Palm Trees and Santa Claus

Yeah, yeah yeah - I know, we have palm trees in Houston as well;  somehow it just seems so much more appropriate when describing a Christmas in Florida.  This year we made plans to spend Christmas with my family in Florida.  This was the second big trip that we have taken with both kids, and although we were very excited to get to Florida we were much less excited about the adventure that we would experience along the way.  Little did we know that the drama we encountered would be a result of general holiday travel, and not a product of traveling with our little ones, at least not on the way there...

Having never traveled at Christmas, I was blissfully, although naively unaware of the plans and preparations that it seems half of the world makes WELL in advance.  It started off with our dog Teddy; I called to board him at numerous kennels and was informed that they were full four months in advance for the holidays.  I guess I couldn't be too upset since we had not even planned our trip that far in advance so we would have been out of luck even if I had called earlier.  Luckily we have fantastic friends who agreed to watch Teddy for us while we were gone.  

So we were ready to go; two days before Christmas we loaded the family up and headed out on the one-hour trip to the airport.  Like always, we had allowed ourselves enough time to make sure that we were at the airport and ready to go a full two-hours in advance.  Thank goodness for our strict travel upbringing (Thank you Jerry and Donald), because it turns out we would need every bit of that time to just make our flight.  Upon arriving in the general airport vicinity we knew that there was going to be a problem.  All the off site airport parking had signs reading FULL...  We went to our normal park-n-ride and were informed that unless we had a reservation we were out of luck.  After trying the fourth one, I suggested we just pretend that we had a reservation, and make them think they lost it.  They would have to let us in, right?  Well, it turns out we didn't need to be dishonest.   At the last park-n-ride that we tried, a sign was directing travelers to the Doubletree hotel which they had opened for airport parking since absolutely everything else was full.  Since these places are not used to shuttling massive amounts of passengers to and from the airport, their shuttle system understandably took a little longer, and we arrived at the airport with about an hour and a half to spare.  

Fast forward to a VERY long line for the check-in/baggage drop-off, and a twenty plus minute wait at the counter while the attendant tried to find us seats together, and we were running to our gate.  We were one of the last passengers on, but in a twist of fate, we didn't have far to go once on the plane;  the counter attendant had bumped us up to first class!  The kids did great on the first flight (as well as a three year old and a near one year old who doesn't like to sit still can do).  Isla happily sat and watched movies and played with the iPad, and Jordan was left to battle with Holden, who under the circumstances was not actually

that

bad.   

Add a short layover in Atlanta and we were onto our final flight, which was much of the same from the first flight.  We finally made it into Florida after dark and were on our way to Mimi and Papa's house.  Isla was excited to see her grandparents, Aunt Mandy and Uncle Erik.  Not surprisingly, the puppies were also a welcome sight.  She went to bed a little later that night with her tummy full of ice cream that we had to make a late night trip for - but after the long day of travel, she deserved it.  

The rest of the trip was wonderful and despite an unfortunate episode involving some extreme turbulence and two sick babies on the flight back into Houston, we had a wonderful time.  Thank you Mom and Dad for making our Christmas so memorable!  

The end goal is ALL travel with children: a sleeping baby!

Sunset over the water

Catching up with Uncle Erik

Doing pop rock fireworks with Papa

Holden is content to just watch...

Relaxing with Mimi

Apparently Isla does not think that the lawn company is doing an adequate job, and takes matters into her own hands.

Gardening is tough work-I'm gonna take a little rest. 

Santa Claus came twice this year!

Christmas Day on the beach

Isla was sad that she couldn't actually get in the water and swim at the beach (we didn't bring her swimsuit), so we promised her that she could go swimming when we got back to Mimi and Papa's.

Unfortunately, the water was a

little

cold...

Holden thinks that Isla's crazy.  His face says it all...

Isla loved riding Gabe's motorcycle.

Apparently, Holden didn't feel the same way.

A friendly game of Mah Jong.

Our first night back in Texas included great friends and Tex Mex.  Couldn't have asked for a better vacation and a better welcome home!