At the beginning of October, Connor and I made a trip to Texas. We did it because: 1) We miss family and since we aren't going for Christmas, this was the perfect opportunity to go. 2) I really wanted to go to my dads Distinguished Alumni dinner where he would be presented his award. 3) We are building a house, so I wanted to be there to pick everything out in person instead of over the phone and on skype {like we have been doing}. We are super excited about #3 and I will talk more about it in a later post!
If I could visit Texas more often, I would, but the flight there and back is just exhausting and so much work. Especially with a little one. I have flown by myself with Connor a few times, and we survived just fine, but this time I prepared a little more beforehand to make sure I had enough stuff to keep him entertained. Here's what I did this time that made the flight go much smoother: I bought a few new toys and books for him and wrapped them so he could open them throughout the flight. They worked as great incentives for him to behave and keep quiet. I also bought a container with dividers for his Legos and taped a Lego board on the lid. You probably think I'm crazy for taking Legos on an airplane, but he really loved playing with them and he didn't loose any of the pieces. We also loaded his kindle with movies and games. That helped a lot especially when he was getting sleepy or bored. The final and best part of my planning was the snack containers I purchased for about $3 and had personalized with his name. He loves snacks, so the huge variety he was able to chose from kept him content. I highly recommend them to anyone who travels with kids. ** Just be careful when flying international and taking fruits of veggies into another country. We had a little run in with a food sniffing dog {I have no idea what they call them} going through customs. I thought I got rid of all the fruits and veggies on the airplane, but I forgot the carrots and that little dog sniffed them out of my bag and totally gave me away. Don't worry, we didn't get into trouble. The guard even let me keep them for Connor.**
We flew out of Venice on October 7. Luckily Aaron was off that day and was able to drive us to the airport. We got to the airport a couple hours before our flight, waited in line to check in {that took forever}, and then we went through security. Connor saw sandwiches at one of the restaurants, so I got him one and we waited at our gate to board the plane. As soon as we sat down in our seats, he requested his Legos. He was pretty good during the 9.5 hour flight. He played, opened his "suprises," watched movies, snacked, and finally slept during the last hour and a half of our flight. I couldn't believe it took almost the entire flight for him to go to sleep. By that time, everyone was waking up and opening their windows, so I couldn't sleep. I watched a movie instead.
Lunch before our flight.
Finally sleeping!!!
We arrived in Philidelphia right before 4. That's when I found out that my flight that was supposed to leave at 6 was delayed until 8 {bad news when you just got off a 9+ hour flight and still have another 3+ hour flight ahead of you}. We wasted time by playing in the play area at the airport and hanging out in the USO. The volunteers there are so sweet and there was even a private room for Connor to play in. When it was time to board the next plane, Connor was complaining that he wanted to go to sleep. I kept telling him just a few more minutes. Lucky for me he slept almost the entire flight, and so did I. When we got to DFW, we were greeted by my FIL and MIL. It was so great to see them and finally get help for the first time that day. Connor and I got a second wind as soon as we got to their house {midnight TX time}. We ate Whataburger {one of my faves!} and Connor even jumped in their pool. Aaron's dad told him to put his feet in, and instead Connor jumped in, clothes and all. He had so much fun playing and splashing us and the dogs. We took our showers and went to sleep shortly after. Sleep was very much needed for all of us by then.
Just swimming in Pappy's pool at midnight like it's no big deal.
The long flight back to Italy {10/27 and 10/28} was much better, however getting to Philidephia and the layover we had there was so much longer. We knew that I was going to have an 8 hour layover in Philidelphia, so Chrissy offered to fly there with me so she could help. At first I told her no, but when I didn't go to sleep until super late the night before, I told her that I would take her up on her offer. We were up by 3:15 in the morning and out of the house by 4am. The plane was wide open, so we got out seats when we checked in and waited at the gate. Once we were on the airplane, we were told there was a mechanical issue that would take fifteen minutes to fix. Fifteen minutes turned into two hours. We were finally cleared for takeoff and arrived in Philly at 12:20. The two hours on the airplane didn't affect me too much, it just shaved two hours off the layover I was going to have to spend in Philly. However, it did keep Chrissy from being able to hang out with us at the airport because her flight back to DFW was taking off just after 1. It was fine though, Connor and I played, got lunch at Chick-fil-A {I needed to eat it just one more time}, and went to the USO to play some more. By the time our flight to Italy was going to takeoff, Connor was done. He was fighing his sleep so hard and as soon as we were up in the air he passed out. We had all 4 seats in our row to ourselves, so we both layed out. Again, I wasn't able to sleep, but Connor slept almost the entire 7.5 hours to Italy. I'd say he was up for maybe an hour. It was wonderful!
Snacking.
Playing at the airport in Philly.
Almost to Italy and still sleeping.
Since we have been home, Connor is doing great and his jet lag is pretty much gone. I'm still trying to figure out my sleep schedule. I have been waking up at 3 consistently each morning and it's taking me an hour or two back to sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better.
XOXO,
Jenn
P.S. Over the next week I'll be posting about our days we spent in Texas. I took a ton of pics, but that's not really a surprise. ;)
P.S.S. Thank you Pappy for using your passes on us so we could fly to Texas. Chrissy, thank you for flying to Phillly with us. We had a wonderful visit and can't wait to see y'all in May!
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