Rachel's 1st Plane Ride and Visit to Washington D.C.

This was an interesting decision for me. I have been wanting to visit my dear friend Amy and her daughter Anna for a while now, but they live in Alexandria, VA, and I knew I wouldn't be able to make that kind of a drive with Rachel. So I checked airfares and decided that we would have to fly out. Some people looked at me as though I were crazy, trying to travel alone with an infant. I must admit, it was challenging.

Duane dropped us off at the airport Friday morning. No complaints from Rachel. She was extremely well-behaved. We had a half-hour flight to Cincinnati, and that went extremely well. I had several nice people who offered to help stow my carry-on for me, which was much appreciated. However, the layover was where the challenge arrived. I had to walk about a quarter-mile from my arrival gate to my departure gate, and though that may not seem like a lot to you, try carrying an 18-pound sack of potatoes on your hip and dragging a rolling suitcase, a purse, and a diaper bag with you. Not so easy. I didn't bring a stroller with me because I would have been charged $15 each way to bring it on the plane, and frankly, my umbrella stroller isn't even worth $15.

When I finally boarded the second flight, things went well. Rachel apparently is not fazed by flying whatsoever, so long as the people on the plane understand that she should be given all of their attention. She is a hopeless flirt -- women, men, other kids, it doesn't matter. And people really respond to her flirtations. I know my child is absolutely adorable to me, but I have never had so many random people tell me how precious she is!

But I digress. If I spent all my time telling you how many people stopped to comment on her, I wouldn't get to the rest of the weekend. Rachel fell asleep on the plane about 10 minutes before we landed in Baltimore. By the time we got off the plane, she had been sleeping about a half-hour. I was hoping she would sleep in the car on the way to Alexandria, but this would be the pattern of the weekend. She fell asleep when she was exhausted but was disturbed somehow after 30 minutes or so and would not go back to sleep later.

Once Amy picked us up, we headed to Virginia. We got some lunch at a lovely spot in Old Towne and then headed to her house and spent the day fawning over our girls. I had a yummy dinner (prepared by Scott, Amy's husband & former chef), and then I regrettably fell asleep as we watched a movie. Sorry Ames!

Then Saturday Scott took Anna for the day and Amy, Rachel, and I headed to Washington, D.C. We saw all the big monuments -- The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, the Korean War memorial... -- and then headed to get some lunch at a beautiful restaurant. Rachel was extremely excited by the whole experience, but we finally found a couple of people who did not appreciate my daughter's personality. She jabbered away while we ate, but the women next to us asked to be moved. It was my first experience of that nature, and Amy was fuming over it. How could anyone not appreciate the sounds of a HAPPY baby? Alas, some people don't feel the same about kids as we do, and we laughed it off and tipped our waiter quite well for the loss of the table.

Saturday evening, Scott again graciously watched the kids (though Rachel was snoozing already) so Amy and I could get out. We went to an Irish bar as a prelude to her trip to Ireland. =) We talked and laughed and had a wonderfully enjoyable time. I didn't realize just how much I missed her until I saw her again.

Sunday, Rachel and I flew back to Columbus. She again found friendly faces on the first flight. The man next to us was wonderful with her -- he entertained her the whole flight back and was very helpful when I was deboarding the plane in Detroit. Rachel fell asleep just as we prepared to board our second flight to Columbus and she slept the entire flight back. It was nice to get home and relax a bit after all that excitement. I then got to spend Monday with Rachel, one-on-one, and we had a lot of fun just hanging out. It makes me wish I could spend more time with her throughout the week. Maybe someday...