Off to Utah

We're all packed up and getting ready to head to bed! We're catching a 6 a.m. flight to Utah tomorrow to visit Tony's parents, grandparents and brother, and it will be a true adventure.

It is amazing how much stuff you have to pack when you're traveling with a baby/toddler, and taking car seats and whatnot makes everything more complicated. We're only taking carry-on bags because the airline we are flying with (Delta) charges $20 per checked bag each way (LAME). I was amazed that Ruth's stuff almost filled up a whole carry-on bag. Diapers and wipes take up so much room! Even though she has a lot of stuff, I was able to cram everything we need for our four-day trip into two carry-on bags and a backpack. That's toys, snacks, shoes, clothes, hats, mittens, toiletries -- everything. We will also be lugging around winter coats and our car seat, which we hope to check at the gate. Our plan is to hook the car seat (we still have its original bag, luckily) on to one of the carry-on bags. Then, one of us will wear the backpack and carry Ruth, and the other will pull the two carry-on bags with the car seat attached. We'll see if it works!!!

Our game plan for the tomorrow is this:

-Arrive in Salt Lake at 7:45 a.m. and get picked up by Tony's brother, Mike
-Go grab some breakfast
-Go up to visit Tony's grandparents
-Drive down to Mt. Pleasant to have a fun weekend with Tony's parents

Tomorrow will be a long day with the flight and the driving. I got a children's book about traveling in airplanes from the library for Ruth, and we've been reading that over the last few days. I also talked to her before she went to bed about how we would be getting up early to go fly on an airplane. Hopefully she will be somewhat familiar with what's going on, but who knows how much has sunk in. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping there will be an open seat on the plane so we can bring on her car seat. I think she would definitely sleep through most of the flight if we're able to do that. I'm anxious to see how well she travels on a plane.

We're all geared up for a great trip, and we're looking forward to seeing friends and family! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and let you all know how it went when we get back on Monday!

-Meredith