The Circus Goes Flying

We left Hawaii in the early afternoon (not before Mama squeezed in one last morning run through Waikiki and up along the road to Diamond Head -- just gorgeous!) to fly to California. Since the Army had purchased our tickets, each and every one of us had a seat. The three-across-the-middle seating meant that we couldn't all sit together. Madeline and Mama sat directly in front of Daddy and Kathleen. We'd have preferred to be all together, but two and two seemed okay. Of course, as it turned out, Madeline wasn't interested in sitting in her own seat. We snapped one photo of her ensconced in her carseat.


At that point we honestly thought that between the treat of a bottle (she's recently decided she prefers them to, well, Mama) and the hum of the plane, she'd be sweetly sleeping in no time. However, by midway through the flight attendants' safety brief, Madeline had made clear to every passenger on the plane that she wasn't happy with the seating arrangements. She spent the rest of the flight on Mama's lap. Or toddling down the aisle, with Mama right behind her.

While Mama chased Madeline, Daddy kept Kathleen company. They were prepared for any eventuality.

Kathleen couldn't have been more excited about being on an air-po-plane. As we took off she cried out, "We're flying!"

Aside from Madeline's very loud objections to being in her carseat (it may have had something to do with being able to see Mama -- that doesn't happen in the car!), the girls were pretty well behaved. They napped a bit, and played a bit. They snacked a bit. Kathleen watched the miracle known as a portable DVD player while Madeline cruised the aisles, making friends. And then, just when we thought it couldn't be any longer, we arrived. As we landed, Kathleen yelled, "We did it!" Mama and Daddy were thinking the same thing!

But having survived the flight across the Pacific, our travels were only just beginning. We rented a car and drove to Nan and Grandpa's house. (We pulled up to see a Nissan Versa parked near Nan and Grandpa's. Kathleen looked out her window and said, "Our car! In Calibornia!" We had to explain that it was a car that looked like our car, but wasn't our car. Poor kid.) Kathleen and Madeline were delighted to be at their grandparents' and made themselves right at home, testing out all the toys in the sunroom. We all collapsed into bed around midnight.

The next morning we had an early breakfast and more toy-playing before we headed to the airport again. We left before noon for Illinois. Mama and Daddy weren't the only ones less than enthusiastic about another long flight. Kathleen cried when we told her we'd be leaving Nan and Grandpa's, although her tears dried in record time when we mentioned the magic word: cousins. Visiting cousins made it all okay!

Since we bought our own tickets to Illinois, we only had three seats for the four of us. Surprisingly, that worked out even better than four seats. Madeline was happier to sit on our laps since there was more room for her to play with in our row -- and since she got to watch Kathleen, which is about her favorite activity in the world. Somehow the flight passed and we (and all our luggage -- what a blessing!) arrived in Illinois. We collected our things and the car that had generously been left for us (thanks, Stewarts!) and before we knew it, we were on the road, headed towards cousins!