Traveling to New England

Today I have resorted to some frozen leftovers because it was a busy day of organizing for a trip to Boston tomorrow. So tonight it's Picadillo redux.

Traveling has taken on a whole new life with Baz involved. We used to have it down. Packing took just a few minutes. One small rolling suitcase a piece, check-in online and we were out the door on the plane with little fuss. But, now we have become that annoying family arriving at the check-in counter in utter chaos with to many bags and equipment.

Luckily, Baz has been a tremendous traveler... so far. (I know just writing those words means that tomorrow is likely to be a complete nightmare.) But he really has been so good on the three trips we've taken including one to Hawaii and one to San Francisco. I think he enjoys the adventure. He charms the TSA agents and flirts with the flight attendents. There are lots of new faces to look at and he thinks the overhead lighting is the coolest thing he's ever scene.

And I do think we are adjusting. I realize now that we don't need nearly as much as we thought we did on that first trip, especially when we have access to a washing machine like we will in Boston. Then you buy diapers and food on the other side because what's the sense in packing something that you can easily buy and will use up before you return home.

Plus, now we know, at the airport, bring the car seat and the smallest stroller we have to the gate with us. If we're lucky, there's an extra seat on the plane so that we can use the car seat on the plane without buying a ticket. Damien gets on first with a bag, the car seat and the stroller. I follow at the very end of the boarding process to minimize the time we're stuck to our seats in a crowded row. For 5 of the 8 segments we've flown we've been able to use our car seat. And our stroller has always been returned to us in good condition.

Tomorrow I will report back on how our trip goes and what we did for dinner. I am a little nervous about that, especially for Baz. We are flying at his least agreeable time of day when he usually is power eating and getting ready for bed time. I've got some of those ridiculously expensive, ready-made 8 oz bottles of formula on hand in case we need to act fast.

For tonight, it's Picadillo and some fried plantains.