that all of our preparation (and the added bonus of a DVD player!) made for a really easy flight!
We got the kids up at 3:30 in the morning and headed to the airport. I wish I had photos of Caleb and Daisy gazing out at the airplanes, but it was still dark when our redeye flight took off. Caleb was delighted, and commented that all of the city lights below us looked like fireworks.
We had a brief layover (with no plane change) in Baltimore. Because we were four of the five people on board during the layover, the pilot invited Caleb and Chris into the cockpit. What a treat!
At first, Caleb was terrified and quite resistant to the idea of being in the cockpit. But once we put him behind the wheel (is that what you call it?), he was pretty happy.
Captain Caleb!
Pilot Bob was so friendly. Despite all of his kindness to Caleb, though, I think Chris enjoyed the cabin visit more than Caleb did.
We also burned a little bit of energy during the layover by running laps up and down the plane's aisle.
Daisy rocked the first leg of the flight. The second leg found her a little bit fussier, but I suppose that was to be expected. All told, we spent five and a half hours on the plane.
That's right, darlings. Run your little hearts out!
Finally we arrived in West Palm Beach. Caleb was anxious to visit Aunt Gladys, but first we had to get our luggage, call for a shuttle to the car rental place, pick up our car, drive to the crib rental place, pick up a crib, find lunch, drive the hour to Aunt Gladys' town, pick up groceries for breakfast and lunch for the week... After a solid thirteen hours of travel, we finally arrived.
Aunt Gladys' neighbor, Carol, met us in the lobby and helped us carry our stuff up to the condo that would be our home for the next week. As Chris settled us in, I chatted with Carol about our travel. I looked up to check on the kids, and saw this:
It was their first glimpse of the ocean, and Caleb and Daisy were transfixed.
We eventually saw Aunt Gladys; she joined us for dinner in our condo, but Caleb and Daisy were understandably not in top form after a full day of travel. Aunt Gladys left after twenty minutes, and we were so tired that we didn't think much of it. Thankful that my aunt had provided a two-bedroom condo for us, we trudged our weary selves to bed and prayed the kids would sleep though the night.
Read about Day 2 here.
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