Going Home: Part Two

After a lovely visit with family and a beautiful (and fun!) wedding, we loaded our rental car* and set out for the New York State Thruway. Thankfully we had great weather and a we were traveling with a, by then, seasoned traveler. Evelyn surpassed all of our expectations in the travel department. We had a four-and-a-half hour flight, an hour layover, and an almost two-hour flight on a small plane.

In the interest of disclosure, here is a list of items we brought on the plane and in the car:

1. Car Seat. We bought Evie her own seat for all three of our flights. I think it was money very well spent. She had her own (familiar) space and although she did spend at least half of our in-flight time on either my or husband's lap, it was great to have the use of my arms for much of the time. I also know that the car seat is by far the safest place for a little one to be in the event of turbulence.

2. Magna-Doodle. Evie had never seen one before our trip and she absolutely loved drawing with the "pen." This bought us at least an hour on our first flight and an hour (total time, not sixty minutes straight) on our road trip.

3. Hand puppet/ finger puppet. Before our trip, I brought Evie to a toy store and let her choose a new soft lovey for the plane. She selected a kangaroo puppet with a joey finger puppet in her pouch.

4. Pony. We brought one of Evie's favorite soft toys along for the trip. Pony is such a good sport. That horse will drink whatever Evie offers her and she always seems to be hungry! "Feeding Pony" is one of our favorite games.

5. Five of Evie's favorite books. (But Not the Hippopatomus, The Foot Book, Mama Hugs, Fruit, and Goodnight Seattle)

6. Lunchbox filled with favorites: quinoa, steamed broccoli, grapes cut into quarters, and O cereal.

7. My digital camera. Evie is distracted by the pictures and videos in a pinch.

I'm sure I am forgetting a few things, but this was our main list, alongside obvious items like extra clothing, diapers, wipes, cups for water, and my own personal items. My husband and I took turns sitting next to Evie, who had the window seat-- also a great distraction!-- and she nursed as often as she liked just as she does at home. In the airport, we carried her in the Ergo so we were able to avoid the hassle of a stroller. The Ergo weighs next to nothing and fit easily in our carry-on bag. Evelyn did not cry once until the flight home when she was startled out of a sound sleep by an intercom announcement. It was an evening flight (six hours) and she did sleep for about half of it. Not too shabby!

Still to come:

Part 3: Our time in Massachusetts!

*Hyundai Sonata- we were so pleasantly surprised by the smooth ride and the roomy interior, highly recommend if you're on the prowl for a comfortable but cost-effective sedan.