Adventures of Nacho and Spud: I'm TWO!

Look who's TWO!

What an adventure we had for Kian's second birthday! Not one I'm sure we will repeat for his third, but you never know!

We decided to take a trip back to Ontario for Kian second birthday. For a few weeks Kian was told that he would be going on an airplane and was very excited about it. What he didn't know was that he would also be in a car, on a ferry, a bus, a train and only then the airplane. We decided that we would fly out of Seattle airport because the fares were considerably cheaper than flying out of Victoria.

All went well on the way to the ferry and just about off the ferry. That's when the excitement started to catch up with the little guy and he threw up in his car seat. Great way to start the trip! We pulled over after we got off the ferry and got him and the car seat cleaned up as best as we could before we hit the road and the US border. After customs we found a gas station that sold the industrial Febreeze and went to town on the seat. The rest of the trip to Seattle was rather uneventful and pleasant.

We found our hotel and left our car for the few days that we would be gone. We got on a bus and made our way to the airport. We were early even and decided to get ride of all the things we didn't want to carry so we could get some food before the big airplane adventure began. As we were checking in we were told that our car seat didn't have the required sticker that the airline needed to see and therefore would need to check it. As we checked it in I saw disaster happening but could do nothing about it. The seat was placed in a large plastic bag and had all its stickers placed on it and we were on our merry way.

Kian had a great time watching the planes take off and landing while we were eating and playing in the airport while we waited for our flight. He didn't, however, have a great time on the flight because the seats were so big and the lap belt that he was required to wear, went over his shins and therefore really safe for a toddler when he can lift his knees up and get out in half a second! Needless to say there was some crying and some lovely looks from some fellow passengers our direction. It's a good thing that they let me keep my bottle of Gravol to save the day and eventually peace was back.

The rest of the flight went smoothly, although we did experience the same problem on our second flight. At least it wasn't quite as bad that time. We finally arrived in Buffalo to see Opa waiting for us. Now just to collect our luggage and finally head to Oma and Opa's place for a nap!

About that luggage... our clothing arrived, but not the car seat, as I was envisioning when we checked in. As anyone with a child knows, you can't leave the airport without a car seat. Now to find it.... I must say that AirTran was very good about getting us a loner (one someone else had lost, no doubt!) and calling us for four days to let us know that they hadn't found it yet and even delivering it to us in Niagara once they had. I can't say that you would necessarily get that kind of treatment from some other airlines. What we were hoping was that they had really lost it and that they would replace the now smelly, barfy car seat that had been in a sealed plastic bag. Mark got the pleasant experience of opening that one and washing it! Lucky him!

FINALLY we made it to Oma and Opa's and I can have a nap!

We had a great time in Niagara seeing as many family and friends as we possibly could in 5 days. We didn't get much of a break or a chance to relax but it was worth it to see people we didn't get a chance to say good bye to when we left the province last year on short notice.

Kian got to celebrate his second birthday with his cousins riding around Oma and Opa's yard in Opa's tractor. All the kids had a great time and all the males in the group had a great time driving the tractor around the yard! it was nice to see all the kids getting along so well and Kian, being the youngest, as the leader of the group. Kian would run (and run and run and run.....) around the yard and there would be a mob of kids following behind him. At least I always knew where he was and didn't have to worry about him getting lost for the evening.

Kian and his cousins

Ice cream and cake!

Mom and the fireman

Opening presents

The weather was insanely hot and humid while we were there. I can't say that I miss that! Kian got to experience his first thunder storms, which I can't say that he likes very much and some crazy rain. That he will get more of. The majority of the time it was sunny but hot.

While we were visiting we went to Guy and Ginnie's wedding. It was a wonderful evening and they were lucky with an outdoor wedding that the weather cooperated for them. Kian was dressed very handsomely in his little suit and managed to stay clean for the ceremony and half way through dinner. That's when he go busy and daddy decided to take him outside to play for a few minutes. When he came back in he was covered in mud due to daddy letting him play in the mud puddle..... Good thing that mom always brings pajamas when we are out for the evening.

Our flight home was less eventful than the flight out. The people at the Buffalo airport were able to read the fine print on our car seat (that was no longer barfy!) and see that in fact our seat was airline approved and able to come on board with us. Kian was far more comfortable in his seat and could now look out the windows to see what was happening. He had a great nap in it to and Mark and i were able to relax for a few minutes.

I think all in all the trip was far too short and we would have loved to be in town a little longer so that we could visit all the people we missed and travel to Ottawa for a few days. Hopefully we will have a little more time next visit. Although next time there will be two kids to entertain at the airport....