Chapter 1 (departure day)
Today started out early. We were all up out of bed by 5am getting ready and loading up the car for the ride to the airport. We let Keegan sleep till about half an hour before we were leaving the house. Then I went in, wrapped him in his blanket and brought him out to the couch to slowly rock and talk him awake. Luckily, it worked, and he was in a chipper little mood. He ate about three-fourth's of his toast and drank nearly all his milk. Once we had him dressed, he was anxious to go. He kept running around saying "bye-bye".
As my Uncle Mike suggested, the above shot was taken in part to identify what he was wearing that day should he get lost. And I might add as a note, the only hard thing about traveling with a little one is you have to remember to take another picture should you need to change their clothes at all during the course of the day. :P
Anywho. We stopped at 7-11 for coffee and cocoa (unfortunately for us, we had not discovered the delicousness of Starbucks drinks before this trip). Then it was off to the USAirport parking lot where the car would be parked all week while we were gone. Just a note, if you're flying during a busy holiday, such as Christmas, hop online to the website for USAirport parking and make a reservation. We didn't have to use the reservation we made, but we weren't going to take any chances of pulling in only to find they were full. That being said. Getting on a shuttle from there was kind of a mess. So many other people running from their cars trying to catch the shuttle. But, we got on one, were given our parking slip (which identified where our car was parked upon our return) and were off to the airport.
I should add in here that we left our house at 6:15, even though our flight didn't leave till 10:55. And it's a good thing we did. When we were dropped off at Uniteds side, we entered the airport to find a massive line of United travelers. Good news was we didn't wait in that massive line for very long, as they opened up the ques that had been marked when we got there for those with carry-on luggage only to all travelers, and they pretty much opened the ropes right in front of us so we were first over to that side. We checked 3 bags; each of which included a bright yellow Disney Magical Express tag to signify that upon arrival in Orlando, Disney would be bringing it to our room for us. Keep this tag in mind.
We pay our $45 baggage fees (as that was cheaper we decided than paying $125 for overweight bags), get our boarding passes and head for security. Which actually wasn't terrible. I gather up all the ID's and boarding passes and handed them to the TSA agent who checks all that stuff before you even start putting your stuff through the xray machines. Once through that, we head for the "family" line and got in position. Sounds weird I know. But when traveling with a baby, you need to have a plan of action. Dad and Ken went through first, then mom and Keegan, and then me. The plan was for dad and Ken to gather up bags, jackets, shoes, etc as they were cleared through the xray, mom was to just take care of Keegan and nothing else, and I was bringing up the rear. It worked like a charm. We even had all of Keegan's jar baby food and juices which were all over 3oz in a lunch box so we didn't have to dig through a bag for them when TSA asked for them. The agent who ran the wand over all his food and joice items said we made traveling with a baby look like a piece of cake. :D That was nice to hear. :D
Through security, we headed down to the train. And then our gate to wait for our flight. All together, from the time we left the house, to the time we got to our gate, it was two and a half hours. Not horrible at all really. Now we just sit and wait till it's time to take off!
I shall leave this chapter here for now. As it is getting close to the little ones bath and bed time. Chapter two will follow tomorrow. :D
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