Leavin' on a Jet Plane.............

On Wednesday (April 3rd), Kyndall and I packed our bags and said goodbye to Tallahassee and headed home to Tennessee via airplane----Kyndall's FIRST time!  My parents drove us to Panama City that afternoon and our flight was scheduled to depart at 6:00 p.m. central time.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we had been really talking this adventure up to Kyndall, in hopes that it would make the flight a memorable one---in a GOOD way!  She seemed to understand exactly what was going to happen, but I still wasn't sure how she would react to the noise, the pressure, the bumps, the small spaces, the security, etc. etc.  She's quite the dare devil and nothing seems to scare her, so I figured she would be fine....or at least I HOPED she would be!  Mostly, she was just ready to GO!  The entire drive from Tallahassee to Panama City she repeated over and over (while whining pathetically) "Wanna wide airpwane wight NOW!!"  She has no concept of time and couldn't understand why we had been talking all day about this exciting airplane ride, yet it just wasn't happening.  I don't even think she really believed  that it was going to happen until we finally stepped foot on the plane!   

(I took as many pictures as I could, but sadly many of them were on my cell phone---yuck)

Ready to GO!

We arrived with more than enough time to spare, so we had plenty of time to wait........and wait some more in the airport.......

She REALLY wanted to see this thing in action, but PC is such a small airport that it never even once turned on while we were waiting

We had so much extra time on our hands that little Missy got quite fussy and impatient.  Not only was she missing her nap, but she just couldn't understand why we weren't "widing the airpwane wight NOW!!"  She knew we were in the airport, so what the heck were we waiting on??  (Smart kid problems!)  Anyway, Mom and I went into the gift shop in search of something to keep her occupied.  She picked out this dolphin flashlight key chain thingie which I'm pretty sure I paid about $8.00 for, but at that point I didn't even care!  I needed her to be happy and content for what was about to take place!

 

Finally, it was time to go through security and head towards our gate.  We (sadly) said goodbye to my parents and they watched as we jumped through all of the security hoops.  Stupid me completely forgot that I had a sippy cup of juice in my bag, which in turn set off all kinds of alarms in the security scanner.  We had to step aside and wait for them to call over the "big boss" so they could put on gloves and inspect the item in question.  (It was a real danger, ya know....8 whole ounces of apple juice!)  I'm not making light of the security precautions because obviously I'm quite THANKFUL that they take such care to ensure our safety, but I did think it was a bit ridiculous that they took the juice over to a make shift lab and tested it for explosives.  Note to self---Next time just tell them to keep it, cup and all!

My parents were able to watch us as we came around the corner and rode the elevator up to our gate.  (My Mom has a video on her FB page)  As soon as we got to the gate, I picked Kyndall up and let her see the plane from the concourse window.  It was then that she finally realized that this was actually about to happen!  She started giggling and continued to do so allllllll the way down the aisle of the plane, until we found our seats.  Everyone we passed by thought it was the cutest thing and I just smiled and "ummmm it's her first time, in case you couldn't tell!" We passed by a lady with a small dog in her lap, and Kyndall could NOT stop talking about the doggie riding on the plane too!  "Doggie wide pwane wif me too!" she kept saying. 

Finally settled in our seats and SO excited!!

 

Checking out the other planes and asking a bazillion questions!

I explained that we had to wear our seat belts, just like in the car.  She didn't fight me on that and willingly let me buckle her up.  When the plane started backing up and moving away from the terminal, she started clapping and giggling HYSTERICALLY!  I've never seen a child so excited over something in my life!  Again, we had quite the audience as everyone around us got a huge kick out of it!  We taxied down the runway and I told her to get ready and hold on because we were about to go really fast!  As the plane sped up and we were forced back in our seats (the part I hate!), she cheered "faster!! faster!!"  Once we were off the ground, I started pointing out things to her below, hoping she would understand the idea that we were up high, above the ground.  I pointed out roads, cars, houses, lakes, etc.  I still wasn't sure if she really "got it" until she looked at me very excitedly and said "fwying high, up wif the birdies".  Yep, she got it!  =)

Totally relaxed, having a snack about halfway through our flight......

She thought it was so neat that they served us snacks on the plane and that she got to use her tray.  Someone on our flight had a peanut allergy, so we were served pretzels.  She's never been a big fan of them, but she ate every single one and since then on a few occasions she has asked me for "airpwane nack" (airplane snack).  It took me a while to realize what she meant and then I realized she was asking for pretzels.....just like she ate on the airplane.....duh, Mommy!!

She did great on the hour and twenty minute flight and only got upset once, when I wouldn't let her take her seat belt off.  We had quite a bumpy ride with lots of turbulence, so the pilot never turned off the fasten seat belt sign.  I simply distracted her with something else and she was fine.  I've never been afraid of flying, but the turbulence on this flight was pretty intense.  It had been raining all day, so I wasn't really surprised but I was nervous about how she would react.  Just as in typical Kyndall fashion, she found each and every bump to be absolutely HILARIOUS!!!  I'm not talking about a slight giggle, I'm talking throwing her head back, laughing so hard she can't catch her breath kind of hilarious!!  True belly laughs!  Again, everyone around us was entertained by it and one gentlemen even commented that it was "far better than the alternative".  I couldn't agree more!

As we started descending and the pilot made a sharp turn to the left, Kyndall LOUDLY said (with a smile on her face and a cheerfulness in her voice) "We're 'bout to fall out!!"  Probably not the most appropriate reaction, but I couldn't help but laugh.  Yes, it DID feel like we were "'bout to fall out" but thankfully we really weren't!

When we landed, she cried and said "wanna do it again!"  This was the only point that I really started to get stressed.  She was REALLY upset that it was over and she wanted everyone to know about it!  Obviously, we CAN'T do it again and she clearly didn't understand that.  I started pointing out all of the machines and vehicles outside of our window and thankfully as she watched the workers scurry around under the planes, she forgot all about "doing it again!"  Whew, crisis averted! 

As we were waiting our turn to get up, a nice man saw me snapping pictures and offered to take one of us together

We had a long walk to where we finally met up with Matthew and she jabbered the entire way about the "pwane" and how it went "super duper fast".  She was still so excited!  Eventually, we rounded the corner and saw Matthew waiting for us!  She was so happy to see her Daddy after two weeks of being away from him.

We took our bags to the car, made a quick trip down the road for some dinner, then returned to the airport to wait for Nonie.  Matthew's Mom flew up the same night to stay with us for the following week while I had another medical procedure done.  Since her flight was booked after ours, there wasn't room on our plane so she had to fly out of Jacksonville as opposed to Panama City.  Nonetheless, we all ended up safely in one place within about two hours of each other. 

Back at the airport, waiting for Nonie........

Yay, Nonie's here too!

Kyndall's first experience flying couldn't have been better!  Now that I know she can do it, we will definitely be flying more often, as opposed to making the 10+ hour drive in the car!  You can't beat Southwest's direct flights for $52!!  We'll be flying home again in less than a month for Aunt Kelly's wedding......Fingers crossed that it goes just as smoothly!