Entry 1: Getting the kids to NJ

If you've been following my blog, you know that Phillip and I brought my nieces, age seven years old and 17-months, back to New Jersey with us. We were all in Memphis for the holiday.

Kendall, the oldest, has flown before, so she was least of my worries, but Kaylee, the toddler, was new to flying and was another story. But first, we had to get on the plane.

Phillip and I normally fly light, if possible, we always carry on our luggage. But yesterday, that was not an option. We had three suitcases - our two carry-ons and their large suitcase. We also had a stroller, car seat, diaper bag and a bag full of toys that wouldn't fit in either suitcase. We checked nearly everything. I'm still trying to figure out how we did that without getting charged $15 per item, which is Continental's policy. Maybe the flight agent took pity on us. 

After checking everything except the stroller and diaper and toy bags, we made it through security fine, even though Kendall didn't want her Build-a-Bear to go through the screening machine, but Fluffy survived.

We settled in the waiting area with an hour to spare, so I called my older sister, Kristi, the girls' mother. When telling her about checking everything, she asked if we checked the bag of toys. 

Panic set in. 

Where was the bag of toys?

I pictured myself placing the bag against a wall near the check-in counter.

"Kristi, I gotta go. I left the bag at the check-in counter," I said.

I grabbed my boarding pass and ID and ran through the airport, praying that the bag was still there. A week without toys was going to be hellish. Plus, a pair of my new shoes were in that bag!

Thankfully, it was sitting exactly where I had propped it. 

Whew!

A little while later, we boarded the plane for the 6:10 p.m. This was an experience. Even though we had checked nearly everything, it still seemed like our arms were full. 

The first mistake was not wearing our coats on the plane, so Phillip had four coats in his arms, plus the stroller. I had Kaylee, who weights nearly 30 pounds, and the diaper bag and Kendall had the bag full of toys.

Now, this might not have posed a problem if we were on a "real"plane, but our plane was one of those with two seats on one side and one on the other and probably had 12 rows. It was tiny.

Heads were bumped. Sweat was forming. A line formed behind us. Apologizes were said. Phillip couldn't get all of the coats in the small overhead bin. I had the diaper and toy bags in the floor in front of my seat, which wasn't allowed. The flight attendant stored the toy bag. Kaylee was crying and Kendall wanted her Nintendo DS.

Once we finally got settled, about six minutes later, I wondered how parents do it? My next thought was "I don't want kids for sure!"

The flight was fine. We left on time. Kaylee ate, slept and was fine during take off and landing. Kendall listened to music and finally got her hands on her DS. 

Once we got to the car, we had to figure out how to get all of that stuff in the car. The suitcases and diaper and toy bags were in the trunk. The stroller was in the front seat and Kendall, Kaylee and I sat in the back. It was a tight ride.

We got home around 11 p.m. and the girls were wide awake. They finally went to sleep around 1 a.m.

My bed never felt so good.