The Girls' First Flight!

Because Derek began his new fellowship at Lackland AFB on July 1st & Emily's wedding was on the 3rd, Derek was unable to join us for the trip and the wedding. So that meant I was flying solo for the girls' first flight! I was definitely a little nervous about how to juggle luggage & 2 small children on my own through security & busy airports, but we did it! The morning of our first flight I took the girls to Target to get a few essentials for the trip--new coloring book, crayons, Yogurt Melts (LIFE SAVER!), and new toys.

New Anna & Elsa dolls :)

Playing with toys while we waited to board the plane.
We opted to wait until the last possible minute to board the plane, and I'm SO glad we did! I can't imagine willingly trying to keep a 15 month confined to my lap for one minute longer than necessary!

Blurry, but the only picture of the 3 of us together on the plane so I'll take it!

I posted this picture on Facebook along with the following comment:
"I was totally overwhelmed with the kindess of strangers today..no matter how many terrible things you hear in the news, there is still so much goodness in the world! This woman was a true Godsend to us today! To Becca from Pittsburgh, THANK YOU!!!!! And here's to hoping the person who gets stuck seated next to us on our return flight to San Antonio is just as patient with us!"

I seriously can't express my gratitude to this total stranger enough! Shelby literally talked her ear off for two hours straight, and Shelby adored her! Whenever anyone asked how her first flight was, she would tell them all about her "new friend Becca."  ;)  Becca kept Shelby completely entertained, so I was able to devote all of my attention to keeping a certain squirmy baby in my arms who wanted to be everywhere BUT my arms!

My dad took this picture of us right outside the airport when they first spotted us coming outside. Proof that we survived our first flight & we were still smiling!

Blurry picture, but I had to include it..Shelby wouldn't let go of Grammy's hand after we got in their car at the airport!
She was so excited to see Grammy & Grampy!

And here's a few pictures from our flight from Atlanta back to San Antonio...

My mom snapped this picture of the 3 of us right before we were getting ready to go thru security. Shelby & I both carried a backpack & then I had a big Vera that I put on the back of the umbrella stroller. And yes, the girls & I each wore the same "travel day outfit" for both flights ;)

Waiting to board at the gate...

Coloring on the plane

Watching Frozen on the plane

Reunited with Daddy!!!

I learned so much from these first flights with the girls! If I had to do it over again with a 15 month old (and I had an extra adult with me to help juggle everything) I would glady forgo the free "infant in arms" and pay for an extra seat in order to bring a carseat on board for Hadley. Trying to keep her in my lap (not to mention quiet!) for 120 consecutive minutes was no easy feat. 15 months is a busy, active age...definitely not the easiest age for flying! Shelby, on the other hand, was a breeze and loved everything about flying! I contemplated bringing our sit n stand stroller with us just so I could have a place for Shelby to sit as we navigated the crowded airports, but at the last second I changed my mind & went with the umbrella stroller...SO glad I did! Even though I love our sit n stand, you just can't beat the ease of folding up an umbrella stroller when it needs to be done quickly (for security & boarding) & you've already got your hands full with kids & carry-on luggage. And the other big lesson I learned was PACK LESS in the carry on bags! I intentionally packed pretty light for our carry ons, but I still brought too much. All of the toys I brought for Hadley were a waste of time & space b/c she was waaay more interested in hamming it up with other nearby passengers on the plane or exporing the stuff in the seat back pockets or trying to squirm out of my lap, not one toy I brought bought me any relief! And the toys I brought for Shelby weren't necessary b/c she was perfectly content. You live & learn, right?! Things that I would definitely pack again in our carry ons are: meals for the girls to eat on the plane (I packed them dinner to eat on the plane for our evening flight to ATL & they ate an early lunch on our flight to SA), movies on the tablet (for Shelby..Hadley couldn't care less about watching TV/movies), & coloring books/stickers. Another reason to pack light in the carry on is I didn't account for how little floor space we'd have between the 3 of us in order to be able to easily access/store again items from our bags. Seems like common sense, but I didn't really think about how hard it would be to get stuff in/out of our bags while on the plane with a squirming baby in my arms.

And the other most important lesson I learned was just how nice people are. In addition to Becca, we encountered SO many kind-hearted strangers. A man behind us in the security line in San Antonio offered to get everything up on the belt for me while I got Hadley out of the stroller, which made my life immensely easier! Whenever Hadley started to get fussy on the flight, people around us always started playing peek a boo or talking to her to distract her. And while waiting to board our flight in San Antonio, we sat down in the only empty seats at the gate between two men in their fifties who each looked like the least friendly people ever. Turns out, my gut reactions about them couldn't have been more wrong. The man to our left was busy on his phone & never bothered to look up at us when we sat down. But as soon as Hadley spotted his phone, she immediately crawled over to him, pointed at his phone repeatedly, and started grunting loudly..this is her code for telling you what she wants. ;)  I, of course, quickly scooped her up and began to apologize when the man just handed his phone over and said "It's okay. I've got kids, I know how it is."  Fast forward a few more minutes, and Hadley crawls over to the other seeminly unfriendly man to our right and flashes him her biggest grin & he tells her to stop flirting because he's already married. His wife then came over & they talked with us/entertained the girls until we boarded. Turns out they're from Cumming, GA and had traveld to SA for their nephew's graduation from boot camp. When we landed in Atlanta, the wife came up and gave me a quick hug to say good luck with our trip and how well the girls had done on the flight. I can't express how much these seemingly little acts of kindess from total strangers meant to me. I can only hope that one day down the road (when I don't have a baby on one hip & a toddler in the other hand) I can be that stranger blessing other young mothers with little acts of kindness when they least expect it.