Triplets' First Vacation: Part 1 (Travel Day)

Brian and I love to travel, so naturally, we want to travel with our kids.  We thought for awhile about where would be the best choice for 3 10 month olds and decided on Siesta Key, Florida. 

 

Non-stop flight + rental house with a pool + walking distance to the beach + 3 Grandparents = Perfect vacation with triplets.

 

 

We are so lucky to have parents willing to help whenever needed.  My parents and Brian's Mom agreed to come along on our vacation to help with the girls and do a little relaxing themselves.  Our flight left on Saturday, April 26 at close to 1 PM.  I had to pre-plan the day... when will we feed solids? When will I pump?  Will they be hungry to eat a bottle during the ascent? Will it be during nap time?  There were a lot of questions to figure out, but with a little organization and scheduling, the girls' first travel day went as well as we could have asked. 

(Please excuse the poor quality of pictures... you can thank the iPhone)
 

 
We arrived at the airport about 2.5 hours before our flight.  Our parents were already checked in and waiting to help us unload.  My Dad took the keys and went to park the car so Brian and I could check in our family.  Then, we all went through security together.  I kept my blinders on during this so I wouldn't see all of the dirty looks from strangers for taking forever, plus I was focused on moving us through as fast as possible.  Besides our 2 checked suitcases and 3 checked car seats, we had 2 strollers, my backpack, Brian's backpack, my pump, diaper bag, and 2 rolling suitcases PLUS 3 babies to hold... a lot to handle when going through security, so I'm glad we had others with us to hold babies and luggage.  Once through the metal scanner, they had to screen each bottle of breast milk which took the longest amount of time since their machine wasn't working right.

 

 

We then headed towards our departure gate.  I needed to pump, so I did that in a family restroom while the others went to get lunch.  We ate at the gate while the girls played on the floor on a blanket my Mom brought.  Then, it was time to feed the girls.  We strapped them in their strollers and fed mostly out of the squeeze pouches since it goes a little quicker and causes a little less mess.  We had an audience, people even took pictures.  Our timing was a little off because by the time we were headed to change diapers, they had started boarding.  When the girls were all cleaned up and we had gathered everything, we headed to the front of the line and they let us go ahead and board.  (I found out later on our way home that there is no longer any pre-boarding for small children on United, which is really inconvenient).
 

 

 

Once on board, we emptied one of our carry-on suitcases which held a smaller diaper bag for each baby and goodie bags for the passengers around us.  While I was packing, I used three different colored bags and divided up the girls' stuff so once on the plane, I could give that 'baby holder' that baby's designated diaper bag.  In it I had diapers, wipes, Lysol wipes, disposable bibs, burp cloth, wash cloth, snacks, plastic bag (for any dirty stuff), change of clothes, toys, and their new Airplane activity centers.  This way, since you can only have one lap baby per set of seats, Brian's Mom sitting in front of us didn't have to ask for Taylor's pacifier when she went to sleep or my parents, sitting across from us, didn't have to ask me for a burp cloth when Sam spit up.  Everyone had everything they needed and then I had a 'master diaper bag' with extra important stuff and bottles.

 

My MIL made each baby one of these activity centers.  They are so awesome.  She sewed 3 strips of elastic on the back to stretch over the table tray and you just slide it on and close the tray.  Then she made ribbons with clasps on one end to attach to the activity center and a clasp on the other end that you could attach a toy, pacifier, teether, etc so when dropped it will not hit the floor.  Genius!  These kept the girls busy the whole time they were awake on the plane.  I know they even liked looking at the cute material as well.

 

Overall, the flight went excellent.  There was no screaming... and that is an accomplishment in itself.  At take off and ascent, we gave them their bottles to help equalize their ears and then let them have their pacifiers when they wanted.  They each napped for about half of the flight.  Taylor and Mallory wanted to move, so they were fidgety and difficult to hold but still did great.  We were lucky enough to sit next to some really nice people who were interested in the girls and didn't complain at all.  Actually, we were complemented a lot on how cute they were and how well they did on the plane.

 

 

Once we landed in Tampa, we got ourselves situated at the gate and headed towards the baggage claim.  We set the blanket out again so the girls could crawl around and eat a snack while we got our luggage and Brian and my Dad went to get our rental cars.  Once in the car, I set up in the back row with Sam so I could pump and we drove a little over an hour to our rental house in Siesta Key.

 

 

  

Our house was really nice.  It was 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, with a full laundry room, and a nice pool.  There was so much storage in that house.  We actually used the Master Bedroom's walk in closet as the baby's room.  It was large enough to fit 3 Pack n Plays with extra space for the girls to play around.  It was perfect.  We could close the door when they were sleeping and still be able to keep the light on in our room.  I meant to take a picture all week and I forgot.  And, on the main floor was the kitchen, living room, dining room, and covered patio outside overlooking the pool.  We converted the dining room in to the girls' play area.  We moved the dining room table in to the corner, put down some blankets on the hard wood floor, and blocked the entrance with a couple of ottomans.  We rented boster seats, pack n plays, a beach cabana, and a basket of toys for the week.  The toys were a great deal.  $10 got them a ton of toys for inside and outside.  We also set up the booster seats in their play area.  If the rental company only knew how we redecorated for the week...

 

That evening, Brian and my Dad went to the grocery store, while my Mom, MIL, and I stayed with the girls and got them to bed.  We then ate dinner on the patio and talked about our plans for the week.

 

It was a tiring but successful day of travel with the girls.

Click here for Part 2 and Part 3 of our vacation.