Vacation- The First Installment- Traveling

I realize that I'm not the first, nor the last, person to travel with a baby. But I must say... those who have traveled any amount of distance with a baby knows, that it is the least relaxing situation you may go through in your life! :) (maybe a bit dramatized there....). Our family got to go to Mexico this last week for a "vacation." (I put it in quotes mainly because if you've every traveled or stayed elsewhere, other than your house, with a baby you will ALSO know that there isn't much vacationing done... but that is for yet another blog... maybe the second installment.) Paul's most amazing parents bought us and Asher a trip to Mexico. Where we met them, and stayed at an all inclusive resort. It was SOOOO nice of them, and I am very thankful to have such amazing in-laws. They have been an amazing father to Paul. Awesome in-laws to me. And WONDERFUL grandparents to Asher.... anyway.. that's besides the point. For us to even GET to this "vacation" we had to travel quite some way... with a BABY... duh duh duh (also a bit dramatized).

So here's the breakdown... we live in a small town.. about 2.5ish hours away from the airport.... The loving husband got home from ANOTHER trip the Sunday before we were to fly out (Monday at 6:30 am). We thought it would be the smartest idea to go and stay right by the airport Sunday night. We are super smart, because if we HADN'T done that... we would have had to be up and driving to the airport at like 2:30ish. So first travels with a baby was the 2.5 hour drive to Kansas City. Our baby is weird... because he HATES car rides about 89% of the time. And will cry... non stop... for the entire drive. Which he proceeded to do until we pulled into the parking lot of the Hotel. We had a little respite when we stopped for dinner (which had no baby seat... what place doesn't have ONE baby seat?!?!). Anyway.... nothing we aren't used to... and nothing we haven't learned to turn the music over! (I'm only kidding!... mostly). So there we were starting our time away from home. Believe it or not... Asher does NOT like to sleep in that crappy pack 'n play as much as he likes sleeping in his own bed! Hard to believe I know! So we set off to trying to get him to settle into some sleep.. then we did... By about 8:27 pm Bash, Husband, and I were in our beds, tucked in, and sleeping...

4:00am came quick and we were all up. Bash crying, because I'm pretty sure he had NO idea what was going on. We were getting everything ready to go and we were out of the hotel (with breakfast in hand) at 4:30. We arrived at the airport 1.5 hours early (which is MORE than enough time at the KC Airport... I love that place). Anyway... this started our wait time. Now... Asher is a very happy baby. I thank the LORD for this daily. So he made smiles while he wandered around aimlessly with Paul or I taking turns chasing him. Asher has a great way of making everyone smile. We got the first bottle ready for the flight. And the 1.5 hours passed by quick enough. We boarded the plane.. and as you get on you can see the people's faces turn to a relaxed sleepy look... to an.. OH NO! Not a baby on flight! This 2 hour trip is going to be a disaster! Which in turn turns on the pressure. I can't stand people looking at me like this. So... we get settled in. Asher makes some friends, while people cautiously smile at us and tell us we have a cute baby. The plane gets going. Asher gets the first bottle... and he SLEEPS! Success! Success....

In our entire trip we had: 2.5 hour trip to the airport, 2 hour flight to Atlanta, 2.5 hour flight the Mexico, 30 minute car ride to resort... and that ALL over again on 4 days later. Not to mention layovers! 

Now... I would LOVE to walk through each plane flight... but it just isn't worth it all. Here are some travel lessons we picked up along the way:

1.) Have FOOD for your baby.. bottle, snacks, water, and really anything to please the baby
2.) Plan for your child to sleep on the plane, which may include keeping your child up WAY too long at the airport lay over. Which is fine.... you have more room to roam, and more space for your child to throw a fit
3.) You make some people's day with your baby. Baby smiles could quite possibly bring world peace... and I'm sticking to that statement!
4.) Make cards that say: How old your baby is, How long they've been walking for, and Yes... you know they are big. Another one you could make: Thank You... this saves you saying the same thing a billion times.
5.) Running in the airport with a baby is a GREAT workout.
6.) Don't make eye contact with the people as you load the plane, and you won't see their disappointment as you board
7.) Try to NEVER get the last seat on the plane.. You are right by the engine, there is NO room for your legs (let alone a baby), and the bathrooms are right by you... so there is a weird smell lofting in your area the whole time (or maybe that was me... smelling myself... Which brings me to my next point...)
8.) Wear tons of deodorant

We made it to Mexico safely

We made it home safely.

Traveling isn't the best. It isn't even close to being good...

But the smiles we got from people and the complements about how cute the Basher was super helpful in getting us through! :)


2 life lessons here:

1. Next time you see a baby on a plane... try and give the people a welcoming smile.
2. When you run across an airport with a baby and your arms are on fire and you are sweating a lot.... you will always find out that the flight is delayed and all that hustle wasn't worth it! :)


Travel shares?!?!?