Well, after what was probably the most stressful travel period we've had, we have arrived back in New Zealand. Exhausted, but here nonetheless. And I have determined that I have a champion traveler for a baby. Or maybe she's just totally awesome in general. Either way, she was a rock star once again for our travels. So the stressful part? Went something like this...
Our flight on Monday was scheduled to leave at 7pm... which means check-in at 5pm since it's international. Well, our goal was to start getting out the door at 3:30, figuring we would have to pack up the car, the todller, and it always takes longer than expected, so we were hoping to be on the road by 4:00. Well, we of course were slightly behind schedule due to Riley's 3+ hour nap, but we got all packed up and were ready to leave when... dead car battery. Thank goodness for multiple cars at my parents' house, we jump started the fully loaded/packed car in just a few minutes, and we were on our way. Could have been a disaster, but ended up not being too much of a delay. Phew.
Off to the airport we went! Normally, in traffic, this drive could take about an hour, so we were due to arrive a little after 5, maybe 5:15. No big deal. Well, turns out there was a 49ers game in the city, so every one and their mom was headed into the city, which means it took us almost 3 hours to go 35 miles. My mom dropped me off right out side the check in, and I, 30+ weeks pregnant, ran to the gate and begged to be let on. At 6:45 pm. When the flight was due to leave in 15 minutes. I think they took pity on me, and agreed to let us on, and my parents helped Mark unload the luggage and the toddler. We said the quickest goodbye in history to my parents, and ran to security. Somehow, we managed to make it to the gate at 7:05pm, and boarded and then finally had a few seconds to breathe. Talk about stressful!
Now the flight was actually not so bad, all things considered. We did not have a bassinet seat, but Riley did have her own seat so we could use her car seat, which was helpful. She played and watched DVDs for the first 2 hours or so, and then she was exhausted (2 hours past her bedtime) and basically just fell asleep in my arms. I held her for a bit, and then was able to slip her into her car seat. I think she would have slept there for a while if not for the 18 month old in the row next to us that kept screaming every 45 minutes or so... but seriously Riley was the cutest, the baby would cry, and she would wake up, whine a little but, and then look at me and go "baby? baby?" and go right back to sleep. So she slept on and off for about 8.5 hours, which is pretty darn good, I must say. Me, on the other hand? No sleep. Being 30 weeks pregnant on a long flight with a toddler is no easy task, I tell you. I was pretty uncomfortable, and Riley either wanted me to be holding her or touching her, so I was a little bit trapped.
Anyway, so this flight (12.5 hours) landed about 30 minutes late, which made the connection for our next flight a bit of a rush, which meant pushing our 200+ pounds of luggage plus carry-ons plus Riley from the international terminal to domestic, which is no short walk, let me tell you. Let's just say I got my week's workout in. And again, Riley was a trooper, just going with the flow. The only meltdowns we had were on the next flight, which is only about 50 minutes, but she was just so exhausted she was losing it over nothing, until she just finally laid her head down and fell asleep on me... as we were landing into Wellington, of course. :)
Overall though? Stressful, but another very successful trip with Riley. And this kid is SO happy so far here in NZ. I was worried our first week was going to be rough with the time change, but we've kept her up late (US time) to get her adjusted to NZ time, and she is doing pretty well. I thought she's be waking up at 3am, and she slept until 4:45, so she's doing well. And she LOVES our house. She loves having room to roam, and being able to go wherever she wants with nothing really being off limits to her. She's opening all the drawers and cabinets, she's exploring the rooms, she's climbing on furniture and getting to play outside. She's sleeping in a big girl bed and loving it. She's totally, totally loving it here. Although, every time, she sees a phone, she goes "gra gra?" and then "jeh jeh?" for Grandma and Jennie. And she heard a neighbor's dog barking and immediately yelled out "Bay?" and searched for her favorite black lab. Poor little one, she's going to miss my family so much!
But, at least she's adjusting well so far. And the new FAVE thing to do? Redecorate our sad little Kmart Christmas tree over, and over, and over again. She LOVES the ornaments, she loves the garland and the beads... pretty much everything.
Our flight on Monday was scheduled to leave at 7pm... which means check-in at 5pm since it's international. Well, our goal was to start getting out the door at 3:30, figuring we would have to pack up the car, the todller, and it always takes longer than expected, so we were hoping to be on the road by 4:00. Well, we of course were slightly behind schedule due to Riley's 3+ hour nap, but we got all packed up and were ready to leave when... dead car battery. Thank goodness for multiple cars at my parents' house, we jump started the fully loaded/packed car in just a few minutes, and we were on our way. Could have been a disaster, but ended up not being too much of a delay. Phew.
Off to the airport we went! Normally, in traffic, this drive could take about an hour, so we were due to arrive a little after 5, maybe 5:15. No big deal. Well, turns out there was a 49ers game in the city, so every one and their mom was headed into the city, which means it took us almost 3 hours to go 35 miles. My mom dropped me off right out side the check in, and I, 30+ weeks pregnant, ran to the gate and begged to be let on. At 6:45 pm. When the flight was due to leave in 15 minutes. I think they took pity on me, and agreed to let us on, and my parents helped Mark unload the luggage and the toddler. We said the quickest goodbye in history to my parents, and ran to security. Somehow, we managed to make it to the gate at 7:05pm, and boarded and then finally had a few seconds to breathe. Talk about stressful!
Now the flight was actually not so bad, all things considered. We did not have a bassinet seat, but Riley did have her own seat so we could use her car seat, which was helpful. She played and watched DVDs for the first 2 hours or so, and then she was exhausted (2 hours past her bedtime) and basically just fell asleep in my arms. I held her for a bit, and then was able to slip her into her car seat. I think she would have slept there for a while if not for the 18 month old in the row next to us that kept screaming every 45 minutes or so... but seriously Riley was the cutest, the baby would cry, and she would wake up, whine a little but, and then look at me and go "baby? baby?" and go right back to sleep. So she slept on and off for about 8.5 hours, which is pretty darn good, I must say. Me, on the other hand? No sleep. Being 30 weeks pregnant on a long flight with a toddler is no easy task, I tell you. I was pretty uncomfortable, and Riley either wanted me to be holding her or touching her, so I was a little bit trapped.
Anyway, so this flight (12.5 hours) landed about 30 minutes late, which made the connection for our next flight a bit of a rush, which meant pushing our 200+ pounds of luggage plus carry-ons plus Riley from the international terminal to domestic, which is no short walk, let me tell you. Let's just say I got my week's workout in. And again, Riley was a trooper, just going with the flow. The only meltdowns we had were on the next flight, which is only about 50 minutes, but she was just so exhausted she was losing it over nothing, until she just finally laid her head down and fell asleep on me... as we were landing into Wellington, of course. :)
Overall though? Stressful, but another very successful trip with Riley. And this kid is SO happy so far here in NZ. I was worried our first week was going to be rough with the time change, but we've kept her up late (US time) to get her adjusted to NZ time, and she is doing pretty well. I thought she's be waking up at 3am, and she slept until 4:45, so she's doing well. And she LOVES our house. She loves having room to roam, and being able to go wherever she wants with nothing really being off limits to her. She's opening all the drawers and cabinets, she's exploring the rooms, she's climbing on furniture and getting to play outside. She's sleeping in a big girl bed and loving it. She's totally, totally loving it here. Although, every time, she sees a phone, she goes "gra gra?" and then "jeh jeh?" for Grandma and Jennie. And she heard a neighbor's dog barking and immediately yelled out "Bay?" and searched for her favorite black lab. Poor little one, she's going to miss my family so much!
But, at least she's adjusting well so far. And the new FAVE thing to do? Redecorate our sad little Kmart Christmas tree over, and over, and over again. She LOVES the ornaments, she loves the garland and the beads... pretty much everything.
We asked her where she wanted to put each ornament, and for a while she wanted to put them all on the same branch. Hence the ornament cluster. :)
This is what happened when she got a hold of the box of ornaments. Note the hands on her head? She's also saying "uh oh." "Uh oh" is right, little one.
We also managed to go see Santa today, and even sit on his lap! We'd been trying to do this in the US but the lines were ridiculous, and we hardly even waited when we went today, so it was a total success! No tears or anything! Picture to follow... :)
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