Done with airplanes!!!

Here are some pictures from the past month in California and in Maui. We loved being with my family but it is nice to be home. I'm sure my family is enjoying a break form us too! The kids loved the sand, but it was always a matter of time before they rubbed some sand in their eyes and then the beach time was over. My brother's family was there and his son Brendan is much loved by the trio, especially Lily. Any brown-haired boy they saw, they pointed and yelled, "B!" Liam ended up with a double ear infection in Maui and Lily had a singe ear infection. Luckily the Dr. there gave Liam an antibiotic shot and he felt much better within a day. The girls absolutely loved the ocean and we had to be hypervigilant because they would just take off toward the ocean not caring at all if anyone was behind them. Liam was much more hesitant about the waves and the noise of the crashing waves. He began to feel comfortable a couple days before we left, which was a bummer, but it was nice to see him sitting in the whitewash and splashing.
No more trips for a while.

Our airplanes trips have been so varied with how we've done things to how the kids have done on the planes. We usually buy 4 seats total and have one baby on our lap. We've tried every combination you could imagine: 1) taking both toddler car seats on the plane 2) one toddler car seat, one in a lap and one on a seat 3) no toddler car seats...one on a lap and two in airplane seats 4) bought a seat for each child with 2 car seats in one row and with 2 car seats but in different rows 5) flown early in the morning 6) flown in the middle of the afternoon 7) flown later at night.

For those of you planning an airplane trip, I can't vouch for any one combination. Having 2 car seats is nice because there is a place to put one if you need both your hands for another child. Also, if they happen to fall asleep, it is nice to have a spot for them. If, however, your children don't sleep, then if they are like mine, they won't want to just sit in their car seat and it becomes difficult because you have essentially "lost" a seat. On one of our flights, I sat in a row with 2 car seats and both children would scream until I took them out, but then I was stuck. I had 2 kids crawling on my lap in one seat because their car seats were taking up so much space on the other two seats.

Having one car seat worked because, again, there was a place to put a child and also an empty seat for the kids to sit or play on.

Checking one car seat with baggage and checking 2 car seats at the gate was nice becuase there wasn't anything to lug through the narrow airplane aisle, however, keeping two children in their seats is difficult. For a shorter flight (2 hours), this combination worked. I brought along some new toys, Fruity Cheerios (only used for special occasions) and the key item.....PORTABLE DVD player with Baby Einstein. This worked wonders and kept them occupied or at least slowed them down a little.

The Hawaii flights (5 hours) were the hardest thing I've been through with the triplets, with the exception of the sleepless months when they were little. What do you do with 3 18-month olds on an airplane where they miss a nap and can't move around like they'd like to?? For those of you reading and are maybe nervous about the flight, it can't get any worse than this....Ellie screamed for about 3 1/2 hours of the 4 1/2 hour flight. I knew she was tired, but she couldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, wouldn't play, wouldn't listen to books, wouldn't watch Baby Einstein, wouldn't walk the aisles....nothing. I tried to keep her from kicking the seat, pulling herself up on the seat in front of us and from generally disturbing the passenger in front of us. I believe that the woman in front of us had had too much to drink and was just a mean person anyway. She had finally had enough and screamed at me. Told me to tell my child to "shut the h*** up." She said that she had flown lots of times with babies on flights and had never had this experience and that everyone on the plane was thinking how miserable my child was, she was the only one "brave" enough to say something. Well, my family (Jack, my brother, sister-in-law, sister and sister's boyfriend) stood up and yelled back at her. The flight attendants were on her in a second and told her to calm herself or they'd have someone waiting for her at LAX. Finally, they moved her to another seat up front and I never saw her again. I think her husband told her to get the car while he and her kids (yes, she was a great exampe for her two yong children) got the bags. Anyway, if I can get through that one, you too can laugh in the face of a crazy woman.

We are going to be here in Denver looking forward to some visits by family. Jack's parents are planning a trip in late March, one of my best friends, Casey, is coming in April and my sister, Molly, is also planning a trip in April or May. Can't wait to see everyone!

Enjoy the pictures!




Liam enjoying some sun and sand.




My Dad and Ellie and Me and Liam



(L-R) Ellie, Liam and Lily spacing out to Baby
Einstein.



Lily and Ellie with their cousin, B.



Liam playing ball at Grammie and Papa's


The Disneyland brigade...Kassie (cousin), Ellie, B, Liam,
Lily and Adisyn (cousin).