Saturday was our first two of six flights we'll be taking with our
three two year olds over the holidays. We have flown with them before
at
6 months,
9 months, and
18 months,
but every time has been different because they change so much in such a
short time. And we knew that this time was going to be different too
because now that they are two we had to buy five seats! Talk about
making traveling more expensive! In March when we went to Seattle we
took one car seat on board for the kiddo who wasn't in one of our laps.
The car seat was nice to have for containment purposes and also
napping. But as we started planning for this trip we just couldn't wrap
our brains around how we could realistically get three car seats on and
off six airplanes, while also managing three toddlers. We thought
about just bringing one, knowing we could contain the other two if need
be, but that just seemed like it would set us up for battles over who
had to (or got to) sit in the car seat. So in the end we opted to just
check all three car seats and trust them to be big kids and sit in their
own seats. When we bought our tickets we got the Delta credit card
which got us a free checked bag with each seat, which was perfect for
this trip because we had to pack clothes for cold and warm weather,
presents for two families, and hand-me-downs for baby Kyria! This was
our load to check when we checked in in State College!
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| checking everything meant a much lighter load through the airports |
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| In the past they've always been in carriers through security, but this time they said they wanted to walk |
|
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| We insisted on the carriers for boarding though! |
When
we bought our tickets we had to strategize seating arrangements because
each leg of our journey had different size planes, some with two and
two, others with three and three, and a couple with three and two. In
the past we haven't been able to be in a row of three because with lap
babies there weren't enough oxygen masks, but now that they're in their
own seats we can do that. The trickiest to figure out are the tiny
little two and two planes in and out of State College because we either
had to have two kids sitting together with a mom across the aisle and
one behind, or have a kiddo sit alone across the aisle and next to a
stranger. It was a last minute decision, but we ended up having Ellie
sit by herself because Isaiah was cranky and in "mama mama mama" mode
and Avery was a little anxious and wanted to sit with/next to me. Ellie
was so brave and was 100% fine with sitting by herself next to a
stranger.
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| the pretzels and juice were a big hit! |
They
were really good and for the most part stayed put in their seatbelts
with only a handful of reminders. The snack helped and kept them
occupied for a good chunk of time. Sadly, on our second flight there
was no snack/beverage service because it was such a short flight. That
and the fact that it was their bedtime when we took off meant the kiddos
were much squirmier on the second flight. Ellie and Isaiah were pretty
content watching a video with headphones, but Avery wasn't digging the
headphones and isn't as into movies anyway so I had to work more to keep
her entertained! But all in all they did very well and I am very happy
with our decision to not bring the car seats on the plane.
We
had a layover in Detroit, which worked out great to burn off some extra
energy. They loved the moving walkways and were nervous, but intrigued
by the escalators. A big bonus in Detroit is that there is a little
light rail in the airport so they got to ride two trains and two planes
in one day! We found an empty gate near ours and just let them all run
around. Of course, then we almost missed our flight because just as we
were packing up to head over two out of three suddenly had to poop!
Thankfully we made it on the plane!
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| look at those big kids carrying their own backpacks (this lasted for 5min!) |
I
was pretty happy that I'd brought a little chico expandable bag to
carry their backpacks in when they were over the novelty of carrying
their own bags.
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| they enjoyed this lights and music tunnel |
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| and the moving walkways! |
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| or runways =) |
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| Detroit had a little "letter to Santa" station that occupied them for a bit |
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| asking Santa for a baby doll |
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| putting the letter in the mail |
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| riding the airport train |
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| run run run! |
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| "under!" |
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| peekaboo! | | | | | | | |
