Trip to Pittsburgh (Part 1)

Last week, we threw my Little (Sister -->Sorority), Rochelle, a bridal shower and bachelorette party. Being that it was in Pittsburgh, I only had two choices. One, drive 15 hours with two kids and pray that I make it there without having to stop every 2 hours to change a movie OR two, fly with two kids and pray that they wouldn't drive me and every other passenger insane. I chose number two. I was really excited about going to Pittsburgh to see my Little, so I was blinded by the fact that I had agreed to get onto a moving object, high in the air, with two demanding little people.

The night before the trip, I started freaking out. I was anxious and stressing hardcore about what I committed to do. I looked at Ryan several times, wondering if I should take either or both children. When we arrived at Tampa's airport, there was no turning back. We were going...

Lucky for us, the Southwest people happened to be really nice that day. The lady behind the check-in counter was friendly and actually offered to give Ryan a pass to come to the gate with us. What a saving grace that was! I wasn't stressed going through security. I was happy to wait for the plane...and then it was time to leave. I started to sweat (mostly because I was dressed for Pittsburgh weather and not Tampa weather) but as we stood in line to board, I truly questioned whether or not I had made the right decision.

We boarded and the kids were ecstatic. Row 18. That was the lucky row. We had it all to ourselves. Ronan was in window, I was in the middle (oh, lucky me!) and Riley had the aisle. It was great. We sat, listened to the flight attendants do their thing and off we went. This leg of the flight was great. Ronan was so happy.



I downloaded some Disney shows onto my iPod and put on some cheap headphones. The boy was happy. There were 6 shows on there, 23 minutes each. He didn't make it through one of them. He would make me change it to something else. I was sure that if could manage to watch every show in its entirety, we'd make it to Pittsburgh in absolute peace. Nope.

Ronan: "I don't wanna watch Doh-wah." (Dora)
Me: "Okay, Ronan, what do you want to watch?"
Ronan: "I wanna watch Doh-wah."
Me: "Okay, buddy, you ARE watching Dora."
Ronan: "I don't wanna watch Doh-wah. Ein-tine." (Einsteins) -- Volume is much louder.
Me: "Okay, Ronan, I'll change it to Einsteins."

And so I did. And after literally, two minutes, he wanted Dora or back to Einsteins. It was really annoying and it got to the point where I started to feel nauseous. He was tired and that's when I decided to hold him tight and try to get him to sleep. With about an hour left of the flight, little dude was peacefully asleep in my lap...ahhhh, quiet.

But wait, I have another child...Miss Riley!

What an absolute angel. She is completely capable of keeping herself entertained and happy -- as long as she has something to do and a snack to match. She gleefully played with her Nintendo DS and when she was over that, she colored...for over an hour. The flight attendants stopped every so often and checked on the status of her work...but it was awesome. I think that if my kids were like that on every trip, I'd fly everywhere....

This is my brother, Mike. He lives in Pittsburgh with his girlfriend and the last time we had the chance to see them, Ronan was only 5 months old. The night we arrived, Mike and Jess came to see us at my parents house and the kids LOVED him. They were all over him. It was really nice to see them hanging out and playing with him -- we're looking forward to seeing them when they move to Florida!

Our first night was great...the kids were spoiled, they hung out with family/friends and we made it to Pittsburgh in one piece...if only the flight home were just as easy (haha...more Pittsburgh trip reports to come...)