Day One Vacation

We almost left on time but had to go back home to get Addie's travel pillow which was brand new, handmade by Nana and not something we could convince her to forget. We still made it to the Detroit airport, parked, hauled our large pile of luggage across the terminal and checked in!  I was the most nervous about security, the kids reaction and the sheer amount of stuff that had to be inspected!  The kids were perfect, our stuff went through with no issues and no one had to be patted down!

We got to our gate and went to the bathroom, got beverages and sat down only to find out that LaGuardia airport was having weather issues and being a major airport it had affected a ton of flights all over the country.  We were looking at a 30 minute delay.  But good thing our gate was in front of the moving walkway and that our flight was old people and families.  The kids spent well over 30 minutes running up and down the walkway with all of their new friends!  It was like an airport playgroup.

We boarded the plane, all was well and then we found out it would take longer to depart since the plane had to be de-iced.  Well that provided plenty of entertainment for the kids, giant machines that look like they have machine guns that shoot out white smelly powder.

Before we knew it, we were in the air and the kids were happy eating snacks, reading books and coloring.  The kids had a lot of questions and of course they were nonstop talking to each other so I got a few too many dirty looks and shushing from the person in front of us.  She had a child with her so I have no idea what her attitude problem was about.  I put in a movie, plugged in the headphones and they were quiet for a while, not that they ever caused a problem anyways, considering the entire flight was old folks and young families.  The entire plane was NOT quiet and at least my kids never cried!

Landing went smoothly.  Braden's classic phrase from the plane ride was "this is so much fun, I thought I'd be scared but I love this"  Addison's winner was when she asked me "Mom when does this plane landoff?"  If there's takeoff then there must be landoff, cute!

We left the plane, collected our luggage and got into our cute little Dodge Journey.  It took two packing scenarios to fit all the luggage in the trunk which makes me really appreciate my large SUV at home!

The plan was to go to a restaurant off Immokalee Rd. but since the plane trip was so much longer than expected the kids looked half asleep in the car.  So we stopped at Publix and the kids got to pick out their own vacation cereal and of course Florida orange juice!  They ate on the way to the condo so dinner was taken care of!  We bought a pizza and a bottle of wine, no oj for parents!  Then we got to the condo and the kids had to take a tour so by the time they actually fell asleep it was 10pm.  I really hope they sleep in but no matter what they do I'm so proud and incredibly impressed by their good behavior today.  An almost 4 hour duration on a plane and lots of time waiting in an airport, at the luggage carousel and then the rental car desk was a lot to ask of a 5 and 4 year old at the end of a long day.

And I had to post this awful photo of Brian.  I never realized how painful it is too fly when you are 6 foot 4 inches.  He said over the years he's perfected the best position for coach seats.  Looking at this photo I think we should spring for the first class next time!

Goofy Braden, this photo taken before he tried to tackle Mr. Cardboard.  If you are wondering about his eye, yes, he has a slight black eye, got hit by the swing in the basement!