another 6am flight

What day is it? I think it's Friday, which means this was taken two days ago on Wednesday morning at approximately 5:48am (central time) as we departed Milwaukee for Baltimore, MD.

What you don't see in this picture is a 2 year-old throwing herself on the ground and screaming all the way through security. I've learned that you don't tell your daughter that snacks are in her backpack, but she can't have them until you get through security and to your departure gate. Everyone in that security line was praying. I know that because that's what the TSA agent told me as I handed her my ID. She said everyone was praying for me, but I think what she meant was everyone was praying [for themselves] that I wasn't on their flight. Remember: I also had a 4 year-old and baby in tow.

After the major meltdown our moods improved as we gobbled up saltines and browsed through Skymall. The flight was direct and less than two hours, so we made it through unscathed. Tomorrow we're off to our next adventure that starts with a six hour drive to the beach...this is the summer of fun.

before the flight(s)

Wednesday, July 11th 2012

4:55am

Parking lot, Austin Bergstrom International Airport

That is how my day began. Actually, my day began at 4:02am when the alarm went off, but getting out of the house was a cinch. The kids had gone to bed in their daytime clothes--Scout even slept in her shoes--and there was no drama when relocating them from bed to car seats. The drive to the airport was quiet (except for XM radio tuned to the 80s on 8) and my frequent flier husband was there to usher us safely to the priority security line. Then I was left alone with the little three...

Sadly for blogging purposes, but happily for real life purposes the flights we took from Austin to Denver and Denver to Milwaukee were relatively uneventful. The highlights were Scout eating all the snacks I'd strategically packed in her backpack in the first 30 minutes of the first flight and Catcher serenading everyone within earshot with such classics as The Itsy Bitsy Spider, the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.