Hold On Tight

We arrived in Iowa around dinner time on Wednesday evening. That meant once we found our luggage, installed the catseats, stopped for dinner, stopped at the store for a few necessities for the week, and then finally arrived to the farm - we didn't have much time to play before bedtime. But that was okay. It had been a  l o n g  day, so we were all exhausted. Tomorrow was supposed to be in the low 70s, so we would get as much outdoor playtime in as we could.

We were in Iowa. Had I forgotten this detail? One word : WIND.

I had promised the kids we would play outside. So we did. Jack may or may not have fallen over a few times trying to walk across the yard into the wind, and the only direction the swings would go was crooked, BUT we played outside.

Our kiddos don't have the luxury of having a yard to just run around in, so regardless of the wind, they had a blast.

Airplanes & Kiddos

Ever since we moved to Arkansas, we have not returned to Iowa for Thanksgiving with it being so close to Christmas. We decided to make this year different.

This year, Eslie's  f o u r t h  birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day. Being we live 10+ hours away, we haven't had a big birthday party for her since she turned one. In addition to this, we are set to move late spring and will be even  f u r t h e r  away. So this year was different. We decided we were going home for Thanksgiving, and we were going to have a birthday party for Eslie.

But in order to do these things, we have to travel.

AJ doesn't have a whole lot of time to take off, so when we do decide to head north, the kids and I usually go up early and he will drive up and join us later. Driving 10+ hours  a l o n e  with two young kiddos is not something I feel comfortable doing. So we fly. Yes, I have heard I am crazy, but we have managed to survive and arrive to our destination safely the last four times, so we will just call it a win for now.

What do I take with me? We check one bag with a week's worth of clothes and minimal necessities for the three of us. We check both carseats (free). We have two carryon bags. One containing needs like diapers, snacks, wipes, snacks, kleenex, snacks, cups for drinks, and snacks. The other bag has busy items like coloring books and markers (crayola color wonder is literally the BEST thing ever!), stickers and memo pads, toy cars, plastic animals, books, foam puzzle pieces, and Eslie's tablet for watching movies. I also bring the umbrella stroller to contain the youngest in the airports. And two children- I bring them too.

We were off!