On Wednesday, May 2nd, we boarded a plane on our first of two flights that would take us to Sydney, Australia.  We were attending the 100th birthday celebration for Bo-Gong, my father's uncle - the man who raised my father as his own son.  It would be an impressively large family reunion.

So many of these relatives have been so important in my father's life and we haven't seen them in ages.  Many of them, I only have a faint recollection of from childhood.  However, the thought of having to travel internationally with a 4 and 2 year old was terrifying!  Abby, who is actually almost 5 is a well-seasoned traveler and we weren't really stressed about flying with her.  Kayleigh, though, has never been on a plane and is far more high-maintenance than her sister and we were not at all sure how well she would do.

Months ago, Kayleigh had actually stopped using her pacifier during the day completely.  But for the trip, we babied her and let her get her fill of the pacifier.  We knew it would calm her, gave us a means to mute her if necessary so we weren't nuisances to other passengers, and of course for popping ears during take-off and landing and any other significant altitude changes.

We flew out of Denver International Airport at 11:15 AM.  My parents were traveling with us while my brother, Allen, took different flights.  We arrived around 9 AM to check in and had a scare - no Visas!  I have no one to blame but myself as I went through the whole passport application process, then went through Qantas' booking management site to make sure we entered all the necessary information for exiting and reentering the country.  I was pretty sure I filled out the ETA (Electronic Travel Authority), which is needed in lieu of a Visa, but in hindsight, I was never charged a fee, which I suppose would have been the case if the request actually went through!

Let me digress and mention that passport applications for children are silly.  When a baby gets a passport, they can't expect the passport to last 5 years because a child's appearance changes so much so quickly!  But there's no passport renewal option for updating a passport photo, so they're required to get a brand new one.  Abby had a passport from 3 years ago, which of course is still valid - date-wise.  But she looked nothing like the red-cheeked infant on the passport, so she needed a new one.  Kayleigh was getting her first passport, so we submitted their applications back in March.  In less than 2 weeks, we had their brand new passports in hand, so we were pretty happy at how quick the process was, despite being disgruntled about having to get Abby a new book.

Anyway, back to Visas.  Thank goodness the airline staff was able to request our Visas for us in a matter of minutes.  Luckily, we were traveling to Australia and not some other country that required 4+ weeks for processing Visas.  So, after a few moments of stress and racking my brain trying to figure out how I could have overlooked something so important, we were checked in and on our way.  

The girls were getting pretty restless at DIA, but Kayleigh got so excited to see that our tiny, tiny plane to LAX had finally pulled to the gate.  "Plane! Plane! BIIIIIGGGG plane!

The girls each got a carry-on to lug their most precious items - their lovies and blankets.

 We wanted both girls to feel relaxed and comfortable on the trip - and rather than having to tote all of their stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows ourselves, we got each girl a small carry-on piece of luggage.  Abby, of course, chose a pink Hello Kitty suitcase and Kayleigh wanted nothing but Angry Birds!  They worked out surprisingly well and both girls were excited about carrying their own luggage.

In Los Angeles, we had a nine hour layover.  We originally had plans to leave the airport and visit some surrounding areas of LA, but we were all exhausted by the time we landed at LAX that we just found a deserted gate and lounged there for 9 hours!  We all slept a little, then watched some movies and my mom taught Abby about massaging and accupressure points, while Paul read.

The Beco Baby Carrier turned out to be a lifesaver on our trip.  We didn't bother with a stroller as we knew we could borrow one from one of my cousins in Sydney, but, Kayleigh much preferred to be carried.  It also made traveling a LOT easier without having to fuss with an extra stroller as carry on.

Still looking pretty chipper when we first got to LAX

The girls watching Kung Fu Panda 2, one of about 40 movies we loaded on our iPads to keep the girls entertained in case they were needed.

My parents discover the superb displays of the new iPad, watching Kung Fu Panda 2

Shortly before we were ready to get on the Sydney flight, Allen called to say that he had arrived at LAX as well. We were in completely separate terminals, so he wasn't able to stop by, but our flights to Sydney were nearly identical and he would arrive in Sydney only minutes before us. So, we wished each other a good flight and would be waiting for each other in Australia.

Dad and Mom getting comfortable in their Qantas seats.  A long 14 hr flight was ahead of us.

The Qantas plane was outfitted with entertainment units for each seat - even in economy!  Each unit contained dozens and dozens of premier movies (latest releases), classics, foreign, and award-winning movies, tv shows, kids' programming, video games, and loads of music.  In addition to the little comfort packages (toothpaste, toothbrush, eye cover), blankets, headphones, and pillows that each passenger received, each child was handed a Crayola satchel filled with writing tablets, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, luggage tag, and activities book.  Oh, and the dinner and breakfast menus looked like that of a 5-star restaurant.  We would be well pampered for the flight!

We have learned that flying with a child under 2 required some sort of child-restraint system if they weren't flying as a lap child.  Kayleigh is far too big to be a lap child and we knew she would be more comfortable having her own seat.  Rather than bringing a car seat, though, we used the CARES harness.  Abby had flown well with the harness and it is far, far easier to travel with than a car seat.  Kayleigh absolutely LOATHED the harness, though, and performed Houdini tricks to escape several times, meanwhile screaming her head off!  Luckily, the flights were pretty tame and she was able to be unbelted for most of the flights.

Kayleigh never got used to using a neck pillow, but she thought it was a hilarious headdress! Ok with the CARES harness for the moment.

Everyone was exhausted and as soon as we got on the plane we were getting settled for several hours of sleep.

You can see on Abby's face that it had been a long, long day of travel already.

We planned the flight to Sydney well.  It was overnight.  Of the 14 hour flight, Abby and Kayleigh slept for 11 of those hours.  During the 3 waking hours, they ate, colored, and watched kids shows or movies on the iPad.  Even though there were so many things to choose from on Qantas' entertainment menu, the girls did prefer to watch their familiar movies.

Take off and landing turned out to be non-issues with both girls.  Abby understood how to pop her ears and Kayleigh, with her pacifier, never seemed to be affected.  She fought having to put on her seat belt, but those episodes were brief.

Diaper changes were impossible for Kayleigh in the tiny lavatory changing tables because she had absolutely no room for her legs.  We ended up having to do diaper changes in the crew area just outside the lavatories at the very back of the plane for some privacy.

We did have one potty incident on the plane near the end of the flight.  Kayleigh's constant shifting and moving around caused her diaper to shift out of place and she had a minor leak.  Even though Paul and I both reminded each other to bring a spare change of clothes for both girls in their carry-ons, we both neglected to grab the spare.  So, Kayleigh walked on to Australian soil wearing no pants!

As we had anticipated, Abby was a model flyer.  She never complained and was always finding something to entertain herself and stay content.  She helped Kayleigh whenever necessary - picking up dropped markers and blankets, helping her use the iPad, etc. - and was able to get enough rest unlike the rest of us.

I confirmed that I have issues regulating my body temperature when I'm tired.  I got chills so badly on the flight that I feared I was coming down with the flu.  Fortunately, after some sleep, I was fine for the duration of the trip.

Trip log to be continued....