The whole trip happened a bit last minute. My parents were going to Florida for a business trip and since we would be taking time off with the kids, we figured we might as well go visit with Gramma and Grandpa, and make the most of a few days off!
Note to self - and anyone else with little ones - don't take the late night flight just to save a few bucks! Worst.idea.ever. Our kids have been good sleepers since early on, so we're spoiled I guess. They happen to be very particular to routine - they both won't fall asleep on you, can't be rocked to sleep and and at bed time, they need their beds. I was hopeful though that at 8:30pm, we'd get them full, cozy and the motion and darkness of the plane would lull them to Zzzz.
Nope. Our flight didn't leave until 9:30pm, a full 3 hours past Anna's bedtime and 2 hours past Madelyn's. Let's just say we were that family on the plane. At first, I was sweating and embarrassed, because I felt all the angry eyes on us. It was the first time as a mom that I was in a situation where all eyes were on us, and I felt completely helpless. Then after about 30 minutes of Anna's all out screaming like I've never heard in my life, I stopped caring. Mind you, we weren't even in the air yet. Anyway, the poor thing was exhausted and she just wanted to sleep but couldn't get comfy. She passed out on my chest after an hour, succumbing from crying herself to a point of exhaustion she wasn't used to. The sigh of relief I let out when she was asleep was like no other. Not only was it reaching my bedtime, but with the physical and emotional challenge of trying to get A to sleep, I was beyond tired. M never fell asleep, she wanted to but wouldn't give in. We got to the house and settled in bed by 2am. Holy whirlwind! But hey - we were on vacation, so who cares.
The next few days were awesome. Unlike our last visit, the weather really cooperated with us and every day was nice. Brian and I started each day with a date to Starbucks and a short walk, which in itself was a treat. We also were able to go out for date to a movie, and another night we went out to dinner at my new favorite restaurant down there. A menu full of GF items, and delicious wine, I was in heaven! Brian was able to play golf a few times, and as I mentioned previously here, I had a day at the beach all by myself! We couldn't get Madelyn out of the pool, and the girls had so much fun catching up and playing with Gramma and Grandpa.
We are so lucky that we have a warm place that we can escape to during the chilly winter months! It was so nice to be outside, swimming, getting some Vitamin D and wearing flip flops. Not only that, but we get to visit with Gramma and Grandpa, which is always fun :) Our flight home was even more of a challenge than our flight down, but I'll spare you the play by play. We are going down again in about 6 weeks, so I have some time to plan to make these flights better! Wish us luck :)
I've enjoyed looking back at our great pictures, oozing with Florida warmth, since it's been colder than Alaska here ever since we got back! Here are some of our pics:
Nope. Our flight didn't leave until 9:30pm, a full 3 hours past Anna's bedtime and 2 hours past Madelyn's. Let's just say we were that family on the plane. At first, I was sweating and embarrassed, because I felt all the angry eyes on us. It was the first time as a mom that I was in a situation where all eyes were on us, and I felt completely helpless. Then after about 30 minutes of Anna's all out screaming like I've never heard in my life, I stopped caring. Mind you, we weren't even in the air yet. Anyway, the poor thing was exhausted and she just wanted to sleep but couldn't get comfy. She passed out on my chest after an hour, succumbing from crying herself to a point of exhaustion she wasn't used to. The sigh of relief I let out when she was asleep was like no other. Not only was it reaching my bedtime, but with the physical and emotional challenge of trying to get A to sleep, I was beyond tired. M never fell asleep, she wanted to but wouldn't give in. We got to the house and settled in bed by 2am. Holy whirlwind! But hey - we were on vacation, so who cares.
The next few days were awesome. Unlike our last visit, the weather really cooperated with us and every day was nice. Brian and I started each day with a date to Starbucks and a short walk, which in itself was a treat. We also were able to go out for date to a movie, and another night we went out to dinner at my new favorite restaurant down there. A menu full of GF items, and delicious wine, I was in heaven! Brian was able to play golf a few times, and as I mentioned previously here, I had a day at the beach all by myself! We couldn't get Madelyn out of the pool, and the girls had so much fun catching up and playing with Gramma and Grandpa.
We are so lucky that we have a warm place that we can escape to during the chilly winter months! It was so nice to be outside, swimming, getting some Vitamin D and wearing flip flops. Not only that, but we get to visit with Gramma and Grandpa, which is always fun :) Our flight home was even more of a challenge than our flight down, but I'll spare you the play by play. We are going down again in about 6 weeks, so I have some time to plan to make these flights better! Wish us luck :)
I've enjoyed looking back at our great pictures, oozing with Florida warmth, since it's been colder than Alaska here ever since we got back! Here are some of our pics:
