Scotland Part 1- Getting There!

And the moment had finally arrived, we were about to start the much awaited , highly anticipated trip abroad! It was, on a lesser scale, the way I felt about preparing for our wedding: I was super excited and thrilled about the blessing, but it's something that required lots of planning and lots of worries about things going just right! As much as I joked about the plane flight's length, I sort of channeled my energy into finding activites for her, and tried not to think about the reality of the situation. It wasn't until I woke up the morning of the trip that I felt the anxiety go into full throttle; I hadn't felt that sick to my stomach in a very long time. I was surprised with how much dread I felt, because usually when I wake up the day that we are leaving on a trip, it is one of my favorite days ever! To foreshadow a bit, the dread was not entirely unfounded. . . .

Some Details of our Adventure that we had to plan accordingly for:

-  Shuttle picks us up at 1pm. Flight left at 3:45 out of Houston, arrives in Lonon 9 hours later with a 7 hour time change

- We would  have a 2 hour layover in London, then take a 45 minute flight to Edinburgh, finally getting to our hotel by noon. We would, essentially, be traveling for about 17 hours. YAY!

- my doctor advised me not to give her benadryl, so I went with her advice as the drugged child several rows behind us slept the night away, oh well!

- We would be gone from a Friday to a Saturday

- We were to pack for delightfully cool weather

I will take you through our fun-filled adventure, tell you what worked for us and what also did not. I really want to help anyone else who has an opportunity to go abroad because it is completely worth it, it just takes a bit of energy, lots of good advice, a super duper hubby, a sweet little child, and as I learned, some experience!

******** please note that although this flight was about to kick our parenting butts, I learned SOOO much and if I had to do it again, I would JUMP at the chance! Plus, you learn so much just going through stuff like this - afterwards, a "redo" almost seems like a fun challenge! And don't worry, we were going to get a redo on the way back home and I have one word for that "redo"- magical! So there you go, some hope!

The Flight

 Since the shuttle picked us up at 1pm, she didn't have time to nap. I thought that her not taking an afternoon nap might "help" her to sleep better on the plane. Not so much. Although she doesn't take morning naps anymore, I wish I would have at least tried to lay her down. . . She was very restless once we got on the plane!

- Baby luggage included: checked items- one suitcase, one carseat

carry on- mommy's bag full of snacks, Bekah's carry on full of games, diapers, books, ect. and our dearly beloved stroller that you can just check at the gate.

We did not need to take a pack and play because the hotel had one, you just have to call ahead and reserve their pack and plays that they call "play yards". BIG help! Since it is international, you can even email them to reserve it!

After checking in, I was told by friends that I should let my crazy toddler run around to her heart's content, and that is what we did. We ran all over, waving to people and then getting very sidetracked by the big windows showing us the airplanes!

It was on that day that Bekah chose to say the word that I have been trying to get her to say, "emmy!" Teehee, "airplane," can't you tell??

She played with the ice in the cups, got herself wet, and yet we did not care - this girl was about to be couped up for almost a DAY so she needed some FREEDOM! ( as a certain heroic Scotsman would say!)

When we got on the plane, I said a silent prayer of thanks again for how we opted for Bekah to have her own seat and we got all set up. The setting couldn't have been better for Bekah.

These are some things that I am so glad we tried to control before getting on the plane:

- she had her own seat. I sat with her on one side, daddy was across the isle.

- her seat could extend to lay back flat, allowing her to sleep like she was in her crib

- we were told to get the front row of whatever section you are in, then, they can play on the floor and not bother a soul! You can reserve this and it is COMPLETLY worth your time to do so!

( Do you see all that room behind me for her to play in? "All" I guess is relative, but since everthing is tiny on an airplane(as Seinfeld says!) , it felt like a lot of space)

- I also reserved her a kids meal, but since I did not remind them at check in, and then again at the gate, AND then again when I got on the plane, they gave it away to someone else! (Probably that sleeping angel a few rows back!) Bekah wasn't a fan of the grown up food, and unfortunately she wasn't very hungry either, because they serve you dinner prety much the minute you get on to help you get your body on the schedule of your destination. That's why I am glad I had all those snacks. I was very happy with my healthy, yet enticing array of snacks. Here is what I brought:

- those bags from costco of dried apples and pears, raisins, veggie puffs, mum-mums, organic fruit snacks (that were reserved for emergencies only!), the milk in cartons that doesn't have to be refrigerated, yogurt that doesn't neeed to be refrigerated, whatever cheese and crackers I could snag from the lounge, and toddler cereal bars. Wherever we went though, there was always milk or bananas which was nice : ).

- speaking of eating, the stewardesses were so nice to suggest staggering our meals so that we could enjoy eating, but also take care of Bekah. I did not take them up on it at first, which I should have - that was one place I went wrong. I had thought that she would be happy eating, so it would be a good time for us to eat, but I learned my lesson! On the way back, the truth in the stewardess' words was lived out : ). Along with that, those ladies know what they are doing. They have kids on their flights all the time, so I would say that when in doubt, take their advice : ).

(here she is eating one of her many snacks, no airplane food for this girl!)

As I said before, lots of planning went into providing Bekah with  "lesson  plans" on the plane (thanks for coining that phrase Shelby, it sure seemed more doable when I thought of it that way! And thanks to Granmommy for your expertise and for helping me get everything together!).

Lesson One- The Tried and True, Praise Baby (basically the portable DVD player!).

She didn't want the earphones, which makes sense.Thankfully, the hum of the plane prevented the other passengers from feeling like they were in a Vacation Bible School sing along. Then again, wouldn't they rather be there, and not a nursery with a crying baby????

Lesson Two- Stickers

Stickers are always fun, especially when you have a big wall to put them on,

and a willing daddy too!

Lesson Three- iPad

Another electronic device that surprised me in its value for a toddler was the iPad! I am now a believer! And though this little girl will not be graced by that cool toy again probably until the next plane flight, she LOVED it while she had the chance! (TV and iPads are not quality toys for 18 month olds, I know, but you are on survival mode at this point and you just do what you have to do!)

The iPad had games on it that she actually understood. They had a farm game, where you touch the animal, it makes a sound, or it moves; you touch the fish, they swim away and more come back. She really got the hang of it and learned a thing or two!

Lesson Four- Books!

Bringing flat, flimsy books is the best way to go. You can pack more, especially the ones that have stickers in them that you move around too! I ended up being scared to not bring some of her favorites, so we brought about 15 books in all, but I considered it worth it, books almost never fail with her! In addition to books, I took some advice from another friend and brought flash cards. She loved them! Just like a book, she loved the pics, but she loved, even more so, how she could reach for it, and hold it and collect them.

 

Lesson Five- Polly Pockets

I was worried that these may be a choking hazard and for a moment had a thought to leave them behind. Well, I sure am glad I listened to Gramommy because they were the best "lesson" of all! They are these great little dolls with all sorts accessories to take on and off of them, made out of this soft rubber material that allowed them to slide on and off. Well, Bekah just couldn't believe her luck, having purses and boots and hats and dresses, all at her finger tips!

 

Oh and another thing is, don't show them any of these new "lessons" until you get on the plane, their appeal skyrockets if they haven't been seen before!

Lesson Six- Farm Manipulatives

To go along with the dolls, I thought that Bekah might like to have some farm animals to manipulate and play with, so I bought her some of these. My hunch was right, I think these got 2nd place:

She was very imaginative with them - here she is giving the piggie milk. I love watching her personality and intelligence come out in ways like this.

Lesson 7- Coloring

Those markers that only write on that special paper were helpful, though she preferred her crayons, especially taking them in and out of the box, more so than the coloring itself!

And when all else failed, resorting to the window often worked:

So, that's a general idea of things that we did, how snacking and eating went, and what we packed and planned. I feel like  everything was as good as it could be situation-wise, it was just kind of hard on Bekah, as you could imagine. She was pretty restless and the activities didn't keep her interested for as long as I thought. About 3 hours into the flight, after some rough moments of toddlerhood, we did the bedtime routine - praise baby, milk, book and rocking by daddy. And low and behold, we had ourselves a sleeping toddler on a plane!! Praise the Lord! We extended her seat to be a bed, laid her down, and accepted the glass of wine that the stewardess so happily offered to celebrate with! And for 2 full hours, it was grand, I even watched an in-flight movie! Well about 5 hours into the flight, with 4 hours left, the cabin lights still off, and most people sleeping, she woke up! What?!?!?? We did our darndest to get her to go back to sleep, but she wouldn't have it, she was already so thrown off of her schedule. After we accepted the fact that she wasn't going back to sleep, it really wasn't so bad, we just had to read books quietly. Eventually we got hungry and before long, breakfast was being served, cabin lights were on and the descent was not far off.

Alas, we had arrived in London! Not without a stop at the airport Harrods though!

( How hard was it not to want to jump in a cab and say "cheers" to my dear friend Hayley??? SO HARD!

I wish we had a longer layover!)

Now, with our sleep deprived child, I just had to believe that she might sleep on the next flight, and she did, she gave in to that sleep eventually! She looks comfy, huh?? : ) Teehee! Poor thing!

When we touched down upon Scottish soil, the tired sillies/grumpies were in full effect! Going through customs was only made possible by the fact that there was another little girl in the line for Bekah to play with, thank goodness for that : ).

Looking back, yes, it was hard, but now that I know that it doesn't have to be that hard every time, I am so encouraged! I am so grateful that we had both a hard plane flight ( to learn from and so we can know that we can survive it!) and a wonderful one ( on the way home), to encourage us that sometimes, just sometimes, the stars can be aligned perfectly and 11 ( yes, the way back was longer!) hours on a plane with a toddler can actually be, fun! One adventure down, many more to come! Stay tuned for Bekah's Scottish Adventures!