Natalie & Ryan: The Flight

Saturday was a day I was dreading. I was to fly out to Seattle ALONE with Lilly. So many unknowns were bothering me. Would she behave? Would the flight be packed? Would I survive? I woke up at 3:30 that morning, and just decided that was the best I could do for "sleeping in". Lilly was definitely tired and cranky, but who wouldn't be after being forced awake super early? When we got to the airport, everything seemed to work itself out. Except, apparently my husband was too busy to give me a goodbye kiss. I was kind of bummed.

When we got to our gate, I was picturing it going how it went the last time we flew. Last time, we had to wait about an hour for our flight, and Lilly spent the whole time fighting Ryan to push the stroller around. I didn't want it to be that way again. So, we settled down in the big, leather chairs, I put Curious George on the iPad, gave Lilly some animal crackers, and she just kind of zoned out until it was time to board. Tender mercy #1!! Tender mercy #2 was that the flight was pretty empty. Everyone got their own row! I gave Lilly the window seat, mostly just as a way to trap her into a corner. Tender mercy #3 was our flight attendant. Kevin was his name. When he came to take our drink orders, I asked for some juice for Lilly. We had to dump out her sippy cup before going through security. He didn't just bring me the plastic cup with ice. He asked me if I had a sippy cup for her, and filled it up. AND, he continued to fill it up every time it got low. I was super impressed with how amazing he was. Thanks to lots of wiggle room, lots of juice, Ratatouille on the iPad, and lots of crackers, Lilly and I survived the flight. Her ears started to hurt during the decent, so I distracted her by reading Sky Mall, and pointing out all of the doggies and kitties. I was so relieved that it went so well!

Once we met up with my dad, the obligatory stop to Pike's Market was in order. No matter how many times I go to Seattle, it's ALWAYS the first stop. The flowers are my favorite. Sadly, it being winter and all, they only had a few booths with, well, sorta ugly kale leaf flowers. We also stopped for Hombows. Hombows for breakfast! Then, as we were walking past a dessert stand, my dad spotted some really yummy-looking cannolis. We got one and split it between the three of us. Lilly ate most of it, but I'll admit, I had a nice big bite of the chocolate chip cream cheese filling. YUM!

We definitely worked off the cannoli with our walk back to the car. If you've ever been to Pike's, you know that it's basically surrounded by some of the steepest hills in existence. My dad decided it would be wise to park at the top of one of these hills, despite having a baby to push around. Because he didn't listen to my objection, and passed the spot that I pointed out, I made him push Lilly. Haha! Our trip to Pike's was short. We had lots of grocery shopping to do. We stopped at the bank, where my dad felt silly asking for a sucker for Lilly. Then we stopped at Costco, where he didn't give into my begging for a 7-foot-tall stuffed polar bear. And finally, we went to Fred Meyer for food for Lilly, where I made sure my dad wouldn't trip her as we walked into the store, like last time. Once home, I hurried and set up Lilly's crib, because I could tell she was super tired. We all were! Little did I know, that was the beginning of a very sleepless trip....

I got mad at him for rushing a goodbye and not giving me a kiss. So he texted me his kiss.

This is what I did to keep busy. I was so tired, but I couldn't help but stare at the woman in front of me. She was crocheting, and it was so mesmerizing. I so badly wanted to sleep after that!

She got kind of scared once the plane started taxiing, so I got some snuggles.

Goodbye, Utah!

Thank goodness for snacks! I think that's the trick to keeping Lilly happy in any situation.

Sooooo sleepy!

What goes down, must go back up...

They've also got a sign, advertising a hombow flavor "Ham Mayonnaise," and I can't begin to tell you how gross that sounds.

It's like the fruit at Pike's is of HULK origin. Seriously, they had apples the size of my head, blackberries the size of golf balls, and everything just looked SO amazing!

Lilly's first Hombow.

Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers

He actually refused to let me push her around. But hey, that hill didn't look fun anyway

Hombows!! The Griffin tradition! We always take a picture of us eating them, and then send it to Jack, just to rub it in.

When we got home, I put Lilly down for a nap, but she woke up shortly after, crying. The room we sleep in is super cold, so I just decided to have her sleep with me on the couch. Bear-bear makes a great pillow!

For the past couple of weeks, my dad has been talking about something he got for Lilly. He was super excited to give it to her, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. He got her a giant bear chair. It's so soft and cuddly! She wasn't sure about it at first, but now she sits and kisses it when she thinks we're not looking. I'm going to have to get one of these when we get home.