On Flying Space A

*When I use spell check EVERY WORD comes up misspelled because I am in Italy and none of my words are in Italian.

Well, we made it. The kids and I flew over the ocean....and I can't believe it. We flew space available travel and I'm so very glad we didn't part with almost $3000 to fly commercially. Plane tickets are such a boring Christmas present.

We had to be at the airport at 8 p.m. so after waiting and getting ready and running errands, and going to dance and gymnastics class we were ready to go! My dear friend Sherrie came to drive us to the the airport. 4 large suitcases, 3 carry on bags, 2 car seats, a double stroller and a couple of pretty tired kids- I could NEVER have made it onto the plane without her. The weather was frigid! It was seriously 20 degrees and windy as sin as we tried to get all the stuff into the airport....and the kids were FREEZING. The line was about 15 minutes long and Andrew flipped out when I took his shoes off, then again when I put all of his "things" through the x-ray machine. After we had ourselves and our stuff x-rayed I had to go check in. The letter of eligibility I had with me was worded wrong and they weren't going to let me fly....but a couple of phone calls proved that yes, in fact my husband IS deployed for more than 4 months. Why on EARTH would I be doing this alone if he wasn't?? Anyhoo- we used our passports to check in. I have to mention the passports since they were the most expensive part of the trip- so far. Then, the guy told me to go give my luggage in and get my boarding pass. I asked him "is that it? I'm on the flight?" He said yes and I couln't believe it- I thought there would be at least a little more susupense....but nope we made it onto the flight. Andrew flipped out again when I gave his car seat in as luggage- he swore someone would steal it. They weigh all of us with our carry ons and gave us our boarding passes. When we boarded the plane it was 10 p.m. and my kids were TOAST. 2 kids who are alseep by 8 p.m. 90% of their lives don't party into the night very well....but we did it. The kids were asleep about 3 minutes after we got on the plane. They were snoring by the time we took off and slept straight through to our layover in Loges (spelling) which is an island in the Atlantic- I'm guessing owned by Portugal since they spoke Portuguese and there were Portugal signs everywehre. We were in Loges for 2 hours and got SOAKED by the rain walking to the bus that took us to the terminal but the kids were in good spirits. They stayed awake the entire 4 hours and 15 minutes for our next flight. Emma said she was so excited to give Daddy a hug about 350 times and Andrew went pee about 7 times. They are pretty great fliers and they were looking all over the runway for Mike when we landed in Naples. You've never seen 2 happier kids to see their Daddy!
The flight itself was awesome. It was the nicest flight I've ever been on. It was a regular jet liner- 737 I think. We were served 2 very nice hot meals, and they brought around hot towels after we ate to wash hands with. The flight attendants were the friendliest I've ever seen and the whole flight cost us $48. I know some people have major horror stories about space-a travel but for now- we don't. We're hoping the fairy tale continues when we go home on the 30th!

Our favorite flying "tools"
-Video ipod- load that baby up with hours of entertainment (books, music and videos) and it takes up NO space at all
-headphones, splitter and extra battery for that all important ipod
-and a little stand for that ipod. We've got one called an icarpus
-sticker books. Our favorite are Usborne sticker books. Emma can entertain herself for a couple of hours with a princess dress up book and Andrew could do their ABC book over and over again.
-index card notebooks and pencils- mechanical ones. Index cards are heavier than paper and my kids love to draw, write or decorate the pages with stickers. Plus, index cards have a blank side and a lined side so you can use whatever your heart desired.
-TRUNKI bags! We just got these, but they've been a big hit. The kids love to pull them around, or ride them around and they were big enough to fit neck pillows, blanket, extra outfit and all the kids carry on "stuff." They fit nicely under the seat in front of us. They are not indestructible and when our luggage cart spilled in the parking lot one of the latches popped off but I was able to fix it. The kids love them and I love not hauling all of their stuff for them!