And Somehow I Lived to Tell About It: Part I

I was pretty anxious about our trip to visit the Hubs' family.  Not the visiting his family part, but the traveling with the Peanut on her first plane ride part.  I was all kinds of anxious for that.  First, I am not that comfortable of a flyer as it is.  And the older I get, the more nervous it makes me.  Strange, I know.  But I think I've figured out why......it's because I am a control freak.....and I don't have any control when flying.  It stresses me out to no end and I can't stand that about myself.  Combine that with the fact that I don't want my Peanut to be that way and not knowing how she was going to react to flying in general, well, you get the idea.  I was anxious, anxious, anxious...

We don't have a portable DVD player (as was a suggested distraction by many different people) but we did go to the dollar store and I picked out a few new little things for her for the plane ride.  They were brand new for her on the flight, as she didn't get to play with them until we were traveling.  And you know what?  She's quite the little traveler, our little Peanut.  She did absolutely fine.  Between the excitement of flying, air plane snacks, the seat belt/air mask instruction manuals stashed in the seat in front of her--flying was an absolute breeze.

Peanut thought Dolly should be able to listen to the music too.  

The hardest most traumatic part?   Going through security.  Who knew?  When I had to take off her shoes and put them in the bin to go through the metal detector, she was so concerned.  She wanted to have her shoes back on and having to follow me through the metal detector without her shoes on?  Well, that was just about her undoing.   Thankfully the TSA agents were all very understanding and patient with our little Peanut. 

We also met some of the nicest people during our flights.  To avoid the extra luggage fees, we chose not to check any luggage.  Ahem.  So having three small suitcases, three carry-on pieces and a car seat and a stroller makes for quite a challenge in trying to wrangle all of our belongings and keep a very close eye on a very busy two and half year old.  A gentleman we met in the airport was so kind and helped us carry our things on and off the plane.  And both of the ladies I sat next to on the flights were so sweet and understanding about all my knee jerk reactions in grabbing the armrest each and every time we encountered the smallest amount of turbulence.  We also met a nice mom and daughter during our layover en-route and they were friendly and kind to us and our Peanut as well.  I was so thankful for each of every one of them.

The layover we had on the way there had Hubs guiding Peanut as she insisted on driving her doll, Dolly, around in the stroller while I camped out with all of our things.  Fun times.  The layover was only about an hour, so after potty breaks and more snacks, it wasn't unbearable at all.  And you know what?  I survived.  I didn't think I would, but I did!

When we arrived, Hubs' parents first order of business was to take us to In -N-Out Burger.  YUM!  It was absolutely amazing as it always is.  You folks who have In-N-Out Burger's near you?  You have no idea how blessed your life truly is.  ;)

Peanut's Grandpa has been a volunteer firefighter for years and her uncle is a firefighter by trade.  We have been telling Peanut for several months that we were going to visit them and that she would be able to see their fire stations where they work.  In fact, every time she hears a siren she says, "Somebody's helping somebody!  Like Uncle K and Grandpa need help!"  Not quite...but she "gets it" for all practical purposes.  So, when we were able to visit both of their firehouses, it was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. 

We visited Hubs' brother's station first and she got her first up close and personal with the fi-yer {fire} trucks.  She fell asleep on the way there, but once the sleepiness wore off, she raring to go, taking in everything that her uncle had to show her. 

At her Grandpa's fire station, she was even able to ride in a fire truck and try out the fire hose with her daddy.  She wasn't so sure of the hose at first, but she was quickly all smiles.  Hubs even got try on one of the breathing apparatuses the fire fighters use....Peanut was a little concerned as to why Daddy had all that gear on, but she was quickly on to the next thing.  

I know candid shots are often times much better, but I took every opportunity for family shots as I could.  I have yet to master the candid shot thing (or even the posed shot for that matter....) and I wanted to have lots of good pictures, posed or not.  This was the first time Hubs' entire immediate family had been together in nearly seven years and we have had lots of new additions since Christmas of 2004.  Stay tuned for the rest of trip which includes a trip to the beach, a birthday celebration, lots of cousins, and the first Hubs' family photo in nearly seven years!


*****

Read Part II here.  
Read Part III: The Final Chapter here.