May 31, 2013

30 hours travel time. 12 suitcases. 4 carry-ons. 1 double stroller. 1 car seat. 2 kids.  Not ideal but it all went better than expected.  We had to hire a car service just to get our luggage to the airport.  This was Avery’s and Coleson’s first flight ever and Avery was very excited.  We got to the airport around 5ish and I realized for the first time that the car seat adapter to the BOB double stroller did not fit his car seat.  Bummer but we made it work.  It took the guy at the American Airlines counter about 15 minutes to find our reservation but he finally did.  Then he proceeded to tell me that I could not take my stroller to the gate.  I think he could tell that I was not going to lose this battle so he finally gave up and said I could check it at the gate.  We grabbed some food and waited to board.  The flight to LAX didn’t take off until 7:45 and the kids’ bedtime is 7pm.  I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle it but they did better than expected.  I packed some surprise goody bags in our carry-on for Avery and that along with the Ipad kept her happy and awake for the whole flight to LA.  Coleson was a dream. He slept the whole way to LA.  Once we got to LA, we had to take a bus to the other terminal for our Qantas flight.  The kids were awake but both exhausted – so glad I had the stroller!  It was about 1am central time at this point.

We boarded the plane for Melbourne!  We flew in the Airbus a380 and it was amazing! Thank God we had business class seats.  Avery and Josh’s seats were right behind me and Coleson.  We also had a bassinet reserved for Coleson that was right in front of our seats in the bulk head.  It folded out and was perfect for him.  Avery fell asleep right away and slept straight for about 7 hours.  She woke up and stayed awake for the remainder of the flight – 9 hours. She watched Disney Junior, played in her chair and had a huge breakfast.  Coleson and I slept a long stretch at first and then Coleson continued to sleep off and on throughout the flight.  It was a long flight but they both did great.

Once we got to Melbourne we had to go get all of our 12 suitcases and go through customs because it was our first entry point into Australia.  Not fun.  We had arranged for a porter to help us with our luggage but nobody showed.  Two very nice Qantas employees took pity on us and offered to help.  There was a LONG line to go through customs and we did not have the stroller.  This was definitely the low point of our travels to Australia.  Avery was really tired at this point and not in a good mood.  She was whiney and making mean faces at other people in line. Lovely. Welcome to Australia!

We finally boarded our plane to Perth.  The flight attendants were amazing on our long flight but very snotty on this flight, and we were in first class!  They all just stood there and watched when Josh dropped one of his bags and then they told me that Coleson’s car seat was not approved for flying.  Really, because I just used it on a 16 hour flight to Melbourne AND I called in advance to make sure it was FAA approved! After showing them that it did in fact work with the seatbelts they left us alone.  Neither Avery nor Coleson could sleep on this flight.  We were all just over it and ready to be there.  The first class seats were big but not like the fold out beds on the long flight.  Plus, it was day time in Australia so it was bright and loud and they were serving lunch, etc.   Avery fell asleep about 30 minutes before we landed.  When it was time to get off, I had to wake her up and she was so sad. In the saddest voice you’ve ever heard she said, “I want to go home.”  Broke my heart.  We made it to the baggage carousel where Karen from Apache HR and our car service was there to greet us.  We got loaded into the car and the kids fell asleep instantly.  It was an exhausting flight but we made it to PERTH!