3, 2, 1 Travel!

This past week, I was crazy enough to travel with the three kids to California “one-last-time.” This was the first time I traveled with three children and all the stuff one must carry to do so successfully. While I’ve traveled with the other two numerous times, doing so with three kids is definitely an adventure.

For this trip, I brought two strollers, an infant car seat (my parents have seats for the other two), three checked bags, two backpacks, a carry-on with toys and one tote bag with pillows and sweatshirts for the plane.  It was a lot carry, I know, but the kids pitched in and we made it just fine.

If you are wondering how you’d manage two strollers, the answer is to push one and pull the other.  There are also hooks on the double stroller that held the toy carry-on and the soft tote.  I carried the heavy backpack with all the electronics and the other one was light with a change of clothes for everyone and all the diaper bag necessities.

Sofia and Alex are pros at the whole security point thing and know exactly what to do.  It has taken a lot of practice that included a few trips from hell; but now it’ relatively easy and I’m able to “keep it together” -at least look like it anyway.

The first leg of the trip –yes “first”, since nothing flies direct from New Orleans — was fun. The 53 minute flight from new Orleans to Houston went by very quickly and the kids were all smiles and giggles.  If you want to know how to keep your kids intertained for hours or see how I’ve managed to do it many times before -even to Europe- you should check out this post.

In Houston, we were delayed nearly three hours.  We did several bathroom stops, food court visits and walked up and down terminal C.

I’d say that the first two hours everyone was in good spirits.  I parked the stroller by an outlet hub (a charging station) and I let Alex play with the iPad for a while.  Sofia, ever the super helpful big sister, doted on Baby G.  It’s definitely nice to have a big sister.

Of course, not everyone can “hang” for a 3 hour delay.  After a bottle someone was happy to nap-n-wait.

The others finally caved to their exhaustion and slept.  Ok, Alex actually slept for nearly 3 hours and Sofia watched a movie and fell asleep for the final hour.  The tray, of course, needs to be put back up for landing so my girl woke up quite groggy.

When we finally arrived, the kids were very happy to see my parents.  Me? I was thrilled.  Can’t you tell?

I am really enjoying this visit with my parents because after the summer they are going to sell their house in California and move to Louisiana to be closer to us.  Crazy? yes, but I love them that much more for that.  The kids miss them terribly and I am happy they will be close by and see the kids often.

I am also loving visiting friends and doing things with the kids.  There are some really fun and it’s nice to be able to play outdoors in 75 degree weather. While they are on vacation I still have a lot of work to do, so I am trying to manage my time as best I can.

Are you traveling with kids this summer?