Traveling Mercies

Just wanted to say thanks to those who gave helpful traveling tips to me for Evee and I and for those who prayed! I guess I never said it, but all went well. We had a bit of traveling change ups with flights and all, but in the end it worked out okay. Evee and I were against the window with 2 other people beside us for over 14 hours straight (the longest portion of the trip). The trip in total was over 24 hours. So, here's what I found worked - knowing every kid and trip is different! And, a lot of these are more-so things I'm thankful for instead of being "stuff" that you can take :). Oh, and another sidenote is that once we got to Australia (Sydney), we had to travel another 1 hour and a half 3 days later to Clint's family in another city. Then this past weekend we drove another 15 hours back down to Sydney for his brother's wedding. Now, Friday we'll leave to make the 24+ hour trip back home. So, lots of traveling for a little one (and Clint and I)!

Okay, now for the "helps" along the way...

• Sling - Evee is really heavy now! Even though I brought the stroller, she was in the sling a lot due to being overly tired. I said it before we left and I'll say it again - I LOVE the sling!
  
• We did find a dvd player and borrowed it from a friend! It was really nice to have and also helped in the first couple of days after arriving, when we were jet lagged and I wanted to hang in bed just a bit longer (or do e-mails or skype with Clint & my mom). It helped her be a bit relaxed and was wonderful to know that I could use it as a last resort.
  
• The fact that she now sleeps on me. Even though she had to be on my lap the entire way and my legs fell asleep frequently, it was nice that she will now fall asleep on me when she's really tired. When we did this same trip at 10 months of age she wouldn't sleep on us and it was not fun trying to let her "cry it out" a bit on a very crowded plane!
• Coloring items. Coloring books, crayons, paper, etc. For some reason we can go back to this again and again...doesn't get old too easily.
  
• Snacks were good, like suggested. I had stocked up on some Trader Joe's ends and pieces (all the bits from the cut fruit leathers so they are cheaper). If you can get your hands on these they are amazing, but often hard to find!
• Frogs - these were one of the cheap toys that we'd gotten from my friend. Evee loves these and talks about them all the time. They are just squishy little frogs in different colors.

We also sat by some really nice people on the way to Australia and there was another mom traveling without her husband and her almost 2 year old little boy. So, we'd walk around the plane a bit together with our kids.

I'm glad to have Clint with Evee and I on the way home!