Today was our last day in Minnesota. We decided that since we had to go up to the Cities to go to the airport, we might as well go early and spend some time up there having fun! We were even lucky enough to get one last snowfall as we drove up! Serena was stubborn and didn't take a nap during the 2 1/2 hour drive (YIKES!) but then caught a quick snooze while we were at the Mall of America (how's that for good sleeping conditions?). First things first, though! We made a stop at Cracker Barrel for some good down-home-style cookin'. ;) Let me just say that their cinnamon French toast is REALLY GOOD!!!! :) After that, it was off to Target and then the rest of our time was spent at the M.O.M. (I know that's not the initials for the Mall of America, but it's been what we call it in my family for several years now. I'm not even sure if I remember the origin of the joke?)
I was trying to keep Serena entertained at Target while Jessica was at Customer Service. Target's $1 aisle is great for keeping Serena entertained! She thought she was really funny with this headband on! She wiggled her head to make the hearts bounce and then she would laugh loudly when we laughed at her. Then, she would take it off and point to her head to ask one of us to put it back on for her!
Serena thought she was really living it up at Cracker Barrel. The highchair they gave us was more designed for bigger kids, so she had lots of room for her antics. She thought it was pretty neat to put her feet up on the table. I know you're thinking that sort of behavior should be nipped in the bud, but what could I say when Mom & Jess were laughing so hard at her and taking pictures which just encouraged her to do it some more? ;) Guess I'll just have to deal with it at the next opportunity!
Our flight went really well. The part I was the most nervous about was getting through security since I did not plan to check any baggage. Was my suitcase small enough? Did I pack anything that might incite a search? Because a search is inconvenient, but can you imagine dealing with that while trying to keep track of a one-year-old at the same time? I hated to even entertain those thoughts and just hoped for the best. It all came off without a hitch. After getting through security and then getting myself and Serena all put back together while we chatted with a nice little family of 3 with Australian accents (By the way, does the government really think someone's going to put bombs in their baby's shoes?!?!?!?), I headed off to find the big screens to find our gate.
The screens were easy to find, as was my flight information. However, to my disappointment I learned that my gate was all the way at the end of the airport. Of course!!! Off we went. At least we had plenty of time! I held Serena's hand and tugged my luggage behind me. Serena was really slow, though (she had so many interesting things to look at!), and my luggage was surprisingly heavy. Finally, I decided to carry Serena. At the halfway point, there was a stretch of big windows, so I stopped to take a rest and let Serena look outside. At this point, the father of the aforementioned Australian family appeared and offered his assistance. His gate was the one right before ours, and he had apparently been sent by his sympathetic wife to help us out. :) He kindly made sure we were all settled at our gate before heading back to his family.
We didn't have too long to wait before it was time to board. The man behind me heading out to the plane was very nice and offered to take my luggage for me. He even put it up in the overhead storage for me. I have no idea how I would have done that myself! Thankfully, our plane was not very full; I had an aisle-seat and an empty seat beside me. That was very helpful in keeping Serena contained! The college girl sitting in the window seat was not very talkative. She spent most of her time proofreading a very long paper. Towards the end, she pulled out a notebook and made a To-Do list. I didn't mean to be snoopy, but #4 caught my eye as it was very easy to read: "Study, study, study"! Haha! Ahhh, college days! ;) Oh, and in true Serena-style, no sooner were we in the air than she decided to poop! Little booger! If you ever need to change a diaper on an airplane, the changing table is located above the toilet; you just have to pull it down out of the wall. Anyway, Serena made friends with the two people behind us: a business woman who reminded me a lot of the weird gothic girl on NCIS (do you know who I'm talking about?) and a black man who was very black, had very white teeth, and wore a hat. They both liked Serena a lot and helped keep her entertained. At one point (somehow unbeknownst to me), Serena threw her sippy cup over the seat at the empty seat between them. They handed it back to her and (of course) she repeated the gesture to see if it was going to be a game. I caught her this time, though! I was so apologetic and felt so badly about it (what if they hadn't been watching and she'd hit one of them?!), but they were very gracious and understanding about it and laughed it off.
The flight seemed short and I never ran out of things to keep Serena busy. I was very relieved when we landed, though; I don't think I would want to make it a habit to fly with a baby! The take-off and landing didn't seem to bother her too much; she didn't fuss, just nestled down in my lap until we leveled off. She spent the rest of the time either climbing around in the empty seat or playing in the aisle next to me. Getting off the plane I was on my own, but at least it's easier to lift baggage down than up! I was so happy to finally see Jordan again after a whole week!! Serena just laughed and laughed at the sight of him! She reached for him and it was obvious that she was very happy to be with her daddy again! She was sound asleep before we even got out to the interstate, but woke up when we got home. Seeing the dogs elicited more excited laughter from Serena! We let her play for a little bit to wear off some of the excitement and then it was time for beddy-bye! What a big day for our little girl!
