Getting to Pennsylvania

The boys have each been on an airplane before this trip, but it's been years. Matthew's last flight was when he was about 6 months old and it was only an hour long. Sean's last flight was when he was 1 1/2 years old. Since then, Sean has had some motion sickness on a boat and in the car, so I was nervous about this plane ride. We got him some sea bands, Dramamine, and aromatherapy oils to help keep him stable. I didn't end up giving him the dramamine because I heard it can make him sleepy and I knew I wouldn't be able to carry him around. I needed both my kids to walk and be in charge of their own bags.

The kids had been looking forward to riding on an airplane for a long time. Months. The night before we left I told them I would get them up when it was still dark so we could get on the plane. They were excited!

The morning we left it was so cold. It had snowed a bit the night before and there was still some on the ground. Amy took us to the airport without any trouble. We checked all our stuff at the curb (did you know they like tips at the curbside bag check place? I didn't until that morning) and headed for the gate. The boys got new backpacks for Christmas from Uncle David and Trevor filled with fun stuff for the plane ride. They each had 1 other backpack too. Matthew wore both of his on his back even though the new ones have wheels. I should have taken a picture of that because it looks so silly and lots of people were giggling about it. He wouldn't be talked into any other way though and I didn't really mind since he was carrying them and I could carry just my things. The security gate was a mess. Sean was fine and thought it was so interesting that our bags were going to be x-rayed. Matthew, on the other hand, was NOT giving up his bags. I finally just ripped them off and got through the gate holding a sad, screaming little boy. It was a fight to get his shoes back on. He had a glorious, 10 minute (no exaggeration here!) full on fit on the floor before getting his bags and agreeing to go to our departure gate. I didn't realize we were going to ride a train there. If I had known I could have probably talked Matthew into walking a lot sooner. He sort of loves trains. There were a few really nice people that offered to help, but I didn't know how they could help, and I didn't want to make them wait for our slow behinds, so I thanked them and sent them on their way. We made our way to the train and the boys were both excited to ride it through a tunnel. We got to our gate and I fed the boys a little snack since I didn't have them eat before they got into the car. They looked out the window at the planes going by. There was a big net on a truck near the plane and Matthew said that someone had caught a squid. He's so silly.

We boarded the plane and the boys got into their bags for a snack or a drawing pad and settled in. I gave them each a sucker for take-off. I watched them super closely for any sign of motion sickness. We made it into the air without incident. They were so excited to be in the sky and fly through the clouds. They ate more snacks, enjoyed the drinks that came by, looked at some books, colored and were just giddy. Matthew kept using the bathroom. That was a fun challenge because he still needs help and those bathrooms are not built for more than one person. The flight was supposed to be 4 hours but we were making great time and shaved about 30 minutes off the time. There were little screens on each seat and we could watch the flight path. That was really cool to watch how fast we crossed the states. I was grateful knowing that it would take so much longer in a car. With about an hour and a half left Matthew's cheeks started getting really pink and he was getting whiny. Oh no! He said he needed to throw up, so I got ready. He ended up falling asleep for a few minutes. He woke up, threw up immediately and then seemed fine. Phew! I thought "that wasn't too bad. No more candy for him." We walked off the plane and he threw up a tiny bit more. I wiped it up with a wipe and then we started on our way to the next plane. This was in the Detroit airport. It is really big- here's a map. We were at the far end of concourse A and we needed to get to concourse C. It was a long walk and I didn't realize until we were half way down that there was a train that could have taken us much quicker. I'll know next time. There were about 8 moving sidewalks that the kids got to ride. There was a pretty water fountain that we watched for a few minutes before walking through the tunnel to concourse C. It's a pretty tunnel with 2 more long moving sidewalks, soft music, and a light show on the walls and we made it! I was pretty hungry so we got in line to get a sandwich. Matthew started whimpering again so we got out of line real quickly, I grabbed a bag (the stewardess gave me a couple just in case- so thankful for her!!) and he threw up again. Ugh!! "Is he actually sick then? Is this not motion sickness? Why am I doing this? I need Jon." These were my thoughts. Again, Matthew seemed fine after he was done throwing up. I decided we didn't need food after all.

We got to our gate and Matthew asked for some juice. I got some drinks and we sat and waited for our last flight. I talked to a couple people who told me I would fall in love with Pennsylvania and not want to leave. When I told Jon about that he commented that people don't realize how beautiful our home in Washington is. Just as people started boarding the plane, Matthew started whining again. Oh man! He was in bad shape, but we had to get on the plane, so I had him hold a bag and I carried him, his bags, and my bag on the plane. Sean was a great helper and get into his seat and started reading a magazine. Matthew fell asleep for a few minutes, woke up, threw up, and fell back asleep before we took off. Sean finished looking at his magazine (the one that was on the plane. I wouldn't think it was very exciting, but he went through each page carefully. He commented that the pages were "scripture page thin") and then he fell asleep before we took off too. Matthew slept the entire flight. That was a nice relief since I was all sorts of exhausted by this point. This flight was just over an hour and Sean was still fine. I'm a believer in those sea bands. We'll be getting some for Matthew for the trip back! Well, we landed and Matthew was still asleep, so I again carried him, his bags, and my bag off the plane. State College has a super small airport, so we walked off onto the tarmac. I had to get one more bag that I gate checked and since we were the last ones off the plane, a lady there said she could help us inside. We were walking toward the baggage claim and I saw Jon walking towards us. I told the lady "There's my knight in shining armor!" He took our bag from her and off she went. Sean hugged his dad, I kissed him, and Matthew pitifully looked at him. Oh it was so nice to see him and be together again. I let Jon hold Matthew for a bit so I could just stand for a minute and breathe knowing we didn't have to get on any more planes for a while. Jon gathered up our bags and car seats and we loaded up and headed to our new home.

I didn't look around much on the drive home since I was still focused on Matthew. I didn't want him throwing up in our rental car. We live about 10 minutes from the airport, so that was nice. Jon showed us around the new place. The boys love that we take an elevator to our floor. Matthew wanted to take a bath. Jon had bought a new Lego set and Sean started putting it together. Matthew threw up a few more times that night. I kept worrying that he was really sick and that we would all end up with it. I had been feeling dizzy since Detroit though, so I also wondered if it would just take a bit for Matthew and I to stop feeling the effects of the day. Sean prayed that Matthew would be better in the morning and we went to bed.

What a day! It started very early and was more eventful than I would have liked, but we made it safely and that's really all I could ask for. Our condo is really pretty and very comfortable. It will be a great home while we're here. I'll do my best to take pictures and update often.