Travel Notes....or...Changing 3 Time Zones with a Toddler is a Bad Idea.

Let's see if I can remember what we did... I worked the morning of the 22nd, and by some miracle actually got out early! Jason had Will all ready to go and we had him nap on the way to the airport. The first flight was about 4 hours long, and it went ok. He slept some of it, and arrived in Salt Lake City a little wired and goofy. He walked and walked around the terminal with us and climbed on the seats. When we boarded the second flight he started to get fussy. By this time it was about 3 hours after his bedtime. He kept trying to fall asleep, and was desperate to turn over onto his belly. This is not possible in a car seat. The kid is a stomach sleeper just like Jason and me. So we took turns rocking, and singing, and reading "Mr Brown Can Moo" at least 25 times. He cried on and off for about 30 minutes. When he finally went to sleep it was very fitful. I felt terrible for him. We will never again fly at night. When we landed at 11pm in Seattle we were all pretty much exhausted. We got our rental car and proceeded to drive the 2 hours to Camano Island. Will slept the whole way home. I am wondering now if my goal of a routine driven baby was such a good idea. Monday we stayed home at my Mom's and recovered. We did go in to Stanwood to get groceries and Mom took us to a consignment store where she had seen a cute Little Tikes Rocking Horse. Will loved it so she bought it for him, along with an enormous pink Hippo chair that he fell madly in love with for only 6.99! We went in to Everett the next day and stopped in at Aunt Julie's and Debbie's. They had Mardi Gras beads for Will which he loved. She also let him see his birthday presents early, including a sweater that she knit for him which is so cute! Later we met up with Grandma Jeanie and visited St Mary Magdalen. We caravanned over to Bridget's house and went to lunch. It was so great to see the kids, Connor is getting so big, and is very smart, Laura is very much a 3 year old girl, loving all things pink and princess, and Sophie is just like her favorite word, "Cute!". Jason and I miss them so much and wish we could see them more. Will was fascinated by the kids and watched them a lot. Connor gave him lots of attention, sometimes a little too much! Bridget and Patrick were moving in to the Erickson's old house that Mike just bought. He has been doing a lot of work on it, and Bridget has been working very hard making it "Home". She painted the playroom with some adorable murals, including some chalkboard areas. So cute! We spent to next few days visiting and watching the kids so Patrick and Bridget could wrap up things at the old place. Bridget and I went to quite a few consignment stores too. We didn't end up doing much touristy stuff this time, but family time always trumps that kind of stuff! I can visit the Pike Place Market in 20 years but Sophie will only be this little today! Sunday the 1st we had a party for William at Patrick and Bridget's. I grilled in the typical March weather. Will decided to have nothing to do with his cake or ice cream and seemed overwhelmed by most of it. We spent a lot of time with my Mom and met Julie and Debbie for lunch one day. We shopped at the outlet mall twice, and scored some great deals! We got Will his first pair of big boy shoes while we were there too. 5 1/2 Extra Wide! Big feet! Monday we went to visit Sam and Teresa and their kids. I had some clothes for Booker that we were happy to find a new home for. It was so interesting seeing their kids in real life after seeing them on the Blogosphere for so long. They are all so cute and 3 dimensional! Ha! The rest of the week was spent visiting with family that was available that day, and Jason and I did some work on Mom's house. Jason put up a great new porch and we fixed a window in the garage that needed some altering. I planted some Roses and we pruned some trees too. Will spent his days at my Mom's house chasing poor Cookie, Molly's old cat. She tolerated him surprisingly well. It took him about a week to adjust to the time difference. He ate very strangely and slept weirdly the whole time though. He loved my Mom since she would read to him over and over. He handed her book after book and she kept on reading! The day before we left was his Birthday! We had a great party at the Children's Museum. Will seemed to enjoy this party much more. Mainly because he had slept I think! He ate some cupcake and pizza and even helped open his presents. Thank you notes are coming! The next day we flew home, which went much better and by the next night he was totally back on track. He seems to feel relieved to be back in his own bed and his own world again. Poor Guy! I wish he was a better traveler, but neither Jason or I are very good at it, so I guess he is doomed.