Leaving On a Jet Plane

08-04-11
Airplane Day!
We’ve been talking about this day for a while. Anticipating; dreading. Anna Kate was a little hyper, and B3 was thrilled to finally be on his way to “fly!!” with Daddy. All morning long, Ben kept calling roll; he had to know where we all were at all times. If he couldn’t see me, he’d roam the house yelling for me until I responded. If Anna Kate was playing in a different room, he had to find her. If Ben went out to load, B3 followed along. Just by looking at the mountain of luggage, he knew something was up. Something, indeed.
Since we’ll be there at least 6 weeks without before our household goods shipment arrives, we maxed out our luggage allotment on the flight. As a result, we had to borrow the bus from my parents’ church to haul us and our bags to the airport,. It’s a little embarrassing, but it was better than driving 2 vehicles. Of course, we had to have a picture of the stack. Note there are a couple of carry ons missing.

Eight bags and a car seat were checked. Everyone had 2 carry-ons, and we also had B3’s car seat and stroller. That’s TEN items to traipse through the airport and navigate security with. The only glitch was failing to warn B3 that he’d have to remove his hat, shoes, and beloved turtle snap bracelet (Thanks, Aunt Barbara!) in security. Melt. Down. In Newark, we had learned from our mistake and were able to appropriately prepare him for it.
Our flight from Charlotte to Newark departed at 6 pm. Both kids did well; window seats, snacks, and an iPad helped. My favorite moment of that flight came as we landed; Anna Kate erupted into chants of, “Sing-A-Pore! Sing-A-Pore!”, loud enough for everyone around us to hear. Her excitement was obvious.
After a 3 hour layover in Newark, we finally took off at 11 pm on a Singapore Air flight. Oh, how I love Singapore Air! As soon as I boarded, 2 attendants, dressed in their beautiful traditional dresses, insisted on helping me carry my 5 bags to our seats. I’m not sure anyone has ever, ever helped me like that before. The service is excellent, the seats are spacious enough for me to sit comfortably with a kid, and the food isn’t bad, either. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy a flight with an attendant who does Louis Armstrong impersonations after he offers croissants and sweet rolls? This same singing attendant pushed our bags thru the airport to the taxi stand after we met again at baggage claim – singing Sinatra the entire way. Later, Ben told me he was also the one who turned “Kung Fu Panda” on so B3 would be entertained while the plane loaded.
Both AK and B3 were hyper and going wide open. Our flight was all business class, so each of us had a large seat that folded into a bed. B3 was in his car seat, and he finally crashed around midnight. Remarkably, he slept until 8:30. We were both pleasantly surprised and shocked. AK was showing no signs of being tired, so she was still watching a movie when I went to sleep sometime after 1 am. She, too, slept until after 8.
As I typed this, we’ve got 4 hours left. Anna Kate has amused herself quite nicely by singing, reading, watching “Rio” 4 times, and playing with the somewhat scary toys the attendants passed out. She truly enjoyed the warm washcloth treatment, too.  She's being spoiled, I'm afraid. 

B3, understandably, has been very high maintenance. I’ve had a finger up my nose and my hair painfully rearranged. I’ve sung “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” and the theme from Thomas a dozen times. I’ve had my shirt pulled, stretched, and tugged to revealing lengths and I’ve had sloppy kisses. The kind, friendly flight attendant has taken him on nearly as many laps around the plane as Ben and I have. He’s made his presence known to everyone on the flight. Some have heard him; others have been poked. Seriously. As he makes his way down the aisle, he must touch every arm rest for balance. Some seats are empty, thankfully. Others have arm sticking out, and some folks have other body parts sprawled all over, just asking to be poked. He’s more than happy to oblige. And, in case you’re wondering – Benadryl doesn’t work.