Thankful in Tucson
The "school bus" that drove us from the long-term parking lot to the airport was the first of many exciting adventures that we had last week. Zeb bounced around the bus excited to see airplanes and race cars and a quarter that fell from daddy's pocket...he was like a cat with catnip...very happy with every little detail. Inside the airport, was even more fun with the lights and hallways and people.
As for mom and dad, we were excited to *not* bring a stroller and to check his car seat. I was so unencumbered, I kept feeling like I was forgetting something!
Our flight left for Vegas at 2pm, otherwise known as "nap time" and true to form, Zeb fell asleep shortly after take-off and woke-up shortly after landing. The only hiccup in the trip was the need to exit the secure area to get to our next gate, there were a few tears when we denied him some "ffs" (french fries), but soon we were onto the next plane and he was happily sitting by the window with his seatbelt on. We kept him occupied during the short flight from Vegas to Tucson with the Peanuts' Thanksgiving Special on the iPod touch (no more portable DVD player! Yet another way we were able to lighten our load).
Zeb ran into Grandpa's arms as soon as they saw each other. It was such a great moment and verifies that he understands that grandpa isn't just a character on the computer screen (from our video chats), but a real person...family.
Our luggage apparently got off-track in Vegas and didn't arrive with us, but Southwest had a loaner car seat and said they would deliver our luggage to our hotel and take back the loaner if we left it at the front desk. When we woke up the next morning, there was our 2 suitcases and the car seat.
We spent Tuesday settling in to our new home, "nesting" as it were. In Zeb's case, he literally created a nest in the closet. (There's a picture in the Tucson Nov 2008 set on flickr.)
While the weather may not have been up to the Tucsonites standards, for us Seattleites, it was heavenly. Especially on Wednesday when it was 80 and sunny. We spent a couple hours at the Desert Museum. All of the animals, except the Javelinas, read the memo that we were going to be there and made their appearances. We saw a mountain lion, bighorn sheep, hummingbirds, snakes, a skunk, a coyote, wolves, a prairie dog, a beaver, an otter, a bobcat and lizards.
We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday at my smom and dad's house with my step-sister's family and my step-brother. It rained a little bit, but that didn't stop a few of us from eating outside.
Friday, we made a quick stop to a toy store on our way to the airport. We had another wonderful travel day and made it home in time to unpack, relax, and get to bed early. I think the key is to time our flights around Zeb's nap time. Both of our travel days started around 2pm so that he slept for a good chunk of each flight.
I am thankful for such a cool kid, especially one who likes to travel. I'm thankful for a mate who is such as awesome dad. I'm thankful for all of my dads, moms, grandmas, grandpa, brothers, sisters, nieces, and cousins--I wish I could see all of you more often! I'm thankful for my co-author and that we published a book together. I'm thankful for our home and friends. It's been a great year. We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!
As for mom and dad, we were excited to *not* bring a stroller and to check his car seat. I was so unencumbered, I kept feeling like I was forgetting something!
Our flight left for Vegas at 2pm, otherwise known as "nap time" and true to form, Zeb fell asleep shortly after take-off and woke-up shortly after landing. The only hiccup in the trip was the need to exit the secure area to get to our next gate, there were a few tears when we denied him some "ffs" (french fries), but soon we were onto the next plane and he was happily sitting by the window with his seatbelt on. We kept him occupied during the short flight from Vegas to Tucson with the Peanuts' Thanksgiving Special on the iPod touch (no more portable DVD player! Yet another way we were able to lighten our load).
Zeb ran into Grandpa's arms as soon as they saw each other. It was such a great moment and verifies that he understands that grandpa isn't just a character on the computer screen (from our video chats), but a real person...family.
Our luggage apparently got off-track in Vegas and didn't arrive with us, but Southwest had a loaner car seat and said they would deliver our luggage to our hotel and take back the loaner if we left it at the front desk. When we woke up the next morning, there was our 2 suitcases and the car seat.
We spent Tuesday settling in to our new home, "nesting" as it were. In Zeb's case, he literally created a nest in the closet. (There's a picture in the Tucson Nov 2008 set on flickr.)
While the weather may not have been up to the Tucsonites standards, for us Seattleites, it was heavenly. Especially on Wednesday when it was 80 and sunny. We spent a couple hours at the Desert Museum. All of the animals, except the Javelinas, read the memo that we were going to be there and made their appearances. We saw a mountain lion, bighorn sheep, hummingbirds, snakes, a skunk, a coyote, wolves, a prairie dog, a beaver, an otter, a bobcat and lizards.
We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday at my smom and dad's house with my step-sister's family and my step-brother. It rained a little bit, but that didn't stop a few of us from eating outside.
Friday, we made a quick stop to a toy store on our way to the airport. We had another wonderful travel day and made it home in time to unpack, relax, and get to bed early. I think the key is to time our flights around Zeb's nap time. Both of our travel days started around 2pm so that he slept for a good chunk of each flight.
I am thankful for such a cool kid, especially one who likes to travel. I'm thankful for a mate who is such as awesome dad. I'm thankful for all of my dads, moms, grandmas, grandpa, brothers, sisters, nieces, and cousins--I wish I could see all of you more often! I'm thankful for my co-author and that we published a book together. I'm thankful for our home and friends. It's been a great year. We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!
posted by sp1ral at 1:07 PM
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