Collin: Traveling Day - Yes, We Are On Vacation Again!

I cannot remember the last time, if ever, that we went on vacation for a week twice in one year....but here we are doing it. We are headed to Utah to stay in the mountains for a week.

In preparation for our trip to Utah, Daddy bought Collin his very own suitcase. He showed him the night before we left which might have been a mistake. Collin immediately started pulling out his clothes and other things he wanted to take for the trip. I thought he did a decent job with the clothes minus a few important items. Here is what he packed:

4 soft PJs

3 underwear

1 T-shirt

1 shorts

1 long pants

And…..7 of his favorite animals

Considering we will be gone for 8 days, I think he packed a little light. What, no socks? What good is one shirt going to do? After packing all of these items in his new suitcase, he sat on the top of it so he could zip it up. He did need help but did a great job of trying. Of course, I did have to unpack it and include several items he forgot. He starting crying when I told him that he needed to limit the stuffed animals he brought to only 4 of them. I thought that was being generous too because I knew that I would be the one keeping track of these guys on the trip.

As soon as he was packed he started asking when we were going to leave. We had 14 or so hours to go so I needed to start the distraction tactics. We watched a movie and went to bed.

The next morning, he was ready to go. He wanted to know when the plane was going to get here thinking that it was going to pick us up from the house. We explained about the airport and that the plane would not fit on our street or front yard. Once we finally got in the car and Daddy just started to drive on the highway, Collin asked if he could take the short cut to the airport. Daddy said he was trying not to laugh at the excitement coming from the back of the car.

Once at the airport, he thought it was funny that there were cars driving people to the different gates) and restaurants inside. After going through security (he did great!), we started looking for lunch. Collin announced that he wanted shrimp (he loves shrimp no matter how they are prepared). He was in luck. There was a nicer restaurant near our gate that had a shrimp po-boy. He ate all six butterfly shrimp and was still hungry.

While we waited to board the plane, he was entertained looking out the window. He had TONS of questions about what the people where doing out there. I explained about the luggage guys and the people directing the plane. The people inside waiting would smile when Collin yelled out about the planes moving backwards or the cart pulling the plane out of the gate (we were about to board one of the smaller planes so these planes do need help pulling out from the gate).

When it was our turn to board, he thought it was great when we had to walk outside and go up the stairs to the plane. He wanted to know if these would fall or if they would hang off the plane when we were flying.

He looked out the window the entire way at all of the planes guessing which one was ours

Once we got on the plane, he was ready to pull out his animals and blanket to get ready and watch a movie. I explained that we had to be in the air first and wait for the flight attendant to let us know when we could use the iPad. He was satisfied to watch the plane start moving and getting ready to take off. When the engines started getting louder, he said "Monkey is crying because he is scared and puppy is laughing at him." As soon as we heard that we could use the iPad, he pulled off his shoes, got his blanket ready, put on his headphones and chose The Lion King to watch first. While the movie was starting, he placed his animals around him so that they could watch too.

Snowball, Monkey, Puppy and Collin ready to go!

There was no interrupting this kid during his movie

After the movie was over, the questions started again. "Does this plane have guns?, Are the wheels still down or up? Will the wings fall off? Are there bigger wings in the back of the plane? Why is there only one fin in the back? Which state are we flying to again? How many sleeps (nights) will we be there? Do we need to use the mask now?" (he was obviously listening to the flight attendant announcement in the beginning of the flight explaining about the mask coming down in case of an emergency) and, once we were flying about the clouds, "Where's God? We are above the clouds now?"

The landing was a little rough but he did great. He was busy looking out the window at the mountains and asking more questions about the white stuff (snow), the green stuff (trees) and grey stuff (rocks). He thought it was funny that the cars were so small. When we did land, he turned to me and gave me this biggest grin.

We rented a Ford Expedition because we have another family joining us later in the week. Collin immediately climbs to the third row and thought he was a king sitting back there. After we found a place to eat dinner, we headed to the mountains and the house were we will be staying for the week. The house is not just a cabin in the mountains. It's a 3,500 sq ft, 3-story house on the side of the mountain that overlooks the Snowbird ski area. The surrounding scenery is beautiful!!! We unpacked the car and the boys immediately started checking the area out. They found checkers and played a little on the balcony. Then, we found the game stash and played Jengo. Collin said he knew how to play because he learned at museum camp last week. He's good too! After a few games, we went into the TV room to watch a movie before going to bed. Collin's room is a tiny little area off the master bedroom. He loves it though because there is a thick, wooden ladder leading from that room down to the mud room at the front of the house through a secret door. I will have to watch him on this because it's not the safest thing for him to use.