tales of a traveling circus

Back when I was pregnant with Levi, Andy and I were flying somewhere. I remember seeing a woman at the security checkpoint with two kids by herself. Suddenly I felt the walls closing in on me. How, oh HOW in the world, was I ever going to do this?? I felt like I could barely take care of myself alone, how was I ever EVER going to travel with this baby I was carrying, let alone a potential hypothetical sibling some day in the future? My mind reeled at the thought of sippy cups, food, entertainment. Crying. They say you should travel with a backup outfit for you and for the kids. Maybe two backup outfits. What could happen that would require all of us to change our clothes twice in four hours?!? It seemed completely impossible for me to do that. But seeing as though I was almost 24 weeks pregnant at the time and that I wasn't prepared to swear off airplane travel completely, I knew I'd find myself traveling with child/children in the future.

Fast forward about three years. I just flew with an almost 9-month-old and a 2.5-year-old. I should elaborate. Make that an almost 9-month-old who just figured out how to crawl, who does what I call the alligator death roll every time she's in my lap where she constantly flips around front to back. And a 2.5-year-old who just learned how to use the potty about three weeks prior. (Andy had to fly back a few days early for a work conference.)

The traveling circus.

These were my favorite moments of the day:

1. Watching the kids look out the airport windows to see the airplane.
2. Making our way through the airport with Levi holding onto my back pocket like I taught him. 
3. Realizing that I was so busy talking to Levi about how cool the airport was that I walked four gates too far. Had to make a u-turn.
4. Holding two tiny hands during take-off.
5. Hearing Levi turn to Wendy after take-off and say "we're flying, Wendy bird!"
6. Thinking about how easy it will be to fly by the time Wendy is old enough to be entertained with an iPad. Apple, I love you for moments like this.
7. Knowing that both kids are too young to have any fear of flying.
8. Leaving the airplane behind and walking straight up to an Auntie Anne's pretzel stand. Levi said "Look, I see pretzels!" I said "You know what? We did such a good job, we deserve a treat!" Oh it was the most delicious soft pretzel I've ever had. And bonus: Levi doesn't like lemonade, so I didn't have to share that.

This was our pre-take-off photo. Happy baby, right? She mellowed out.

And the moments that I'll file under "let's remember, but not repeat if we can help it":

1. Using the public bathrooms. For some reason this was the only time Wendy would *scream* in her stroller, which didn't exactly make Levi very happy.
2. Crab-walking sideways down 17 rows onto the airplane with Levi holding my pocket, Wendy on my hip, my diaper bag, purse, food bag, Wendy toy bag and Levi toy bag all strapped to me. I felt like every single person was staring at me, especially the guy who watched me smack my head on the bulkhead when I got to our row. Oops.
3. Cramming myself, Levi and Wendy into the airplane bathroom when Levi needed to go. Poor Wendy had just fallen asleep in my lap, so I had to wake her up, get us all to fit in that impossibly tiny room, and somehow help Levi maneuver up onto the toilet. Who knows what we all touched when we were in there. Wendy, again, screamed.

She forgave me for the airplane bathroom incident.

Would you look at that, the positive moments win! It took a lot of prayer to feel ready for this trip. Couldn't have done it without that.