IF

Joe and I have had the chance to fly to some pretty amazing places; I learned to love flying. Sitting, reading, relaxing, daydreaming.

Turns out that flying is not quite as fun when you have a bulging belly, frequenting poked and elbowed by a super squirmy toddler who really wants to crawl around on the disgusting airplane floor. Especially when the flight gets turbulent and you think you are going to throw up and the lady in front of you complains that "SOMETHING is hitting her chair." Luckily, it turns out that Maggie loves turbulence. She giggled and squealed so loudly when our decent into Idaho Falls was a little rocky that she was starting to get laughs from several rows of passengers, and I think it was her cuteness that helped me keep my lunch. She was more skeptical when I changed her diaper while standing her on the toilet seat in the airplane bathroom. Anyway, I think there might actually be some wisdom in the age limit requiring a two-year old to purchase a ticket (something that I seriously doubted before I squeezed in one last free flight to visit my family in Idaho).

Still, every jab in my nauseous belly seriously payed off for the time that we got to spend in Idaho Falls. By the end of the week Maggie was cuddling with Grandma and Papa which is pretty impressive because she has been SUCH a mama's girl lately. She had so much fun playing with her cousins Tabs and Kaia that she still talks about them. The other day she asked me if we could see Grandma and Papa. It made me so happy, but so sad because I had to explain that we would have to go on another airplane before we could see them again. Even though we have had fun visits together in the past, this is the first time that Maggie has seemed to hold onto any memory/attachment to her family. I hope that even though family visits aren't as frequent as I wish, that she will still be able to build loving relationships and that maybe next time we won't be starting from scratch.

I think I took a half dozen pictures trying to get a good one of these three silly girls. In every picture Tabs is being cute/silly, Maggie has a huge, cheesy smile (pretty much her permanent facial expression) and Kaia is either glaring at me or looking away completely. Cracks me up. That girl has so much attitude. 

Those geese are aggressive! Maggie had her hand bitten (if you can bite with a beak) twice until she started running from away; then they started chasing. Usually it is Maggie doing the chasing even when her hands are full of food.  Still a beautiful place.