Andrej, Jessica, Kaiya and Tobi

Traveling has taken on a whole new meaning with two kids in tow. Gone, at least for now, are the days of flipping through a magazine or settling in with a good book during the flight. They are replaced with coloring books, stickers and playdoh. With Tobi in the front carrier and Kaiya in the stroller, we said good-bye to daddy and made our way through the airport to security. The one place I had been dreading since making the decision to fly alone with the kids to South Carolina for Labor Day weekend. I knew Kaiya would have to come out of the stroller. I knew the stroller would have to go up on the belt and through the scanner. I knew we would have to remove our shoes. I knew they would question the "liquids" I had in the diaper bag. I figured they would make me take Tobi out of the carrier and send it through the scanner as well. What I didn't know was how I would manage all of those things with only my two hands. The lady checking our tickets didn't help matters as she took one look at me and commented, "You are brave! Very brave!"

Actually, security really wasn't that bad. The first guard asked if I was alone (meaning with no other adults) and when I answered yes, he immediately came over to help. He lifted the stroller and allowed me to leave Tobi in the front carrier, which thankfully kept my hands free. Kaiya was a bit freaked out by having to take off her shoes and get out of the stroller, but with her hand in mine we walked through the detector and with the help of the guards she was back in the stroller and shoes were on her feet in minutes. There was no mention of the juice or various baby supplies in the diaper bag. I breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the guards for their help and we were off on our journey.

Kaiya really enjoyed the plane ride. She loved looking out the window and spotting other planes before we took off. During flight Tobi slept peacefully and Kaiya was quite occupied with the contents of her backpack: color wonder paint and coloring books, stickers, playdoh, a magnadoodle drawing board and books. My empty water bottle was also a big hit. She screwed off the top and put it back on and screwed off the top and put it back on for a good twenty minutes.

Things had gone so smoothly I was beginning to wonder why the lady had called me brave. Our luck ran out as we started to get off the plane for our layover in Cincinnati. As we approached the exit I realized that the small plane we were on was not connected to the terminal and we would need to go down stairs to get off the plane. Kaiya is pretty good going up and down stairs, but these stairs were really steep and didn't have sides. Add that to the noise level of the plane and it was quite scary. Thankfully the flight attendant, seeing me with my hands full, scooped Kaiya up and carried her down the stairs, but not before telling me that she wasn't supposed to do that. I thanked her, loaded Kaiya and the bags into the stroller and we were off to catch our next flight.

After checking the monitor, I realized we would have to take a bus to get to the correct terminal. Feeling quite overwhelmed I pushed the stroller to the bus and stared at the crowded opened doorway wondering how in the world I was going to get Kaiya and the stroller into the bus. I was getting Kaiya out of the stroller when a nice couple stepped off the bus and hoisted the stroller onto the bus as I took Kaiya's hand an helped her up. Two other people stood up from their seats and offered them to me. Relieved and extremely thankful for such nice people, I flopped down into the seat and Kaiya climbed in next to me and held onto my arm very tightly. Tobi was still cheerfully riding along in the carrier. The same couple helped me get the stroller off the bus and Kaiya secured, and repeatedly asked if there was anything else they could do to help.

We made our way to the gate where we boarded our final plane with once again some help getting up and down stairs. Even though Kaiya and Tobi were extremely well behaved, and so many people commented on how good they were, I was still so relieved to see my parents and immediately handed off both kids.

We had a great time in South Carolina. My mom, in typical Babka fashion, had gone all out and set up the guest room for Kaiya. She had a big girl bed, a small table and chairs set up for a tea party and several of my old dolls, stuffed animals and books were laid out for her to play with. Tobi slept in a pack-n-play in my room and made me so thankful that I don't share a room with him here at home. He is one noisy little guy while he sleeps. I woke up several times a night to him sucking and smacking on his hands, grunting and rooting around in his bed and whining as he went through sleep cycles.

Kaiya slept really well the first night, but by night two something freaked her out and she started crying and saying that she wanted to go home. I finally got her to relax and she drifted off to sleep only to wake up a 6:00 am crying and screaming once again. Kaiya usually sleeps until 8 or 8:30 am so I went in comforted her and told her to go back to sleep. I headed back to my room and crashed. I thought she went back to sleep, but my mom had heard her crying again around 7:00 and brought Kaiya into her room. About fifteen minutes into their early morning snuggle, my Mom heard Kaiya's breathing slow down and really thought she had drifted back to sleep. Just as she started to drift off herself, she felt a tiny hand reach over and feel her face and say, "Babka? 'Ont get down and go eat bekast." At that request they started their morning. Thankfully, Tobi and I blissfully slept until 9:30.

Off and on throughout the day, in the midst of playing, swinging, shopping, and visiting family and friends, Kaiya would start crying and say that she wanted to go home. In between her sobs she would say that this was not her home and she wanted to go home. I reminded her that daddy was coming soon hoping that the outbursts were from missing him. The funniest conversation was during one of her sudden meltdowns. She was crying and my dad picked her up. Kaiya sobbing said, "I ont go home." Papa, wiping her tears, replied, "Kaiya you can't go home. You're in South Carolina and your home is in Michigan." She sobbed and said, "I ont go to Mish-gan." After that conversation she always cried to go to Mish-gan.

Andrej arrived late Saturday night. Marina, now affectionately referred to as "Tet Mina" (teta means aunt in Slovak and Kaiya shortened it to "tet" and Marina to "Mina"), flew out of Chicago after spending the summer with us, on September 1. Andrej saw her off and then flew down to SC to meet us for Labor Day. Kaiya was ecstatic to see daddy the next morning, but unfortunately her sobbing meltdowns didn't end with his arrival. However, we all managed to have a great time and even though Kaiya was a bit out of sorts, she still thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with her grandparents and great grandparents.

Tobi on the other hand was as content and happy as ever. He loved all the extra attention and provided us all with plenty of smiles, coos and giggles. It was also great that he was finally able to meet Paw Paw and Me Me, his great grandparents.It was rather fitting that the meeting happened on Labor Day weekend, as it was exactly two years earlier on the same weekend that 6 week old baby Kaiya first met them.

Andrej flew out Tuesday evening and the kids and I followed Wednesday morning. Kaiya was the flying pro and surprised me on the first flight by climbing into her seat and buckling her seatbelt all by herself. Thankfully this time we didn't have to change terminals in Cincinnati, which meant we avoided the whole bus fiasco. Overall, we had great flights, the kids were extremely good and we didn't encounter any problems, but I don't think I will choose to fly alone with both kids for quite sometime. I was so glad to see Andrej and even happier to get home. We all went straight to bed when we got home and took good long naps.

It was a great trip and I'm really glad we were able to go. Thanks Mom, Dad, Me Me and Paw Paw for making it happen! I'll end the story with this, just as I expected upon our arrival home our typical two year old started whining, "I ont go to Papa and Babka's house. I ont go to Souss Cah-ina."