It starts with an 11 hour flight (did I mention the hour+ delay on the tarmac?)Beth saw us off to the airport, and even waited in line at Passport Control with us. We briefly thought she would be able to enter the terminal with Isabelle and me, but at the last second she was denied. So it was a sudden good-bye...
Isabelle is, for every flight she has taken or will take until she is two, a “Lap Baby”. This means her flight is free (domestic flights) or close to free (we pay taxes only for international flights), but we are taking a gamble on getting a seat. Fortunately, for this long flight direct from Istanbul to JFK, the gamble pays off – the seat next to me is open! Isabelle gets her own seat! Unfortunately Delta doesn’t give “Lap Babies” a meal… so Daddy sacrifices his meal for the greater good.
The entire flight is during the day – we leave at 11am local time, arrive at 5PM local time. Isabelle seems to realize it is an extended day, and takes full advantage of it by not sleeping! She has plenty of friends to play with on the flight – the row ahead of us has a 22 month old baby, and Isabelle actually spends some time on that mother’s lap reading books. The row behind us has a 3 month old, Daniel, and Isabelle repeatedly looks back, points to each of them, with a knowing, “Daniel! Daniel’s Mommy! Daniel’s Daddy!”. Two rows back of that, another father traveling alone with his 2 year old. Here I was thinking I was up for daddy of the year…
At JFK we go through Passport Control. Isabelle is wired! She keeps saying "I walk! I walk!". The stroller might as well not exist. So I put her down... and she immediately takes off in a full sprint - right through Passport Control to the other side! I of course have not yet been stamped (nor has she). Fortunately the people working there were great, and didn't give me a hard time when I (repeatedly) had to go get her!
At JFK we transfer to a shuttle flight to Boston. As for all our flights, for some reason we are the last ones to get on the plane. This is not on purpose... it just seems to work out that way! There is no empty seat next to us. The flight attendant finds an empty row in the back of the plane, and offers it up to us, but I just look at her, exhausted, and say thanks, I think we are OK. I simply didn't have the energy to move. The two of us finally get a little sleep during the short (35 min) flight back to Boston. Isabelle fell asleep before we took off, and stayed asleep until after landing.
We thought we were so cool with our parking! We parked in Terminal E’s quick lot – steps from Customs Control! So leaving, even with a sleepy baby and way to many bags, should be a breeze, right? OOPS – we flew in from JFK on Delta, so we arrive at Terminal A. Fortunately there is a walkway between the two terminals. As a kicker, I lost my parking stub. I guess they see this happen regularly, as it didn’t faze the attendant at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment