Leaving on a Jet Plane......

My sister went from living 6 minutes to 6 hours away.  It was a hard transition for everyone.  It was a blessing for her family as Steve was presented an offer he really couldn't turn down with Edward Jones.  The move would take them from Barrington to St. Louis.  It was extremely hard for Andra and me, as well as the kids.  We had become use to our daily playdates, easy babysitting drop-offs, lunchdates, dinnerdates, and those much needed glasses of wine while the kids played together!  Mya would wake-up from nap asking for Ty Ty and I would reply, "Let's get dressed and go see him!"  That's not so easy anymore.  She still asks for at least one of her cousins daily.  She also constantly tells and asks me, "Ty ty likes it?.?."  Sometimes confirming that something is good and other times asking for advice when trying something new.  If he likes it, it must be good.

I had several days off of work, so I decided this would be a great opportunity to fly to St. Louis for a long weekend to visit the Kuehls.  It would be her first time on an airplane.  She was super excited and I was super nervous!  Luckily, the flight is only 45 minutes.  I packed enough snacks and activities for a 8 hour flight...you can never be too prepared!  Matt dropped his girls off at the airport and wished us luck!

The Flight:  I only had my iphone camera so the picture is very blurry.  Mya loved the airplane!  Before the flight she said she wanted to sit on my lap, but she ended up staying in her own seat the entire flight! The flight crew was great and the passengers around us loved her!  She really was pretty comical.

Playtime: I really didn't pull out my camera too often.  We were just too busy playing and catching up!  We ate, shopped, explored St. Louis, went to a fabulous Children's Museum (The Magic House), laughed, and hottubbed!



Mya couldn't get enough of her cousins! She LOVES them!




Hangin' with CiCi.  Can you tell she wants to be just like her?




Mya grabbed a hold of B and wouldn't let go!




Funny Faces!




Ready for the hottub! Mya loved it!  She was kicking like a little mermaid.  I think she's ready for swim lessons!




Auntie and the kids in the hottub! It was about 20 degrees outside! It was relaxing....but would've been nice with a glass of wine rather than an O'douls.



Mya gets a firm grip on TyTy... she didn't want to let him go!

The Flight Home:  In retrospect, this was pretty funny.  At the time, I was horrified.  First of all, Mya was greeting every single person we walked by in the airport.  She also dropped to the ground about 10 times before we go to security to "take my shoes off."  As we got to security, there was a pretty long line.  Mya refused to stay within the ropes with me.  At one point, she was leaning against a large column and covering her eyes.  I asked her what she was doing and she screamed, "I pooping Mommy!"  That got a giggles from the crowd....until they realized she had completed polluted the area in which we had about a 10 minute wait.

We made it through security successfully, and stinkily, and were on our way to the gate.  We stopped by the women's room to change her diaper.... and used up all the wipes we had (important info for later in the airport visit.)  As we got to the gate, we were told we had about a 20 minute delay due to weather.  Mya was great.  She played with her baby and entertained a couple of passengers waiting to board our flight.  All of a sudden, she grabbed her bottom and said, "Owwwwy Mommy."  This was followed up with, "I poopied again, Mommy."  WHAT?!?!?!  Immediately, I heard, "Now boarding flight 1742.  Crap....that was us!  At this point I realized, a.) What the heck...she already pooped.  b.) Crap, I have NO DIAPER OR WIPES! c.) Our flight was boarding. d.) She smelled like poop e.) Her bottom hurt and couldn't sit in it for another hour. 

Of course, Mya being a naive 2 year old, she didn't get the urgency of our actions.  She casually tried to walk to the bathroom watching all the passer-byers.  I grabbed her (along with my 2 carry-ons, purse, and large pregnant belly) and ran to the bathroom!  My first plan was to empty her poopy diaper into the toilet, use wet papertowels, and reapply the dirty diaper. I quickly realized that this diaper could NOT be reapplied.  Some how, by the grace of God, a mom with a toddler came into the bathroom.  With a look of complete desperation, I asked her for a diaper and offered her good money!  She gave me a pull-up, wished me luck, and refused the cash offer!  We ran back to our gate and boarded shortly after!  Whew!

Mya was great on our flight home and declared she wanted to "Do it again!"
 

Mya "hiding" while she pooped at security!