Twins on a Plane

We once again did not get a photo of L and I as sherpas, weighted down with a carseat-as-backpack, backpack-as-frontpack, pushing a stroller containing a squiggly almost 15-month-old each. 
But I know that image made both my mother and mother-in-law laugh when they saw it at the airport at 10:30 last night!

M enjoyed his sunset view beside pretty Aunt L

I know that they could fly as lap babies, both legally AND theoretically.  However, I can't even get them to stay on my lap on the couch while we read a book!  So I nearly jumped over the ticket counter to hug the agent when he said there were seats for all four of us!  To borrow from Forrest Gump, flying standby is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get.

They were angelic at the ticket counter, through security, in the tram, down the elevator, on the moving walkway, up the elevator to the gate that's just about in Wisconsin (B, in case you were following).  But they were getting wiggly, so we caved and gave them their snack in the gate area.  This seemed like a good idea until I was running out of activites while we were delayed on the tarmac.  

Phone toy?  It lasted about a minute until it was chucked.
Skymall magazine?  About 5 mintues because it was fun ripping pages.
Pacifier?  Ten seconds till the leash was ripped off and tossed.  (They're so strong!  Our ped said last week.  Yeah, I know.)
Stuffed lion?  Another minute.
The Wheels on The Bus?  About two rounds.  How many times can you SING that?

Me and N maxin' and NOT relaxin' in the back row

Yeah!  We all (me and N) clapped when we felt the plane push back.
And taxi.
And taxi.
And taxi.
Maybe we're just going to taxi all the way to Michigan?

I repeated the above list while we waited to reach cruising altitude so I could turn on the magic bullet: Peekaboo Barn!

I know, Hubby, I rolled my eyes when you first downloaded Peekaboo Barn onto your phone, but it saved my life last night. At least, until M and L reached critical mass in the row ahead and we had to give it up for them.

That's when I tried ignoring him so he'd close his eyes and snooze.  He DID skip his afternoon nap was going on 8 hours of awake time by then.

Yeah, right. You and I both knew THAT wouldn't work!

So what do we do next?  We practice drinking water out of a cup when we were served our snack.  My snack.  He got a few Cheerios, but chucked those, too.  The water worked wonders and he got some in his mouth, so he was happy. 

We began to descend shortly thereafter (I'm making this sound like a short flight because technically, it was, but realistically, it wasn't), so we had to resort to the phone toy/Skymall/lion/pacifier/empty plastic cup routine we were perfecting.

We made it!

That flight was *only* about one hour long.

Just 4 years, 9 months, and two days until I can fly first class again.

When they're 6.