Flight #1

Sorry about the lack of posts this week, gang. I came down with a terrible case of altitude flu. But I’m feeling slightly better. Slightly.

Now where was I? Oh, yeah. The trip.

After Luca, Elijah and I destroyed the Peoria International Airport’s security line, we made our way down to our gate. After thirty or forty trips to the bathroom for Eli, I heard the blessed words.

“We’re beginning advanced boarding for anyone with small children…”

I gleefully skipped up the ramp, pushing Luca in his car seat. But when we got to the jet bridge, I realized we were on the tiniest of puddle jumpers. There was no way I could fit Luca’s car seat down the aisle. I had to check it and carry him. But while I was unpacking Luca, Elijah decided once again to take off. This time, towards the plane’s entrance.

“Eli! Eli! Eli! Wait! You wait, mister!”

But he didn’t wait. He padded confidently into the hull. By the time I caught up with him, he was saying his magical words to the cute flight attendant, “Hi! I Eli! I’m cute and nice.”

She was his forever. The two of them made moony eyes at each other the whole flight. She’d wave from her little jump seat and he’d blush and wave back. Sheesh. She even got the pilot to say Eli’s name over the intercom pre-flight, but neither one of use heard it because we were too busy arguing over whether the FAA’s ban on electronics during taxi included his DVD player.

Luca, despite not having a car seat, did great. For some inexplicable reason, he was content to just sit in his massive plane seat. He looked like a miniature Russian banker. I kept expecting to turn and see him playing Sudoku.

Aside from the occasional whine about how quickly I was dolling out jellybeans and a bout of Luca wanting to crawl over his seat and into the lap of the Iranian gentleman behind him, Flight #1 went off without a hitch. There was a moment in the Chicago where Elijah decided to lay down on the jet bridge, causing a slight traffic jam.

But that was Flight #1. Flight #2 will be revealed soon.

p.s. I don’t have any recent photos. So enjoy this oldie and goodie.