This adventure is different from my previous adventures. Rather than hopping around from location to location and filling each day with sites and restaurants and pastries (I miss those pastries), we are living life in a different location. Greenville, South Carolina.
Getting here was an endeavor. The two overarching truths of the journey were these: God was gracious to grant smooth travels and both of our boys are absolute champs. Over the span of six nights, we slept in five different places. That's a lot of change for a two year old and a five month old, but they handled everything so well.
Here's how the traveling went.
Friday morning, we loaded the car. In doing so, we realized the big stroller would have to be left behind because we had no room for it in the Lexus with all of our luggage and the car seats. We opted for the little, cheap umbrella stroller. I'm just glad we brought something because it came in very handy at the airport.
We waved goodbye to Noma and Pop Pop (Marlo has since asked me several times if we can go back to Noma and Pop Pop's house....he misses you guys). The drive to LA/the Carder's house went really well. I spent most of the drive reading books to Marlo. That night we got to spend some wonderful, quality time with Uncle Stephen and Auntie J.
Early Saturday morning, we packed up again and Paul dropped us and our ten bags/items off at LAX. This is when everything got hectic. I had Indi in the baby carrier and Marlo in the stroller and was watching our carry on items. Walt was left to figure out how to transport and check in one carseat (we took the other onto the plane), a pack n play, and three large suitcases.
First he grabbed a couple items and stood in a line outside only to find out he couldn't check them there. Then he dropped these bags inside, ran back outside to where I was and we quickly transported the rest inside. Around this time, Walt was able to find a cart to load the luggage onto. Next we tried to check in at the self-check in kiosks. The kiosk wouldn't check Marlo in so we had to get help. That person got us our tickets but said we had to wait in the long line to actually check our luggage. Oy.
Walt waited in the long line while I stood next to the luggage cart with the boys. Both Marlo and Indi were getting restless and hungry. I handed Marlo a bag of cheddar bunnies which kept him occupied for quite awhile and then I fed Indi. Boom. Happy babies again.
Once Walt reached the counter, he came to get all of the luggage. The guy checking our luggage was very helpful for which we were extremely thankful.
Having a stroller really helped us out during the next stage. We basically skipped the line to get to security. They took us up an elevator and directed us to the security stations. Security still took us awhile because three of our bags were flagged (water wipes have done this to me a couple times now and the baby monitor and sound machine are electronics we were supposed to take out of our bag...still learning!). Once through, we had the perfect amount of time to get to our gate, rest a few minutes, and then board early with the other families.
Then I sat back in my chair and sipped coffee while watching a movie for the next several hours. Oh wait...that's what used to happen before traveling with kids. :)
Our first flight was LAX to Atlanta- 4.5 hours. I took care of Indi who was extremely tired by this time and Walt did a wonderful job with Marlo the entire flight. Some Dollar Tree presents, lots and lots of snacks, books, and a Cocomelon show did the trick. We brought Indi's car seat thinking he would sleep in it but Marlo ended up taking a decent nap in it instead.
Our layover went really well. It was the perfect amount of time to take a train (Marlo enjoyed this!) to our gate, change diapers, run around with Marlo, let a nice lady hold Indi while I snack, and then board early.
This flight was up and then down...only 30 minutes or so. Easy.
Aaron picked us up from the airport and helped Walt transport all the luggage. It was about 9:00pm when we left and Marlo kept commenting how dark it was outside. We realized this was the first time he had been in a car at night since he was a baby.
"Marlo can't see!" (he said that several times while looking around with wide eyes)
"Marlo see the deep, dark woods."
That night we stayed with Aaron and Carly. The boys were very tired from a long day, so after dinner and a quick bath, they knocked out.
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