Tara and I flew down to California for a bit of a family reunion. My parents flew in from Wisconsin on the same day, so Tara got to see her grandparents again, along with meeting her Vovo (Great Grandfather), Great Aunt and Uncle, and a number of cousins for the first time. I don't think she's ever had so many arms willing to hold her!
I was a bit nervous about flying with Tara by myself, but she did really well! To keep my hands free for our carry on, the baby bag, and the carseat, I wore her in my sling most of the time. That worked really well, even if it did set off the metal detector and prompt a full pat down at security. But that's no big deal. We were lucky on both flights, in that they were full and asked for volunteers to check their carry-on bags. This worked out great for us, since we didn't pay to check a bag either way but also didn't have to deal with getting a suitcase into the overhead while wearing a baby. Finally, I was worried that the pressure changes would hurt Tara's ears, but she slept through most of the first flight and only cried a bit on the way back. So overall, not too bad!
I'll still be glad to have Jeff along next time when we fly to Connecticut this fall.
While I enjoyed the wonderful Northern California heat, Tara enjoyed spending her days being held by everyone and having gifts of clothing lavished on her by her Aunt and Grandma.
Sadly, she did not seem to enjoy her first swim. I think the water was too cold for her. Here's a video of the experience. Warning, crying baby!
We were there for 6 days and had a great time. We love getting to visit with family, but it was definitley nice to get back home. Tara was pooped!
