Last weekend Nelia took her very first plane ride to Boise, Idaho to visit her Aunt Deanna and Uncle Brandon. Our flight left at 4:00pm on Thursday and it took most of Thursday morning to pack and get organized. We arrived at the airport around 2pm, grabbed one of those luggage carts, loaded up everything, put Nelia in her stroller, and headed to check-in. Check-in went very quickly. We checked two big suitcases, the base to her carseat, and her pack-and-play. We brought two carry-on bags and planned to gate check her stroller and carseat. Going through security went better and quicker than I expected. I was able to bring Nelia's food, some water for a bottle, and formula. We had plenty of time to spare! We grabbed dinner, went to Borders, and then headed to our gate. We let Nelia crawl around (which made me cringe since you all know I am a huge germ freak!) so she could burn off some energy before the flight. We met another couple and their 18 month old little boy so the two had fun following eachother around. Since the flight wasn't completely booked we were able to bring her carseat on the plane, which was great! We were equipped with a few new books, some snacks, a DVD player, and some toys. Ironicially she was most entertained by a package of Wet Ones wipes:) The flight went by really quickly (it is only about an hour to Boise from Seattle). We landed, put Nelia in the baby bjorn, grabbed our luggage, and picked up our rental car.
We decided to stay in Boise that night since the drive to Sun Valley takes about 2.5 hours and it was already late. We got to the hotel, checked in, set up the pack-and-play, and attempted to put Nelia to bed. Of course being in a new environment was so exciting - so exciting that she didn't want to go to sleep! So we ended up having to drive around Boise to get her to sleep and then transferred her to her pack-and-play. She slept through the night, but woke up around 5:15am. I brought her into bed with us and she fell back asleep for another hour. We woke up, grabbed breakfast, and headed to Sun Valley. She slept most of the way there, which was great!
We arrived in Hailey (which is where Brandon and Deanna live) and got settled into our condo. Deanna's dad bought the condo beneath Brandon and Deanna, which works out nicely for guests since he just uses it as a 'vacation condo' so it essentially is empty most of the year unless he is visiting or other family/friends are visiting. Of course Brandon and Deanna were so excited to get their hands on Nelia - and she was equally as excited!!! She absolutely adores both of them! She smiled almost the entire weekend - it was so sweet! Friday afternoon was spent hanging out and going to the park. They have this amazing park near their house, which we think Nelia is going to love as she gets older. It was the biggest playground I have ever seen! At any rate, Nelia had fun on the swings with Aunt Deanna and went down the slide with daddy. After the park we headed home and then we had a really yummy dinner. Deanna did an amazing job planning the menu for the weekend. Everything was delicious! Friday night we had a sausage, spinach pasta with a panzanella salad and then sorbet and cookies for dessert. Yum! We were all pretty tired so we headed to bed after dinner.
The hardest part of travelling was that Nelia just wouldn't sleep. It was impossible getting her to nap or even getting her to sleep at night. We ended up having to drive around quite a bit to get her to fall asleep. I am not sure if it was just the excitement of a new place or perhaps she is just so used to her crib and bedroom. Or perhaps she is teething. Either way, it was a challenge. And it still is. We got home and she has completely forgotten how to nap and how to go to sleep on her own. Hopefully it will pass quickly!
Anyways, Nelia woke up early on Saturday, but again we were able to get her to fall back asleep with us for another 1.5 hours. We woke up, gave Nelia a bath, and then had breakfast with Brandon and Deanna. We decided to head into town for lunch and some shopping. We ate at a yummy Thai place. I got pineapple fried rice, which they put into a 1/2 of a hollowed out pineapple. It was quite a neat presentation - and the pineapple kept Nelia entertained during lunch. Then we headed to the toy store so Nelia could pick out a new toy. We had such a blast in there! We were all laughing so hard, Nelia was so excited, and it was just fun! You totally had to be there, but we had customers in the store laughing with us. It was that much fun! Nelia left with a new bouncy ball (thank you Auntie and Uncle!). We looked at a few other stores and then went to one last store to pick up a balloon for Nelia. She loves balloons right now! Poor girl was so tired that she actually fell asleep in my arms - that was a first! Later in the afternoon we took a walk down to the river so Belle could get out some of her energy. Patrick carried Nelia in the baby bjorn and she had a great time! It even started to rain a little bit and she didn't even care. We headed back home and hung out before having another yummy dinner. One of their neighbors came over with her 2.5 year old boy named Jack. Jack and Nelia played for a little while together before we had dinner. We had grilled chicken with a lime cilantro sauce, an asian salad, and angel food cake, ice cream, and fruit for dessert. We picked up a movie earlier in the day to watch that night, but by the time Nelia went to bed it was too late. Patrick and I attempted to watch it, but we were both so tired.
Sunday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and then headed into Sun Valley. We went to the ski resort area and hung out in the sun. Brandon was pushing Nelia in the stroller and she fell asleep so we hung out there for a little while before window shopping in Sun Valley. We headed back to the condo, had lunch, and then started packing up. Brandon and Deanna played with Nelia while we packed up. We packed up the car and then headed back to Boise. We had dinner at Red Robin, got Nelia in her pjs, and then headed to the airport. Our flight didn't leave until 8:15pm. We arrived back in Seattle, Nelia fell asleep on the way home, and then we tranferred her to her crib.
It was a fun and successful first plane ride!!! We wish Brandon and Deanna lived closer. We love seeing them bond with Nelia - it just means so much to us. And we can tell that she loves them so much - she is so happy around them. Thank you Brandon and Deanna for a wonderful trip!!!! We miss you already:)
These two are just adorable together!!!
At the park
On our walk by the river
Nelia knows where her nose is now...problem is that when she points to her nose she puts her finger up her nose, lol:) Silly girl!
Helping mama pack:)
Waiting for our flight back to Seattle
