On Thursday, we left for Milwaukee. This was our first airplane ride with Austin. I worked the beginning of the week so I did not have much time to prepare. Since Brian and I have traveled extensively, I am very good at packing. Most of the time I no longer need a list. However since this was the first time with Austin, I made a list to ensure I had everything I needed on the plane. Anything else I figured we could go to the store up there.
Luckily my mom was off on Thursday so she watched Austin for me in the morning so I could get us all packed. My mom ironed our clothes for the trip too (I am not a fan of ironing). It was so helpful. Brian got home around 2pm and we left for the airport.
Because we were renting a car, we needed to bring a car seat with us. Brian did some research online to find the best way to attached the car seat to our luggage so we did not have to carry it. It was really cute how Austin could be wheeled though the airport with the car seat buckled to a standard piece of checked luggage on wheels. Going though security now is a real pain. We always travel with a laptop so that needs to come out of its case. I now have bottles so they have to be specially screened. We have a car seat and stroller that needs to be put on the beat. Plus one of us needs to hold Austin. It is a good idea to arrive a little early because it is a little more challenging with a baby. Luckily we flew out of Akron Canton airport. It is a small but wonderful airport.
We made sure Austin was hungry when the plane took off. We were concerned about his ears. We wanted him to be sucking when we took off and landed. He did really well on the plane. He ate when we wanted him to and he played on our laps well. It was nice that it was only an hour and 20 minute flight though. We were extremely happy on how he did on the plane.
When we landed in Milwaukee we got terrible news. Gramps had passed away. Our flight was at 4:11pm and he died at 4:30pm. We felt awful. It was so sad. We were worried about Grandma and wished we were home. Unfortunately we were not. Grandma had her nieces there. Plus my mom stopped by to comfort her too. Carol was already on her way up. Melissa was leaving in the morning. There was not much we could do now. Since we already had a return flight scheduled in less than 48 hours, we decided to stay in Milwaukee for Brian’s conference. The only other option would have been to stay at the airport all day waiting for a standby flight, but that could be miserable with a baby. After a brief discussion, we decided to continue as planned with the trip.
We rented a car from Budget. It took them forever (45 minutes) to get us a car. It was unbelievable! Finally we got our car: a Dodge Adventurer. Brian had to install the car seat. Luckily it did not take too long. The car was really nice. It took us about 20 minutes to get to our downtown hotel. We checked in. Then we went to dinner with the person Brian was presenting with in the morning. They needed to talk to make sure they were ready for the presentation. Austin was good again. He really is an amazing baby. We are so lucky.
Once we got back to the hotel, we all passed out. We were tired. I forgot his nighttime diapers. Since he usually sleeps most of the night, we have special nighttime diapers that do not leak. Unfortunately I forgot them and his diaper leaked at 4am. It was an important lesson to learn.
In the morning, we got breakfast then headed to the University of Marquette. I sat in the presentation room until the presentation started. I was going to stay longer but Austin got a little fussy so we went and walked around the campus. It is like most University campuses. It was a nice day to go for a walk. Brian said that his presentation went well. He was happy.
After the presentation, we got lunch and took it back to the hotel. Austin needed a nap. While Austin was napping, Brian heard loud planes outside. He found out that the air show was the next day. They must be practicing. Brian went outside to see them.
After Austin’s nap, we went for a walk to the lake. It was 1.3 miles to the lake from our hotel.
Austin loves walks so we packed up the diaper bag and went for an evening walk. We got to the lake in time to see the art museum close. The wings on the art museum open and close at 5pm. We got to see it. It was cool.
Then we walked around by the lake for a while. They were setting up for a movie at dark. We knew we could not stay for the movie but we sat there and played with Austin for a while. They were also having a fish fry. We decided to eat that for dinner. Overall it was a nice night.
We walked back to our hotel. Before we left the lake, Brian and Austin played in the fountain. Once we got back to our hotel, we took our car to go get ice cream. It was a nice night.
On Saturday, we got up and basically went to the airport to come home. Again Austin did wonderfully. We walked around the Milwaukee airport for a while since we got there in plenty of time. Austin enjoyed his ride in his car seat at the airport. During the plane ride, Austin took a nap. He was exhausted from his two busy days. Our schedule with him basically went out the window. But he still did great.
Once we got home, we went to see Grandma.
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