So, the holiday went according to plan, as long as our plan involved a lot of walking around trying to encourage Squeaky to have a nap. Give her her due though, she was really good.
Getting there
We booked our parking & airport hotel for the night before we flew out, even though we were only flying from our local airport, because it was cheaper to stay over than just to pay for parking. The hotel was, well, functional I guess would be the word, they did provide a cot as requested, but when we phoned to confirm it the morning of arrival we were told "well, we've got 4 cots booked for tonight". Great, thanks for the enthusiasm. They also didn't serve breakfast til 8. Airport hotel? Hello? Ever heard of morning flights? Check-in times? *sigh* A quick trip to tesco was called for for an emergency packed breakfast to take with us. Enough moaning though, we got a decent night's kip & an hour's more sleep than we would have if we'd had to leave from home in the morning.
The airport was no problem, I even managed to take a sip of formula without gagging (seriously, have you ever tasted the stuff? ewwww) at security. We kept the buggy right up to boarding, which was a big help, if nothing else, it was somewhere to put the handluggage! I considered taking the baby carrier, but in the end I'm glad I didn't, it would have just been one more thing to try and deal with, and we didn't need it.
Squeaky slept the first hour of the flight, thank deity-of-choice. And here's where I get amazed. Had you ever noticed the baby change units in the airplane toilets before? I'd never noticed, but there's a pull-down change table over the toilet seat. GENIUS! Abso-flamin-lute genius. We were armed with all sorts of toys, books, and junk food to entertain her Squeakiness, but she was happy as Larry.
The one recommendation I've got for part 1, and completely the best thing I bought - a Tomy Aquadraw travel drawing kit. Like the bigger Aquadoodle, the only "paint" required is water, so no danger of making a mess. It's light, portable, pretty much unbreakable (as far as our testing went, anyways), the drawings dry off, so it's reuseable and Squeaky loves it. Definitely worth the cash.
Coming soon: the Abroad bit, with pictures!
Well done on taking baby on a plane - I was always too stressed at the very thought of all the stuff it would entail packing - plus the horror of potential screamage! My two are taking their first plane trip tomorrow aged 3 and 6, and I'm very nervous about keeping the smaller one entertained!
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