Trip to Wisconsin!

Daddy Showing Amelia the plane
Waiting for the flight with Mommy

First flight...a tiny airplane!

Meeting Great-Grandpa Al

Getting to know Great-Grandma (Great Fish, ha-ha) Betty

with Grandma Sally

Relaxing with Grandpa Tom

With identical cousin Sophie

With cousins (L-R) Austin, Sophie, Ian, Zachary and Random

Bursting with happiness with cousin Zachary.

Amelia and I went to Wisconsin to see my family March 1st through the 6th. The trip was supposed to be a surprise; my grandparents and aunt Marcia, brother and sister in law, my sister, and my mom's coworkers were all in on the secret. Then, a snowstorm hit central Wisconsin, and my flight was cancelled and rebooked to Milwaukee, so I had to tell my parents (so they could come get us from Milwaukee). Still, it was exciting for my mom, since she only had to wait 2 days for us to arrive from the time she found out.

I was worried about how Amelia would react to flying. Since we live in such a small place, we had to take 2 flights before we even reached a major airport (Dallas) and each way there we had 4 segments. On the way there, our flights were Clovis>Amarillo>Dallas>Memphis>Milwaukee, and on the way back it was Green Bay>Minneapolis>Dallas>Amarillo>Clovis. Whew! But Amelia did great! She didn't cry once on the flights, and everybody thought she was so cute and sweet. People even stopped me in the airport, telling me that they were on the flight and said what a well-behaved baby she was.

We had a great time with family. We visited my parents, my grandparents, my Aunt Marcia, my brother Jim and Shelly, and their kids, Zachary, Random, Austin, Ian, and Amelia's new cousin Sophie. We also saw some of my old friends, Christine and her kids, and Tammy and her daughter Tanner.

The trip back was almost a disaster. I didn't read my tickets before we left Wausau for Green Bay, and remembered the wrong departure time. As a result, when we got to the airport, we had 20 minutes to check in, clear security, and get to the gate before the flight left, but we made it, me running with no shoes on, carrying Amelia and the stroller through the terminal in a panic. Then, in Amarillo, I didn't realize I needed to check in at the ticket counter for our commuter flight to Clovis, and never got a boarding pass. Luckily, they found me at the gate and checked me in from there. Whew!

Amelia and I really missed Austin, and we couldn't wait to get home to him. And there he was, waiting for us at the Clovis airport, looking just as handsome as I remembered.