Over The River and Through the Woods

To Grandmother's (and Papa's) house we go!!  A couple weeks ago we escaped the week of record setting rain and headed for some sunshine to visit Grandma and Papa in Arizona.

The kids were amazing travelers.  They really always have been.  At first I thought Josie was a great traveler because she slept for most of the journey whether it was by plane, car or train.  And I feared how travel would look like once Benjamin came around but I have to say that they are two of the best kid travelers I know.

They are always excited for a new trip or adventure and rise to the challenge (they get that from me) and they pull their own weight plus some and don't take anything too seriously (they get that from their dad) The combination is perfect.  It does help that Josie has 3 European trips under her belt and Benjamin has 1. Last year around this time, just before he turned 2, we headed to Germany and France.  Since he was still under 2  he never had his own seat and was classified as a "lap infant." Now when our flight time is under 3 hours and we all have our own seats it is "almost" like we are in first class.

Their true travel spirits were revealed when we arrived back in Seattle a week later and we didn't have a ride home from the airport.  Our plan was that as soon as we got off the plane I would sprint to the train (link light rail) and then transfer to a bus and take it back to West Seattle and then hop in the car and return to the train station to pick up the three weary travelers and all of our luggage.  The only trick is that the kids had to walk to baggage claim, wait for the bags and then walk 1/2 mile + to the train all after several hours of traveling.  We had extra baggage than normal because Marty had a whole suitcase of work stuff.  This meant that each kid not only had to walk with their backpacks but also push/pull a suitcase themselves as Marty had his carry on, a booster seat and a huge suitcase.   They were CHAMPS!!  And because there was a delay in the train I was on they actually beat me back to West Seattle on their own bus!   They really are rock star travelers and I couldn't be more proud!!  So... where to next??