The Best Things in Life are THREE...: airplane

This is your friendly TRIPMOM reporting live from the airplane! (Okay, not really) But only because they wouldn't let me stream live from the air, something about signals, and interference...whatever.. :) Kidding. Anyhoo, this is an account of the day. From start to finish. Read as much or as little as you want!

Well the fact that you are reading a new blog is a good sign, cuz well, it means we made it. AND it means I wasn't so warped from the day that I just passed out. So far, we're doing okay!

So we made it out of the house in Tucson about 45 minutes early. (Yes, EARLY!) So that made for a good, relaxing start to the day. Even with hairdos for all the kids.

4 bags, ready to roll...

Cuz this time, I really AM a TRIPMOM!

Brian wanted me to document EVERY bit of this adventure, and so....we had bagels in the car. 5 bagels. We ate 3 and a half of them before he wanted a picture.

And you KNOW I wasn't about to begin a drive and a plane flight without my 'No Water, With Whip Chai' did you?

So anyhoo, our drive to Phoenix was uneventful. We love those kind of trips.

We drove up to my friend Jen’s office where we took a little potty break and stretched our legs for about 20 minutes. Ethan and Colton busied themselves with a toy Police Car on the shelf, had a few fruit snacks which “Auntie Jen” cleverly had stashed in her desk drawer. (Well played, well played.)

And then the 6 of us hopped in the Burb and headed for the airport, which fortunately, was only about 10 minutes away. This was one of those days where everything just falls nicely into place! (I know, you’re reading this and waiting for the part where all hell broke loose aren’t you?) :)

So we pulled up Curbside and thus began the actual whirlwind adventure. Here’s how this went. [Insert a frantic pace and tons of sweating to really get a feel for the whole atmosphere. ] All adults hopped out, we pulled 4 suitcases and 2 carryon bags out of the car. Then Jen grabbed a kid and placed him on the sidewalk, Brian grabbed another kid, and then Jen grabbed the third kid. (I was keeping track of them on the curb, in case you thought I was relaxing with a nice beverage somewhere already!)

Brian began attaching Hunter’s carseat to Suitcase #1. While he did that, I placed the other carseats in front of the other suitcases to help with the assembly line. Here’s the part where the 3 Traveling Toddler straps are saving the day.

As soon as Brian had finished strapping Hunter’s carseat, Jen grabbed her and strapped her in. We went down the line just like this until all carseats were attached to suitcases and all kids were strapped in! Then we did our hugs, took our picture and headed in! Jen took our car back with her until we arrive back. I pulled two kids, Brian pulled one and the big suitcase.

Holy Crap, are we there yet?

My little family

First stop- Check in. Immediately, we are the center of attention. (Good or bad, I”m not sure.) All I can say is that the kids were positively amazing. They did not freak out, they did not cry, they just went along for the ride! We rolled up to the check in desk, handed off the one larger suitcase, got 5 boarding passes and as quick as we had arrived, we were headed for the gate.

Oh right, not so fast. There’s that minor detour called Security. I’ll be honest, this was the part I was dreading more than any other aspect of the trip. We waited in the line, and before long, it was our turn to have our boarding passes checked. The very nice gentleman kindly directed us to the farthest security checkpoint. (Keepin us out of the way, I’m sure.) Smart guy. So here’s how this went down.

We rolled the 3 kids up to the table where you put your stuff in bins.

We started by putting our small bags in tubs, then our shoes, then the laptops. Next we de-shoed the kids. Into the tub went 6 pairs of shoes. (Ethan’s favorite part!) Next, we unstrapped each child from their carseat and had them stand near me. Brian unstrapped each carseat from each suitcase (yes, it had only been a mere 20 minutes since he’d put them ON. Each carseat then got placed on the conveyor belt, facing down, followed by the three suitcases, followed by all my jewelry, followed by our small bags, shoes and carryons.

At this point, Hunter is totally freaking out because of everything that is happening around her. I totally didn’t blame her.

They allowed Brian to carry her through the security checkpoint, and so for the sake of easiness, I picked up both boys (cuz don’t forget, I am freakishly strong) and we walked through the checkpoint together.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

Okay, back it up. Apparently Colton touched the wall as we went through, so we had to do it again.

ALL CLEAR! Whew!

We all congregated on the other side of the security area where we started to corral the fifty eight things that belonged to us. Now I should stop and say this, the TSA people were EXTREMELY HELPFUL and VERY friendly to us. They helped us yank items off the conveyor belt and collect them in one area for us. At this point, Brian and I placed each kiddo back into his/her carseat and strapped them in. Again.

We put our shoes back on, and then the kids’. One of the nice TSA women even entertained Ethan who was totally flirting and actually put his shoes on for me. Jewelry back on, now Brian began strapping the carseats BACK on to the Suitcases for the 3rd time. God love Brian. He got a work out but man, he totally handled it.

(If it's any indication of how much was going on, and how much we were having to pay attention to and do, this is the ONLY picture I got of the whole security adventure. This was after we'd been through and were getting put 'back together.')

And in no more than 15 minutes, we were headed for the gate area!

We were a whole hour and a half early so there was plenty of time to play and entertain nearby passengers who were waiting in the area. Thankfully everyone was very pleasant and friendly.

Again, the kids were amazing. No one cried, everyone listened when they were told not to do something or go somewhere (like down the jetbridge, or behind the agent’s desk.) And for the next hour and a half, they just played, watched airplanes, rolled on the floor, (which I SO could’ve cared less about, even despite the nastiness I KNOW exists there.

Hunter and Daddy tried to take a walk to find something to drink, but this outing was short lived once she realized 'Mommy' wasn't coming along. And so, they had to come back. And he took Colton instead!

Just watching the airplanes...

I'll have you know that Hunter did this entirely on her own.

And then she did her best to pull her around the gate area.

Seriously. Dude knows how to make friends. Ethan spent a good 45 minutes playing with all these random people. He'd then crawl up on the empty seat between his new friends and he'd look up at them with his peripheral vision. Flippin hilarious. Brian thinks maybe he thought the guy was Santa Claus and he wanted to get his wish in early....

Alas, we hear the magic words, “Anyone traveling with small children who may need extra time to board, go ahead and line up at the gate.” CHA-CHING! THAT’S US! So this is how this went down.

We rolled everyone down the jetbridge to the farthest possible point. Brian unstrapped the first carseat from the suitcase and CARRIED THE CARSEAT WITH THE KID IN IT onto the plane to row 4 and just set the carseat on the seat. While he was doing that, I was preparing the next carseat so it would be ready when he came back. He went back in and placed Bunchkin number 2 on the seat beside the other one. Finally he came back for Bunchkin number 3, which I also had ready for him on the jetbridge. After he placed the third one on the seats, he came back and we rolled in our 3 suitcases. Brian tossed them up into the overhead bins, (yes, I was a flight attendant. I COULD’VE done it, but why, when Brian was so capable and willing to do it for me?) Then he tossed our smaller bags into the bins since we were sitting in the Bulkhead row and could not have bags in front of us for takeoff and landing.

Then began the task of Brian fastening each seat with the airplane seatbelt. So after all this, I just want to say, Brian, I thank you. Thank you for being so strong, thank you for being such a planner and for being so helpful. I would never want to attempt this feat without you!

And then we waited. Hunter was mildly unconsolable at the onset as she was very unsure of what was happening all around her or even where she was. But that ended the moment I handed her a lollipop to suck on during takeoff. And from that moment on, she was perfectly content. Well, until she dropped Woody for the 2nd time and Brian forgot that we were surrounded by 120 other people and he scolded her a bit too loudly for her liking. And so, she cried for a few minutes. But other than that, GOOD-TO-GO. Colton was asleep 5 minutes into the flight, Ethan, after watching the first part of Monster’s Inc. was asleep within 20 minutes and Hunter, well, there was too much going on for her to sleep. She is SO my daughter. Doesn't want to miss a thing.

Hey Howdy Hey, I'm on an airplane!

Baby appears to not be feeling well...

So like I said, they were angels. For real. I would say we had at LEAST 10 different people go out of their way to tell us how they couldn't believe how well behaved the kids were. Whew!

When we landed, we had to do the whole back and forth bit again. This time, Brian took Colton out, (Still in his seat) and I followed. He made two more trips to get the others and then at that point, we were in the jetbridge again, fastening suitcases to carseats.

Waiting for our one checked bag. The kids clapped and cheered each time a bag feel from the luggage belt.

Getting a shuttle to the Rental Car Part was perhaps one of the things I was dreading the most.

We rolled out to the curb and then waited for this big ol bus. Because neither Brian nor I could stomach the thought of undoing the carseats AGAIN, I suggested (at his expense of course) that we just load them still attached onto the shuttle.