Together Again...in Alaska!

Breakfast in our apt in Alaska (thanks for the handy high chair Josh and Belia) :)

A must when you have regular blinds and its broad day light at bed time!

Driving home from the games at 9:00 pm at night.

Hello everyone,

Well we made it to Anchorage, AK. Rhowan and I had a red eye flight on Saturday evening to make it to Alaska for Daddy's first Father's Day. I did not do benadryhl thinking, it was her bedtime and she would hopefully knock out without it. Grandma had her for the day (so mommy can have some much needed girl time and last minute to do's) and she did a good job tiring her out swimming, walking, playing on the grass out front, etc. She fed and bathed her, so that she would be ready for bed on the flight. Perfect, bottle and fall asleep. Um, not so much! Bottle wasn't quite warm enough anymore to her exact 93.7 degree temp. once we got seated and situated. Then too much stimulation and people to look at, so she fought it for about a half hour, then was out the entire flight! Ahhh, relax mama, have a glass of free wine and watch movies. So let's back up for a moment...this is what I was so stressed about, the airport madness with so many things and a baby, with no one to help! It wasn't so bad at all. :)

We got to the airport, grandma and grandpa took us, parked and helped us check in all our baggage. I am pro packer I have to give myself credit. I packed absolutely everything Rhowan would need in a two and half week period, which I might add, is a lot of crap to think about, I had lists for days. She had one suitcase for her stuff and mommy stuck some of her things in there too. Then I had one suit case of all my stuff, then the pack and play and car seat. We were lucky enough to fly first class (thank you grandma! Ahhh, the perks of a frequent, elite traveler), so we got two free baggage's then the car seat doesn't count as checked baggage and they didn't charge me for the pack n play. So grandma and grandpa got us all checked in right up to the point of security. Off we went with the stroller, diaper bag and mommy's carry on bag/purse. I stuck Rhowan in the baby bjourn in front of me, collapsed the stroller to go through the xray, got all my liquids, already in zip locks, out, everything in baskets, shoes off, ready to go through and of course, they stop the machine right before us for a good five minutes. Some hold up crap going on. Then its our turn, I forget to take out the bottle made and show them so they run our stuff twice then take it to test for "threat" and that takes another few minutes. Finally, we are done and literally walk on to the plane, they are boarding just as we walk up.

I again, collapse the stroller at the gangway and walk on with my two bags and Rhowan in the baby bjourn pouch in front of me, smiling and kicking away! The flight attendant says, "wow, you're pro." I was like, not really, but we gotta learn. She told me, I'd die at things she saw of people collapsing their strollers, traveling with kids alone. Then as we walk up to our seat I can see it on every one's faces..."oh great, a baby in first class." Yes, people a baby, a damn good baby...man they ate their words, she probably only fussed for a total of 15-25 minutes until she was out. The pilot and flight attendants all told me how good she was on our way out. :)

We walk out and walk to baggage and there is daddy. Rhowan was sleepy and wasn't as excited as daddy had hoped for, he swore she didn't recognize him, but she went right to him. Ahhh, a family again. The hugging reunion was all worth it! :)

We got our luggage and off we went to the apt. Put up the pack n play, played for a little bit, bottle then Rhowan went down in her pack n play and we all went to bed by 3 am.

The next day, daddy had a double hitter about a half hour away, so we drove out with him, following the bus. It was in Palmer, Ak, for all you Sarah Pallin lovers (puke), so we had a lot of time to kill, about 2 hours. So we dropped daddy off and went exploring. I drove up a few streets, would go for awhile and if there was nothing, turn around and try another way. I finally found one small street to walk up and down, with a CHILDREN'S BOUTIQUE! :) Hey, it was something to do in the middle of nowhere and it killed time. Then we walked up and down the street for a bit and headed back to the field for the games to start. We spent all evening at the games, Rhowan was such a good girl. She took three cat naps and with her internal clock all off, she was a good girl. She has been sleeping well in her pack n play at night, we've kept her routines of dinner, bath, book, bottle and bed, but she is just all thrown off with times. Speaking of, its 12:30 am our time and she's wide awake cause she went down at 4:45. But if my clock is off, hers is off, so hopefully we can regulate and just stay consistent with her routines the best we can. We missed daddy's game tonight cause we were both sleeping, but we had a full afternoon of more exploring, walking around, driving around and a little shopping.

Well that's it for now. I am sure more adventurous stories and updates to come. We hope all you daddy's out there had an amazing Father's Day. Dad, I love you and sorry I couldn't be with you, hope you're having a great time in Tahoe. Dave, Happy Father's Day, we hope you all had an amazing day at the bbq. And hunny, we are so glad we got to spend Father's Day as a family.

with love,

The Bruce's