Taking the Red-Eye

Two weeks ago tomorrow (can I actually use past tense with future tense and write it in the present tense???) Hadarya and I flew to Philadelphia on the red-eye. Yiftach was attending a two-day conference and we decided to join him for an extended weekend to visit with our dear friends (who introduced us and married us) we had not seen since they'd moved to Voorhees, New Jersey, 2 1/2 years ago.

I was pretty nervous taking such a long flight, with a change of planes, by myself and my daughter. Fortunately, for me, I had a first class ticket all the way there and my daughter is amazing, so I needn't have worried. She slept like a champ through security, into the bjorn, and into the first class seat. She settled in nicely on my chest and snoozed the entire way. She awoke in Atlanta and stayed up for the hour layover, but fell asleep as soon as we got back on the plane!

Our time was great in New Jersey. Hadarya stayed on California time, so she slept until 9:30 AM every day! She had so much fun playing with Rebecca, 11, and Josh, 5. They were so loving and kind and helpful. Josh loved feeding, changing her diaper, and putting on powder. They both rushed downstairs to see her first thing each morning and fought over who got to push her stroller!

We spent the day (the three of us) touring Independance Hall in Philly while they all worked and went to school. We had breakfast at Cereality (a cereal bar) which was so yummy and then walked around the historical monuments in 30 degree weather. Hadarya loved the cold air and being out and about. She took her nap just before we got to the Betsey Ross House, so we only saw the gift shop.

We tried to go to the mint, where the coins were misprinted, but cameras are not allowed inside at all...and we were told to take turns or not go at all. It was quite stupid, actually, that none of the brochures had mentioned this and didn't they think that tourists would always have a camera??? Since it was visible, we couldn't really say we didn't have one. We even offered to leave it at a desk and check it... but that is not an option. So we left in a huff and ended up seeing an amazing interactive exhibit at the Federal Reserve Bank,

We spent Shabbat with Alyssa, Stephen, Rebecca, and Joshua. We had a lovely and yummy Shabbat dinner and stayed up late talking and reminiscing. Shabbat morning we went to see her new shul, meet some of their fabulous friends, and just take in an East Coast Synagogue. You don't have to work so hard at being Jewish on the East Coast. Their synagogue has 1100 families and 600 kids who attend Sunday School. It's unbelievable. They are getting ready to break ground for an amazing new building and we look forward to being at Rebecca's Bat Mitzvah to see it and celebrate.

Hadarya flew better than many adults and had a wonderful time wherever we went. Her only freak out moment, was on the way home on the crowded plane. She was fast asleep before we ever took off and another child, about 14 months old was screaming his head off two rows in front of us. He stopped and then started again at some point when it was ok to take off your seatbelt. I know this beacause Hadarya suddenly awoke screaming and would not calm down with a bottle or cuddling. I got up and climbed over two seats and moved towards the back of the plane, away from the screaming child and his mother, who remained seated in an aisle seat. As soon as I got far enough away that you could not hear the screaming, Hadarya calmed down. I felt so bad for her to awaken that way. We stayed standing in the aisle until the boy calmed down and fell asleep and Hadarya was back asleep too.

Our next stop: Yosemite. Next week.

Gonna be a Flyer

Hadarya took her first plane ride on February 9, 2007--4 months 1 day old. We traveled to Northern California to visit her Great Aunt and Uncle and her cousins who came in from Chico and Sacramento to visit. It was a glorious trip!

We decided to leave on Saturday morning so we'd have at least one good night's sleep at home and she could fly close to her bottle and AM nap time. Our daughter had been sleeping through the night for about 10 days at this time, so we were hopeful that a flight wouldn't change things.

She is so alert and curious that she bypassed her usual 8:20 AM nap in favor of looking at the great things in the SD airport. We boarded the plane as pre-boarding passengers; which really means the head of the line! I was surprised to see the whole line of people right behind us as we struggled to get into the seats with all our stuff.

We were very lucky because there were extra seats on the plane and Hadarya got one to herself! She promptly fell asleep before I even buckled her into her car seat and slept the entire way.

We had a glorious weekend with all her cousins and Great Aunt and Uncle. Everyone delighted in her smiles and holding her and feeding her. Aunt Judy was thrilled to hold her and laugh with her and Uncle Ron was tickled to feed her. Cousin Eddie drove in from Sacramento and got the best deep belly laughs from our girl. Cousin Wendy and her girls, Cassidy and Callie drove in from Chico and stayed through Monday.

We all had fun hanging out, going to the mall, and taking lots of photos. Being together with our children, creating memories to last us a while helps ease any pain at living so far away. We can't wait to see them this summer!