Ready to fly

Hello friends and family,

The 4 Webbs are vigorously packing and preparing to spend some time in Missouri with family. I'm excited to see my parents and siblings and their children. The airplane is my biggest concern right now.

There are several positive aspects to the upcoming flight. Easton and Layla point out every single airplane that flies overhead so I know they are excited about airplanes in general. My sister sent a comprehensive email with details for how to travel successfully with kids. Here is the summary version of her words of wisdom:

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- Bring more wipees than you think you might need.
- Bring one change of clothes for each baby. Don't OVERPACK diapers since you'll avoid changing them on the plane. Let them try new, fun snacks you thought you'd never give them. Lollipop rings works great for them to suck (and it helps with the ears) but they are messssy--hence the wipees.
- Ask your pediatrician for a prescription of ear drops. They are a pain to put in the ears, but work magical to help with eardrum pain.
- Bring their favorite pictures/books that keep their attention.
- Drawing boards, with the magnetic pens, that can wipe away the doodling and then can be used again and again are great fun at this age. Easy to pack.... (Magna doodle).
- Don't expect sleeping. It is rare unless you sit right over the wing and the roar is really loud.
- Bring a hand puppet who tells them what is going to happen next.
- Playdough!
- There are NO drink lids on planes. Bring your own cups with lids---for yourself too. I can't tell you how many times I've brought a sippy cup for the baby and OOPPPSS--he/she knocked into MY drinking cup on the tray and spilled it. Bring your own EMPTY sports bottle so you can drink without spilling. Or bring double the sippy cups and you drink out of them,too, without embarrassment. It's much worse to have cranberry juice all over your own shirt all day than to be embarrassed in front of strangers regarding your cup selection.!! :)
- Tylenol. Never know when a teething fever might strike.
- Don't put anything in the back seat pocket of the airplane, unless you are willing to lose it. No matter how attentive I am, we always seem to forget something there. Anything important goes in a different bag. Relying on this place for essentials is dangerous!!!

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We called and the airplane is expected to only be 50% full, which means Easton and Layla will have room to move around without kicking a person's chair or dumping a stranger's soda on their laptop.

There are a few drawbacks that I'm worried about though... Easton loves trains, but the twins both fell apart when we rode the small train in California. Kendra and I can NOT sit next to each other on the plane due to oxygen mask constraints. This means we will have to sit on opposite sides of the plane each managing one baby.

I'm sure things will be fine and even if things get difficult, we WILL still arrive in Missouri no matter what happens.

The most difficult item we had trouble finding is the car set travel bag. Kendra researched to get one that fits our oversized car seats, has wheels and a carry handle, and doesn't cost as much as the actual car seat itself.

We discovered a new mega-store down the street that just opened a few weeks ago. It is bigger and better than Babies 'R Us (if you can imagine). It's called "Buy Buy Baby". This is where Kendra found the useful car seat covers.

Kendra is playing soccer twice per week now and Layla wanted to be like mommy so I helped her put Kendra's soccer socks on. Looks a little too big to me, but she'll grow into them.



A year ago I took a picture of Layla behind the sippy cup:


By accident I captured a similar picture and through the magic of Paint Shop Pro I cropped it down to this:


She looks different, but the same. She's finally growing hair! I can't wait to put ribbons and bows in her hair. :) I probably won't convince Layla to use a sippy cup next year to take this picture again. I'll have to find a better comparative picture to take to show her progress in growing year over year.

While we are in Missouri I will have access to keep the blog updated with our adventures. I look forward to posting pictures and videos as we embark on what I know will be an exciting time with family.

See you soon!