Last minute trip to Buffalo

We had a lovely visit to Buffalo this weekend. The purpose of the trip was to attend the memorial service for my parents' long-time neighbor and friend, who lived to age 95 and sadly died a week ago. Her daughter is my mom's best friend and someone whom I think of as family. There were lots of my parents' neighbors at the memorial service and it was interesting to see people that I hadn't seen since I moved away to college over 15 years ago.

Annika did quite well on the plane trip. I was pretty apprehensive because I was traveling by myself and while Annie is generally Miss Mellow Yellow, she will occasionally have melt-downs, particularly when she's thrown off her schedule. But she did really well. She was patient even though the flight was over an hour delayed. She practiced standing, and she played peek-a-boo with a lady that was sitting in the waiting area nearby. Then she slept through the whole flight.

But the changes in scenery eventually got to her - trying to sleep in three different cribs, seeing all kinds of people, etc. The second day, as usual, was the tough day, as that always seems to be the day when all the changes really sink in.  But she did relatively well on the flight home (although I don't recommend using the airplane's bathroom changing table unless you absolutely have to - it is about 1 foot by 1 foot and has a weight limit of 25 lbs ... unfortunately, in our case, our usage of it was not optional). Annie fell asleep as the plane landed in Boston, and was so sound asleep that I was able to move her from on my chest to the plane seat (to put on my coat), to back on my chest, then I carried her off the plane, then transferred her onto a seat in the waiting area (to open up her stroller), then strapped her into the stroller and she didn't even stir. I think she was quite happy to finally get home and sleep in her own crib last night.

Annika got to visit lots with her grandmas and her cousin Maddie, who was so excited to see Annika! Maddie just wanted to give her hugs and kisses, but Annika was a little shell-shocked from the drastic changes in her schedule, routine, and the people she was seeing.

In the end, she had fun playing with Maddie, particularly once we visited Maddie at her apartment. It was a good weekend - we got a lot of visiting in, considering how short the trip was. Annie's next road trip is in two weeks, when we drive to Corning, NY to visit Laurie.