Flying with Toddlers

We were all a little worried about flying to and from Austin with three kids. Clara is great at flying but Bailey and Emmett are both at the age where they just want to run around and not be contained. Turns out we didn't have much to worry about and they all did great. The trip there was fantastic. We left Fresno super early and the kids were still in their pajamas. They all did great on the first flight and we had a short layover in San Francisco with just enough time to grab breakfast. (On a side note SFO is the craziest airport. I've never seen so much sushi in an airport and they had a yoga room!) 

Kids need a lot of stuff!

We hoped that all the kids would sleep on the longer flight to Austin but they did not like that idea. Emmett finally fell asleep on my lap holding onto his food container for dear life. Bailey got fussy so I gave Tia the ipad so she could watch Baby Signing Time. It worked and she ended up falling asleep but Clara got really jealous that Bailey was watching a show on the ipad which she's never done. I finally broke down and let Clara watch a Doc McStuffins episode on my phone through the United App. I have never resorted to technology to keep her well behaved before but I couldn't really argue with her on a plane when Bailey was using our ipad to watch something. It kept her entertained and then she agreed to rest when it was over. She didn't fall asleep but she was at least quiet. She also had two juices, and Emmett had a cookie...all the rules go out the door on a plane!

The trip home wasn't quite as smooth, but the kids hung in there. We left Austin at 6:00 PM and they were all exhausted. They all fell asleep pretty quickly but Clara did not stay asleep for long. She proceeded to wake Emmett up, but luckily he can deal with not a lot of sleep as long as he is well fed! Our layover in LA turned into a nightmare when our plane got delayed in San Francisco. It had to go to San Diego from there and we ended up not leaving until almost 1:00 AM (so 3:00 AM Texas time). I thought it was going to be a disaster but the kids ate, played, and watched the planes (Emmett was obsessed with them). All of the kids (and me too) managed to fall asleep in the terminal and stay asleep on the entire flight home! Bailey and Emmett woke up when we landed but Clara stayed asleep until we got home. It was the longest day ever and the kids did so great! We were all glad to get home!