Well, not really. Just booking flights and committing our time for Christmas today. Though I guess that is our Christmas gift to ourselves since it's more than we would have spent on a family gift. It will almost positively be our last Christmas spent with our parents. After October Dean is an adult according to the airlines, so we bought 3 tickets. We went with Southwest and it saved us over $450 (kept us under $1000)! The tickets were cheaper to begin, plus they don't charge for bags. The other airlines had as many or more stops/plane changes, so it was totally the way to go.
At least we won't have to try and keep Dean satisfied on our laps! I'm hoping by then he'll show some interest in watching tv/dvds and we'll buy a portable dvd player (are we the only people who don't have one of these by now? along with cell phones?) so he'll be occupied. But that is a long shot. And Matt doesn't want to buy a dvd player since he doesn't think it would help at all.
We'll have a nice long stay there. December 17th-January 4th! Hopefully the boys will be able to adjust and do well...
10 comments:
Yeah, crazy that a two year old gets an adult price. I guess a seat is a seat. We now have to pay for four seats and will have to split up on the plane. And I am not looking forward to hauling three carseats plus luggage when we fly. I think we will be doing a lot less flying these days. We fly Southwest too.
We also don't have a portable dvd player. We bought one for a trip we took then decided to take it back because we didn't think it was worth it. Can't believe you guys don't have cell phones! I thought it was mandatory for all Americans age 12 and up to have one. Ha ha.. That is one thing that I would have a hard time not having.
It will be fun for you guys to see family for christmas! It is getting closer...
I've never taken a DVD player on an airplane, and I'm not sure it would be worth it with everything else you have to carry on for small children. If you want to buy one, make sure he'll keep the earphones in before you take it with you. Also most of them have a fairly short battery life so consider that as well. Someone gave us one and it's great for long car trips (I still use it sparingly), but I probably wouldn't take it on a plane.
I'm also a paranoid person and used our carseat for our 3-year old the last time we were on the plane; I think it helped her feel more comfortable and fits a lot better than the seat belts. Getting it on and installed into the plane is a big hassle. We do have a backpack to put it in which helps get it through the airport. Good luck--flying with kids is such a pain! (And I also wish they offered some sort of kid's fare---that would be awesome)
I understand why they'd charge the same price per seat. I just wish they'd lable it differently as you're purchasing. Like, "# of seats" or "# of passengers over 2 yrs." rather than "# of adults (over age 2)". Because then I do think about the fact that I have to pay full price for a 2 year old!
Mar, we have 1 emergency pre-paid cell phone, but we don't have our own cell phones that we carry around with us. Crazy, I know.
I'm super excited to go to CA.
FoxyJ, thanks for the tips. I didn't even think about the fact that he'd have to use ear plugs or the battery life. It probably isn't worth it in a plane.
We're also trying to figure out how to get home for Christmas. Three plane tickets is a lot of cash, and 5 hours on a plane with two small children isn't exactly my idea of a picnic. We'll see if we actually make it.
We just took Kate on a plane trip - on the way there she was in her car seat and on the way back she was in our laps. Soooo much easier in her seat. We don't have a mini DVD player, either. We bought her a new magnetic drawing lap board toy and debuted it on the plane and it kept her busy for an hour, no joke. For hauling the seat around, we decided against the $30 for the rolling backpack pack for it, and ended up using the seatbelts as a shoulder strap. Uncomfortable, but definitely doable, especially for such a short trip to the gate.
Kristeee, I haven't even thought about how to get both car seats there. Thanks for the tip.
Wait!...Are you coming here!? Yipppeeee!!!
I haven't done any flying with the kids, so I have no idea what the requirements are regarding car seats and being on the plane, but there is a good chance Mom and I could get car seats for the kids to use while they are here visiting in CA. In fact, I KNOW mom has a seat that will work for Dean and I could probably find in infant seat to borrow. That would save you from having to lug the car seats on the airplane.
L.S., I was really pushing for going to CA since we're unsure how long Mom and Dad will be in that house. If they end up selling and relocating for job purposes, I would HATE to have not gone there for one more good stay.
Good to know Mom has a car seat for Dean. I don't mind traveling with the infant seat so much, but what a pain it would be to take Dean's gigantic Britax seat!
Even my most active 1-year-old boy was entertained in the car for 12 hours with a dvd player and baby einstein dvd's.
Best.investment.ever.
those dvd players are pretty small too. you could almost slide one into the front pouch of a diaper bag. it might be worth borrowing someone's dvd player to try it out.
otherwise, my second best trick on trips is treats. especially those pastel powdery suckers--they don't get sticky.
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