East Coast Trip 2007: The Flight Out

When Daniel was very little (Suzy could tell you the exact age by month, but I am not Suzy, so all you get is: 'very little') the three of us took a trip to the East Coast to participate in a wedding and see family. While it was a wonderful chance to introduce Daniel to a lot of people and support Suzy's dear friend Jaya at her wedding, the trip was difficult. Partly our fault for bad planning, partly Daniel's fault for his severe need to attach himself to my wife every two to three hours, but mostly just difficult because travelling with little kids (I am now willing to say that he was less than one, since he was still enjoying the Suzy snacks) is hard. Needless to say that after that trip my interest in dragging my boys anywhere more than Costco was next to none. Various successful trips to Oregon and Los Angeles convinced me last year to take Daniel by myself to Virginia, and that worked pretty well. I was pooped afterwards, but we survived and even had a little fun. That all leads us to this summer. Suzy and I have scheduled an East Coast trip, a trip to Oregon (which I will not be going on) and a trip to Hawaii. This does not include various weekend jaunts (Suzy backpacking, an upcoming church retreat, etc.). The East Coast trip was a chance for Suzy to meet Hannah, our niece, as well as to see all of the assorted family members out there. Thankfully we recruited Nana to join us on the trip, which was one of our better ideas.

I, by nature, try to think things out. I plan, I scheme, sometimes I dream. My dream was that Nana would sit with the boys on the plane and Suzy and I would magically be escorted up to first class to travel as we should, in style. My dream was not completely in synch with reality, but it was close. Nana did a wonderful job sitting with the boys on the flight out. There were almost no incidents where I had to pretend that I didn't know them. The only really touch-and-go moments (pun intended) were when Sammy had to pee and the fasten seat belt sign was on. Suzy took him back and the flight attendant got a little snippy with her. Uh, what is our other option? What would you like us to tell our three year old about 'holding it'? Actually now that I think about it, it wasn't pee that he had to do, so that just makes it worse. Well, like the excellently potty trained boy that he is, he did manage to 'hold it'. He was able to overcome obstacles placed in his path by short sighted flight attendants. Way to go Sammy.

So, other than that one incident the trip out was quite smooth. A lot of that was due to the way things can be taken care of now. I checked us all in the night before, we curb checked our bags, security didn't have any long lines, and before we knew it we were walking through Dulles International Airport looking for Uncle Jeff. All and all a good start to the trip.

Next up... accommodations!

Sammy Super Star

Well, Sammy was finally picked to be the Super Star in his preschool. He was the second to last to be picked, so he was soooooo happy when his named was pull out of the jar. I knew that Sammy was very excited about being the super star, there is not a kid in class who wouldn't jump at the chance to be super star, but I wasn't so sure how he would deal with all the attention, since sometimes Sammy can be very shy when in the spotlight.

I guess Sammy likes the spotlight because he was not shy at all. Sammy was just beaming as he carried out his first super star job of the day, ringing the bell for morning circle time. As Sammy sat at the head of the class with Teacher Laurie helping with circle time he would occasionally wave to me and with a big grin say, "Hi, Momma!"

Last night I gave Dan the super star questionnaire to fill out with Sammy. It asks things like what is your favorite color, book, t.v. show, what you like to eat and things you are good at. Now, what the parent writes down is not always what the kids says in class. A kid will often times change their favorite color from red to green or their favorite place to go from Chuckie Cheese to Sea World. Sometimes the kid just clams up and refuses to answer any of the questions. Surprisingly enough Sammy answered all the questions as Dan had originally written. He was so cute as he showed the class all the pictures he brought in. The only thing that Sammy needs to work on in his public speaking is keeping he fingers out of his nose. He was constantly sticking his fingers up his nose as he talked and at one point even had both nostrils plugged up. Since I was videoing the whole thing I couldn't pantomime to him to stop the nose picking. But at least I caught it on tape.

Sammy enjoyed the rest of the morning waving the flag, pumping out soap to the kids and receiving the special treatment and awe of his classmates. Sammy was practically beaming the whole day. Sammy the Super Star.

Back Home

Well, we are home safe and sound from our week long trip to the East Coast to visit Dan's brother and family. We are all very, very tired, but very, very glad to be HOME.

We all had such a great time. I would declare it the perfect trip, if not for the 13+ hour trip home. One of those flights that parents of small children have nightmares about.

But we are finally home and I can't wait to tell all the funny stories and memories we made on our trip. But they will have to wait until I have gotten a little more sleep and a little more brain power has been restored. But here are some pictures to whet your appetite.

Treasure Hunt

Today Daniel and Sammy's preschool class went on a pirate treasure hunt. We met at the Coronado Ferry Landing were the kids found the first clue, to take the ferry across the bay to downtown. After our boat ride across the beautiful blue water we were sent looking for more clues all along the waterfront. The kids were so excited as they ran from clue to clue in search of the lost treasure.

Sammy didn't quite get it or was just more interested in the things around him. As the other kids made a mad dash from clue to clue, Sammy picked flowers, found rocks and explored his surroundings. Daniel, on the other hand, really got it and was very anxious to find each clue. Daniel, ever the sensitive one, even shed some tears over not being the first to find the clues.

After much walking and searching (and it was HOT, HOT, HOT, even down by the water) and two trips across the bay, we were led under the ferry dock where a skeleton pointed to an X drawn in the sand. The kids frantically dug away at the sand and uncovered a treasure box. Inside were jewels (plastic beaded necklaces), gold (little beanie fishes and dolphins) and family quilt squares each parent had made (later we will put all the squares together to make a big quilt).

I think the adults were all pretty tired by the end of it, I know I was, but the kids really had a blast. Searching for lost treasure on a beautiful sunny day...that's about as good as it gets.

Camping

Is there anything more fun than camping out in your own backyard? I can't wait to take these two snuggle buggles camping.