Traveling with a baby is new for us, and it can be fun, as long as you set your expectations differently. We gave it a whirl for the first time in March, and it was, like everything else since the baby arrived, a matter of adjustment and learning.
In the spring, my relatives and I took a trip to Tahoe. My cousin’s family of five joined our little band of three, for a week of skiing. The idea started innocently enough. My cousin Valerie and I decided it would be fun to take a family trip. In theory, our husbands could watch the kids while we skied, and vice versa.
It was all fun and games until we actually set this plan in motion. The plane ride over was the opposite of fun. We flew coach (oh, you think newscasters make fabulous amounts of money?) on the way over, and that was a mistake. I had asked the reservationist for her advice on where to sit with the baby, and she said a lot of parents like the window and the middle seat.
She must have meant children who have their own seat, not 9 month old infants who sit on the parent’s lap. It would have ended up being easier to sit on the aisle, because then I could more easily get up to change diapers or walk the aisle with a bored baby. I felt squished up in the corner with the baby, or reluctant to continually interrupt the very nice seatmate on the aisle, so when I did get up, I stayed up for a long time.
Olivia was not fun on the way to Nevada. She fussed and squawked for half the flight, and only slept for one hour. There were two other babies on this flight. I felt bad for the rest of the passengers. I paced the aisle a lot. Somewhere near the end of the flight, Claus and I looked at each other with faded eyes and admitted defeat.
I admit, I booked badly, too. I thought flying the now-defunct Aloha Airline’s direct flight to Reno would be the best choice, because despite one stopover in Orange County, we didn’t have to change planes. I was so wrong. Flight 482 left Honolulu in the afternoon, which means she’s flying through the crankiest part of her day: the time right before bed. It arrived in Reno at 11 p.m., which then means we were all super tired.
And now I know a plane change isn’t bad at all. Olivia likes movement, so walking to a new plane would probably have been easier than sitting on the same aircraft and waiting for the next leg of the flight.
Compounding the delay in Reno: Aloha lost our playpen, so we were delayed while filling out a lost baggage claim. Then the rental car forgot to install our car seat, so we had to return to the counter to fix that. It’s an hour drive from Reno to Northstar at Tahoe. By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was in the wee hours of the morning, and we were fatigued.
The next morning, we decided to buy groceries and walk around nearby Truckee. This was a major deviation from our former ski trips, in which we would rise at dawn and return at dusk. We are (were?) hardcore skiers.
Once settled into the ski chalet, things went much smoother. We had fun! My cousin, her husband, and their three young children (ages 7, 4, and 2) were a blast. We love her kids. It was wonderful to see Olivia interacting with her little cousins. It was interesting to watch how the older children relished the role of big brother and big sister. By the time the trip was over, they were asking to take Olivia home with them.
I must admit, our fancy dinners out are a thing of the past. Eating at a restaurant with four little kids? Ha! Well mannered though they are, it's still a big effort. On the day we took the kids to Reno, we found it easier to eat lunch in the van. There’s a new one for us. Luckily, most of us can and like to cook, so we made a lot of cozy meals at home – and as a bonus, saved a lot of money.
Of course, rooming with four little ones was a bit of a shock to us as new parents. There is no longer any chance of convincing my husband to have a second child after this trip. Let’s put it this way: our bathroom door lock was broken, and the kids repeatedly pushed their way in to see what was happening on the other side.
One day the 4 year old girl came into the bathroom and opened the shower door while Claus was inside. Another day, she burst in while I was in dispose to ask me if she could watch what I was doing. One early morning, I woke up to hear two children screaming, and one of them wasn't mine. Apparently, Carson had bitten his sister, who hit back, so both the 2 and the 4 year old were crying. Aah, this is the stuff funny stories are made of.
Because Aloha never did find our playpen until the trip was over and we were back in Hawaii, it was a little bit inconvenient. The parent left behind to watch Olivia had nowhere to stash her, because we had no playpen, and the three story cabin wasn’t baby-proof. If my cousin’s family was able to, they’d help out, but they often had their hands full with their little ones. There were times I’d have to take Olivia into the bathroom with me.
Strap her into the stroller, you say, and let her scream? I would have done that, but I didn’t bring a stroller. I considered this heavily, but in the end, decided it would be of minimal use, because it’d be hard to wheel it around on snowy paths. I like carrying her in her Ergo sling, and thought that would suffice. While that ended up being accurate, what I didn’t account for was how handy a stroller might be when I needed to set her securely in one spot. In retrospect, I wish I took it.
One day, I took her to the heated swimming pool while Claus skied. It was fantastic fun in the pool, but getting her changed afterwards in the locker room was difficult with a wiggly baby and small little locker room benches.
I was loathe to put her on the floor (visions of MRSA danced through my head), but in the end, after I diapered her, I resigned to let her stand/ crawl around what I hoped to be the cleaner spots of the room while I threw clothing on my still-damp person. Let that be my lesson: next time, bring the stroller!
On the way home, Aloha said it had extra seats in first class if we wanted to pay cash for it. Because the ride over in coach was so horrible, without hesitation, my husband whipped out his credit card. I’m not sure if the extra space made the difference, or the time of the flight (Olivia’s better in the mornings), but she was a gem on the way back. I kid my husband that we can only fly first class from now on. And if it works, I guess I have the baby to thank!
All in all, not a bad trip for first-timers. We learned a few things, though I’m sure the lessons will change as the baby grows older. We’re looking forward to making annual vacations a regular tradition with my cousin’s family.
ALOHA TO ALOHA
I took one of the last flights Aloha Airlines offered before it shuttered its doors. My heart goes out to the 1,900 employees. We had a great experience on the carrier on the way over and back, with flight attendants like Joy (thanks for the sushi!), Kenya (thanks for the sandwich!), and Duane making our flight enjoyable and memorable.
I like flying the local carriers because it feels like home; on each Aloha flight, we ended up meeting people we knew, or friends of friends. It’s like one big ho’olaulea in the air. I certainly hope the carrier can find its footing again and reopen for business. Losing Aloha really feels like losing a little bit of aloha.
