Remember when.......
 

Jeepers, my oldest is 17 today.. where HAVE the years gone? Seems like yesterday I was getting my second or third sponge bath from the nice resident doctor!!

Anyway, I have a question.. what is the first trip you went on by plane after your family started?

Ours was a three plane ride adventure back to the remote Alaska village where we were living/working.. nothing like that final single prop five seater to give a new mom a real scare..
Fast forward and guess who loves flying and aviation so much, he wants to be a pilot now? Maybe those years of flying made an impact, waiting in airports, riding in hotel shuttles, etc..
No, I have NEVER hinted about family discounts either;)..(I think they discourage the "parents fly free" in the C-130's.. though think of the wine I could import!)
Happy Wednesday, J.:)

Only traveled by car for a while after our first child was born. But when #2 came along, I was on a plane with both kids when he was 3 weeks old. DD was only 2 1/2. DH was deployed, so it was just me and the little ones flying cross country. That has been many years ago, but obviously I still remember it, lol! Mostly because everyone at the airports felt sorry for me and helped so much:)

Encourage that aviation nut of yours! A friend of ours is from Alaska, and he got his pilots license when he lived there before heading off to college. He is an astronaut now, so see...you never know what can come of these things!

mms~ We are friends with a couple who have four kids, under 10, with a fifth on the way, and regularly travel overseas together on business(family owned).. wow!
My two are five years apart, and great travelers probably because they learned from early on about how to entertain themselves while waiting!
One cool thing in the Aleutians was the bush pilots got to know you, and they were always so nice to my oldest since he was an aviation savant..
Right now, he's doing the Microsoft flight simulator and it's amazing what you can do on that program..
((Y))In the spring, he starts flying lessons. Lots of younger people up here get their license early..
I went to school with a kid whose dad was a commerical pilot, and all three of the boys became pilots eventually.
Thanks for replying.. J.

I haven't taken our daughter on a plane, but my husband has. He flew Southwest with her when she was 4 months old.

No one wanted to sit by him, but she did very well on the plane. :)

Our neighbor's son just got his pilot's license a couple weeks ago; he just turned 19. Good luck to your son!

DD was 27 months, I was 3 months pregnant and we flew to visit my husband's [now "ex] family in Mauritius which is off of South Africa.

We flew from NY to London on Xmas eve and DD was in her red blanket sleeper and captured the hearts of everyone on the plane. It wasn't full so she was able to stretch out and sleep.

We got to London on Xmas Day and stayed until that night when we caught our flight to Mauritius. Oh, did I mention that as we walked into to the lobby of the hotel in London...with its gleaming black granite floors that DD said "Mommy my tummy doesn't feel too good" and proceeded to throw up on that beautiful floor??

On the flight to Mauritius, we stopped in Kartoum and then again in Malawi. I was concerned for her to drink anything at either of these airports, so she was allowed to drink Cokes out of a glass bottle which she thought was fun.

We flew out of Malawi on the last leg of the trip, only to have to turn around and go back due to plane problems. We were just short of the half way point, so we went back. We were on the ground for 4 or more hours...before we finally made it to our destination. What a loooong trip!

Debi

jetset--I think that is really cool that so many people get their pilots licenses so young. My DH has done that simulator too and loves it. Our friend will be here in a few weeks to go climb with DH and the guys, so DS and DH love to check out his plane. He has invited us to his shuttle launch in a couple months, so we are definitely going! I am sure with him being from Alaska, that it will be all over your news up there.

My kids have been flying since birth...but my most memorable trip was when my oldest had just turned two and his younger brother was just 4 months. mms--I totally relate, what a remember most is how helpful everyone was because they felt sorry for me! The hardest part was trying to figure out how to go to the bathroom, with both in tow.

One time, when my first was 6 months, we flew first class...talk about no one wanting to sit next to you! And *gasp* I even had to nurse him on the plane, which prompted the gent next to me to tell this loooonnngggg story how he was just on a flight with Amy Grant and she had to nurse her baby on the plane too. Ugh, I was trying to be discreet!

Now, when we fly overseas with the boys (still young, aged 2 and 4) we joke that we should have shirts made up that say "Don't worry, we won't sit next to you." And then my DH ALWAYS makes a cheesy joke and says "guess you are the lucky ones" to the unlucky souls that end up next to us.

I was a pilot in a bakery when I was a kid.

I would take the bread dough and "pilot" over there and then take all of the cookie dough and "pilot" over there...8-}

We flew to Hawaii when DD was just 15 mos. old. I was also 5 mos pregnant at the time. We just returned with the two girls this past spring. (with many trips inbetween). They are turning fourteen this month and 12 1/2! Time has flown by!

Oh and that was many trips inbetween to other places. Hawaii was only twice!

StephCar--LOL! Yes, trying to use the restrooms with little ones is quite interesting. You do get creative! I laughed at your t-shirt idea. The first time we (well, I, since DH was deployed yet again) took the kids to Europe DS was 4 and I remember that same look from people. Thankfully he slept the whole way. The man seated next to him was in his early 20's and after we arrived, he commented that he was dreading the flight sitting next to a little kid, but that he was pleasantly surprised and commented on how well behaved he was. Whew! And the nursing...yup...did that too when they were little!

mms, I do think it is possible to raise little travellers, so far anyway, but I only have a few year under my belt (but a handfull of flights I would guess?) My oldest is only 4 but he has been to Europe 3 times. Not bad for his old age.

Sometimes I wonder if they will embrace travel like their mom and dad or if they will just curse us for all the places we dragged them to year after year.

Since I started this with nostalgia and my eldest in mind, I will share a special trip just the two of us had when he was four..

* we flew from King Cove to Anchorage to Maui, and I should add, his little brother, who was but five months along(tummy), got to go too..

So we stayed at the Maui Coast hotel, taxi ride from the airport, and had ourselves a special week of fun.(decent beach and walking distance to stores)..
One morning, a bird almost snatched a piece of toast from my hand and made us both laugh.. we rented a car in Kihei and hung out in Lahaina.. up to Kapalua(I had worked in one of the shops years ago) and had fun stopping at beaches here and there..
his first theater movie occurred there, the Lion King, very special and being p.g. and hormonal, I cried and he did not.
A few friends were surprised that I did that while pregnant, but it was our last trip with just him and I , and once in a while, I dig out the photo box and pull out the July 1994 Maui trip pix and smile...
although I have been to all the islands, I probably don't want to return to Maui, just because I want to keep that one simple memory of my last visit.
Kauai was the first with my husband and I don't think I'd take the kids there.. the romance memories, y'all;)

***So when I say I like the B.I. with my family best, you know, as Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story"..

I flew to San diego and back (I'm in San Jose), when my daughter was only two months old. Granted it's a short flight (an hour and 15 mins maybe?). She did fine. With my son (he's over 5 years younger than my daughter), we didn't take him on a flight till he was 2 1/2. Again a short San Diego flight. I think the short flights are best for the little ones. i think our first longer flight was to Chicago when they were 10 and 5 yrs old. That went well, even with a transfer.

Oh, we went to Hawaii (Big Island and Maui) when the kids were 10 and 15. I would take a 2 year old over a sulky 15 year old, LOL.

trippinkpj~ well, mine are five years apart.. the big deal was when they would sit together finally.. little brother became savvy playing games and finally, they had something in common besides military interest and music(if you call that high pitched wailing music),lol..
DVD players are worth the investment too. I probably should have been a librarian.. with the books I've bought for them over the years, I might already be.. "shhh, mother is learning about retinol, buh bye",lol..

My husband and I didn't even go on our first plane trip until our son was three (he stayed home with gram). Then the next time my husband wanted to go someplace warm in the middle of winter we headed out on a camping trip to St John USVI. The original flight was cancelled when the company went on strike so we were changed to a flight to San Juan that was delayed for hours and then a commuter flight to St Thomas in a very little plane but not as little as another small plane ride one time minus our luggage because they were carrying frozen chicken for some restaurant. We had to tell the ticket agent how much we weighed so if we crashed *ahem* it would have been my fault. But back to the San Juan to St Thomas trip in the small plane also without our luggage. We waited until our luggage finally arrived then took a cab to Red Hook for a very dark ferry ride over to St John. We were deposited in downtown Cruz Bay with our luggage but none of the cab drivers would take us the final few miles to Maho. It was raining and if we had known better we would have waited until Hamilton's truck/passenger bus came to collect people who had been out partying. The last hill was not paved and very slippery. We had been warned if the cab couldn't make the hill we'd have to walk in via the goat path. Needless to say none of this was mentioned in the travel article I had read about this wonderful place to camp on St John. We fell exhausted into our beds and I was wondering what would happen next for our first family vacation in paradise. I woke in the middle of the night to see a full moon lighting a little bay where sailboats were anchored. Our little tent cabin was right overlooking the water. The weather for the rest of the trip was fabulous.
The child is now 27 so we eventually started planning trips to visit him i.e. a beach house in NC one Thanksgiving and he finally got a place of his own where we could "mooch off the kid".

Paris - my wife & daughter took a 'practice flight' to Ohio. Then we all went to Paris when she was about 8 months old. She is now 4, & we also have a 17 mo. old. The younger will be making their first trip to Europe this Winter, my daughter has been twice. He's already been to the Caribbean though.

we first flew when my kids were 3 1/2 and 2 1/2. american airlines wouldn't let us preboard. so we finally head down the jetway and turn to get on the plane. my 2 1/2 yo (who has no problem expressing her emotions) took one look at the small door opening to the plane and started SCREAMING. my husband grabbed both carseats and our son and i picked her up. the entire plane seemed to groan as we walked on the plane. my husband was hitting every single person in first class and up front in coach with the carseats and i was holding a SCREAMING kid.

we got to our row, i threw her in her seat and gave her a small bag of m&ms and her favorite stuffed animal. she quieted down immediately and didn't make the peep the whole trip.

of course, on the flight home, we get on the plane without incident and she starts asking for m&ms. well, stupid me didn't have any with me. before long, she was SCREAMING "I WANT CANDY NOW!!!!". such a proud mommy moment! right out of willy wonka.

ever since then, the kids love to fly and i always have m&ms with me.

StephCar--Our kids are teens now, and yes, the early travels have definitely influenced their desire to travel more. Warning...proud parent here, lol...DS who is in middle school has won the geography bee for the last 2 years at school. Last year he qualified and competed at the state level. He thinks all of this is so easy. Quite a few of the questions he had were directly related to our travels. Right now DD wants to live in Africa someday, and both kids keep asking for more exotic vacations. Sometimes I wonder what we have started;)