As we walk through
security I muse at the sign stating 'some things were never meant to fly'. There are pictures of explosives and
handguns, but none of toddlers or babies.
I wonder if that is a huge oversight on the part of Air Canada. We are about to find out...
SMP has a small
meltdown when it is time for Puppy to go through the x-ray machine. There is no way she is handing Puppy over,
and certainly not onto a conveyor belt that disappears into a weird machine. As we put Puppy on the belt she hollers up a
storm, and carries on at max volume until she sees Puppy emerge on the other
side. Then she runs up and snags poor
Puppy from his torturers, smothering him with hugs and kisses. We make a mental note to hide Puppy prior to
the security gate for future flights.
The flight to Van is
a piece of cake! SJP has a little nap
and SMP is happily entertained by the mini TV, the window, and the other
passengers. JDP and I share a glass of
wine, a little cheers and a hopeful smile - could it really be this easy?
We have a six hour
layover in Vancouver and spend the time with our good friends Heather &
Dave and their two boys. They collect us
from the airport and even have a delicious dinner waiting for us (thanks hey-ho). Tracy drives in from Maple Ridge with her two
boys to join us for the evening. It is a
quick visit, but lots of fun. The four
boys (and accompanying noise and chaos) overwhelm SMP initially, but by the end
of the evening she is pretending to cut off people's arms with the light saber
like the rest of the kids. SJP watches
it all in awe.
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| Hey! What do I have to do for some apple juice?? |
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| SJP sleeping through it all as usual |
Vancouver to Sydney - 14+ hours
Dave drives us back
to the airport and as we pull away from the house both children are screaming
in their carseats - full out! I wonder
what we are getting ourselves into and start having mild anxiety attacks about
the upcoming flight. Within minutes the
kids calm down and it is a smooth ride to the airport. We check the carseats and head through
security in the Chariot (which seems to be more useful for holding all of our
carry-on gear than the children). Next
time I would not have so much carry-on gear. Next time I would bring a leash
for SMP.
We head to our gate
and wait until we are close to boarding time before we put the kids into their
PJs. I figure this would be a good
signal to them that it was bedtime. Fat
chance. SMP is wired, running up and
down the hallway, babbling nonsense, singing and throwing out random 'hi's' to
passerby. My anxiety level creeps higher
and higher and I am certain we are in for a long, long night. But then, SJP falls peacefully asleep in the
baby carrier as we are about to board.
We preboard and get
ourselves set up. Paying extra for the
bulkhead turns out to be a wise decision.
Although SJP hates the bassinet (she refuses to sleep in it and wakes up
screaming whenever we try to lay her in there), the extra room is
priceless. SMP can get down from her
seat and move around a bit, we can change diapers without having to cram into
the micro-bathrooms, and we are able to spread out and access our colossal
amount of carry-on gear. We mostly use
the bassinet to stow it all.
As the plane takes
off SMP is literally bouncing off the walls.
Midnight - and bouncing off the walls.
What are we in for? She figures
out how to undo her seatbelt and disregards the lit up seatbelt sign
completely. I have to hold her seatbelt
closed with my hand to keep her in for the ascent. She is squirmy and wants to get out of her
seat and touch everything - and I am so terrified that she won't be able to go
to sleep and that we will arrive in Sydney with an overtired and jetlagged
toddler (what could be more terrifying than that?) But, after an easy half hour
of pointing, poking and chatting she grabs Puppy and her Princess Blanket,
leans her little head over and is instantly asleep.
SJP sleeps on my lap
on top of a full-sized pillow we brought (thanks for the great travel tip Joc)
and with the exception of a couple nursing stints sleeps for about 10 hours
straight. SMP sleeps for 8! We, on the other hand, get about 2 at a time
(but as our expectation was to get no sleep we feel surprisingly refreshed).
In the morning we
pass the time with breakfast (and even manage to have a hot coffee!). SMP colours, watches a video, plays with
Puppy, looks out the window, and babbles and giggles over her seat with a
little boy in the row behind us. And
suddenly, we see the white sandy beaches of Sydney through the window.
We land, collect our
luggage (it's all there!). Customs is a
breeze, picking up the rental minivan is quick and painless, and here we are in
Australia, on our way to our little house on the bay…
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| View from Linley Cottage - our Sydney accommodation |
That sounds like a pretty smooth flight overall. Glad to hear it went so well and there was a chance for coffee in the morning. Can't wait to hear more about entry into Australia.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dave is wondering if he can get a job like JDP's with his CS degree?!?!?!