Home Again

It's been a little time between entries I know, blame it on travel and jet lag.  We went to Long Island, NY for a wedding and a baptism all in one weekend.  I grew up there and have a large family there, so we had plenty to keep us busy.  But our biggest fear, airplane shenanigans, never materialized.  That and the fact that the baby had a blast from the time we left to go to the airport at 5 AM Thursday morning until we got back to Arizona late Monday night made it a great trip all around.  I have a lot on my mind to blog about, some trip related and some not, but right now I'll leave you with a few random pictures and a recap of the plane ride.

I got lots of comments on my last entry about being nervous about flying with an 18 month old.  It turns out with Sabrina, airplane travel equals sleep.  Our trip was a four hour flight from Phoenix to Baltimore, then an hour from there to Long Island, and the same on the return.  She was asleep before we took off and stayed there for the first three hours of the trip.  An Elmo video and snacks took care of hour four.  She got the crazies out in a quiet part of the Baltimore airport and was back to sleep as we taxied to the runway, not waking until we landed.  She repeated this when we went back to Baltimore on Monday.  For all our worry about popping ears during takeoff, she slept through the first three of them.

Flying from Baltimore to Phoenix, she was up for three hours.  (Eh, you can't win 'em all!)  She slept through the fourth hour, deplaning, baggage claim, the bus ride to the car, and didn't wake up until getting strapped in the car seat.  It works out to sleeping for just over 60% of the time.  Not too shabby!

Here are some pictures from the wedding and baptism we went to, as well as the big reveal of the top secret dress.  Enjoy!

My new dress...

During the Kid's Balloon Dance

Smiling with Dada

Raise the Roof!

Partying in the Yard

Having fun with Papa

A Menace to Everything in the Air...Yes, Birds Too.

Surely you're not taking a toddler on a plane?

Well the Free Range Chicken Experiment has limited success.  Some nights it's bed and sleep, others it's don't you dare leave this room or I'll scream.  We'll get there.

This week we're going to Long Island, NY for my cousin's wedding so we'll be taking the baby on her first airplane ride.  It's four hours from Phoenix to Baltimore, and another hour from there to Long Island.  We're planning on packing lots of snacks, books, toys, and little bottles of airplane alcohol (for us, in case this whole thing goes bad).  We've been hearing the benedryl story from others who've done this with an 18 month old, so we tested it last weekend.  It didn't seem to make her sleepy, just kind of out of it.  So unless she's a real monster on the plane, I'm not sure we'll use it.  It's against my better judgement anyway.  Our flight leaves at 7 AM, so she'll be up very early.  Hopefully she'll be tired by then.  But I'm not counting on it!

She's going to have a blast.  I'll post some pictures of her in the top secret dress over the weekend.  For now, we're packing all the essentials...

I'm leaving, on a jet plane.