Survived our trip

[ElsaVonM]

Well, we did it: We took the twins all the way to Atlanta to visit Jen's family. I think all of us are a little traumatized, and happy that our Christmas trip is half the distance and includes three extra adults to carry stuff and hold and entertain babies.

The good:
- My SIL did an amazing job of preparing her house to make it easy to take care of the babies there. She has a 4-yr-old and a 1-yr-old so she already had a crib and pack'n'play for us, and knew exactly what we would need as far as baby monitor, etc. to reduce the amount of stuff we needed to bring. She's a very thoughtful person and her and her husband were so welcoming.
- The 4-yr-old was so sweet and helpful with the babies, and not jealous for a minute.
- Our double Snap'n'Go and carseats made it through cargo twice with zero damage (or even scuff marks).
- Only one minor delay.
- We had pro pics taken of the babies with and without cousins on Sunday, and they came out so unbelievably good. I'm talking three babies and a 4-yr-old all looking in the same direction and smiling beautifully at the same time.
- We got shots of the twins sitting together on a teeny leather armchair and it's so cute it makes you want to die.
- Against all expectations, the babies slept great in a strange place.
- The flight attendant snuck me free TV access to entertain Lady Baby on the way home. (I went there. I have no regrets.)

The bad:
- They are already too long to comfortably sleep on our laps. I can't believe airlines allow lap infants up to 2 years old. How do people do it on full flights with a bigger baby??
- All of the flights were completely full. Ugh.
- On 2 of the 4 flights I ended up sitting next to someone who was not cool about the baby situation, and let me know through loud sighs. Thanks.
- Jen just nursed whichever baby she had to sleep, and then they slept cozily against her for a good long while. I gave whichever baby I had a bottle, which did not put them to sleep, and then spent the rest of the flight cajoling them into 10-minute catnaps, shifting them around, and desperately trying to entertain them. This is how Jen got to watch Brave while I ended up wandering the aisle and sitting in the bathroom with Lady Baby to let her play on the changing table and give my (nice) seatmate a break.
- We had to get up at 2:30am to get to the airport in time for our flight home (SIL lives an hour away, etc.). By the time we landed at 11:00a PT it felt like midnight. The babies were in bed by 5:30p and we were in bed by 8:30p.

[2brides]

well, it sounds like a typical travel with babies - good and exhausting.

I can tell you from experience, that having a 1y 11m old lap kid SUCKS.

Share your adorable pictures!

[kershnic]

Sorry for the stressfulness, but overall it sounds like you and they did great!! We had a mom with a 23 month old sit next to us on our vveerryy long flight from Toronto to Athens.... kid slept sprawled over mom and you could hardly even see mom. For free you make it work.

[kershnic]

There was supposed to be a smilie at the end of that. Don't know why it got deleted!

[seattlekari]

Yay!!! All in all it sounds like a successful trip! And kudos to SIL for having things ready for you guys, that's awesome!

[hensmum]

Yay! Some great stuff in the "good" column! And all in all, not too bad in the "bad" What is with people?? You're sitting next to a baby - deal with it! Is sighing loudly going to help at all?? Jerk. Could be worse - I'd take a baby, even a fussy one, over someone with body odor or gas, LOL

[joyseattle]

Overall it sounds really great and it sounds like you worked well through the stressful stuff.
I had a client that traveled from Seattle to Florida by herself with her infant twins. I thought it was crazy-sounding, but they were younger than yours so perhaps they slept most of the way. I think the adults outnumbering the kids is that way to go!

[ct]

I'm impressed!

[twotrue]

Good job! Glad to hear you had a great trip.

[mk]

Welcome home! I'm glad your trip was mostly good. And... what is your kids' birthday? I think they're really close to Baby S: 5-2-12

[ElsaVonM]

Yep, 5-7-12 (math birthday)!

[mk]

Oooo, that's a fun birthday! Are your kids rolling? Mine's still working on it, but he's grabbing his toes now!

[ElsaVonM]

Lady Baby rolls over onto her stomach at every opportunity, and sleeps on her stomach now. She will rarely roll front-to-back, but I've seen her do it. Mr. Baby spends a lot of time on his side - sleeps on it, plays that way - but rarely gets all the way over They have yet to discover the magic of toes!