Now we’re going back. With kids. Two of them. We’ll be visiting a former Peace Corps friend of Aimee’s, who now works for USAID and is currently stationed in El Salvador. We’ll be joined by a third Peace Corps friend and her family, and spending a week together with all of them. Couldn't be more excited.
Quinn is getting over a bout of daycare-itis, but is otherwise in good spirits. His awe-inspiring belly rolls should give him a bit of reserve capacity if he picks up another bug on the way. Mimi has reached full-on toddlerhood, and alternates between heart-melting adorableness, and let’s call it “free-spirited independence.” But both kids are always so much fun to be with, and watching them experience new things is one of the best joys of parenthood. And there will be no shortage of new experiences on this trip. I'm just hoping profound diarrhea isn't one of them.
This vacation will be the first time that we're visiting a country with a Level 3 travel advisory, especially with kids. But this still feels like one of the easiest trips we’ve taken in a while. Cicely and Donyel (our friends there) have diplomatic status in El Salvador, and have made all of the arrangements for us to have a smooth arrival. I haven't so much as opened a single map to get ready for this trip. Plus, the journey to get there is infinitely easier than our last two big trips. A couple of three hour flights to get there? That’s it? Please. We’ve had longer layovers.
It was an early morning for everyone, but Mimi was unfazed. No coffee, little sleep, negligible breakfast, and is still able to find limitless joy out of riding the parking shuttle to the terminal.
She is an inspiration.
Some coffee and breakfast after we cleared security softened the blow of being up at 4 am. Aimee and I were struggling, but the kids were doing great. Mimi was clearly right at home, and made this look easy.
We took advantage of the early boarding to get Mimi’s car seat in place, and settle Quinn in on Aimee’s lap. Once everyone was boarded, the pilot informed us there was a small delay with luggage loading that would keep us at the gate for an extra 15 extra minutes. Mimi, quiet predictably, decided at that instant that she immediately needed to use the potty. Waiting would not be an option. And I don't know if this was simply airline protocol, or if the pilot could hear Mimi's wails of "pottttttyyyyyyyy" all the way up in the cockpit. But he mercifully turned off the fasten seatbelt sign once it was clear that we would be at the gate for a bit. I (very briefly) debated if it was worth getting Mimi out of her carseat and down the aisle, but clearly made the right decision. “Ooh! That was a big one!” Mimi exclaimed about her bowel movement just as the seat belt sign came back on.
Disaster averted, Mimi took up a bit of light reading and settled in for the journey.
The rest of the flight was delightful. Seriously. Mimi did great, Quinn did great. This was the anti-Greece plane ride. It didn't hurt that Mimi had her first stroopwafel experience.
Coincidentally, the first time Aimee and I had a stroopwafel was when Aimee was pregnant with Mimi, so this felt like a momentous occasion. But three years later, I'm still side-eyeing United Airlines for calling this breakfast service. That said, they excelled where it mattered. They got us to Houston safely and quickly, so I'll give them a pass on the meal. It's not like Aimee and I don't travel with at least 15 lbs of food for anything more than a drive around the block.
Our brief layover in Houston was made slightly more brief by us missing our inter-terminal train stop. I’d like to blame the kids. But I just spaced it. Acute on chronic sleep deprivation. It's a good thing you're cute, Quinn.
We hustled to the plane, and made it time to squeeze in about halfway through the general boarding group. As we made our way down the aisle, we saw our friends Alicia and Isaias just ahead of us. There’s never a bad place to catch up with old friends. But the aisle of an actively-boarding international flight is certainly not one of the better ones.
Alicia! Great to see you!
Excuse me.
Isaias! Hey bud!
Sorry.
This is!
Sorry.
This!
Sorry.
This is Mimi!
Excuse us.
But if anyone was mad at us for holding up the line or bumping into people with stray toddler feet, all was forgiven when they looked at who those feet belonged to.
We are clearly way past the new-addition-to-the-family phase. These two are even more adorable together than they are individually. And that's saying something.
Deal with it. If you want to read about my diarrhea and questionable food choices, you're going to have to put up with some unrestrained dad pride.
Just a few minutes into the flight, I could see that Mimi was getting sleepy. I went to pull the window shade down, and found that it was stuck. The Houton-San Salvador route clearly does not get the pride of the United fleet. But panic quickly turned into satisfaction as I figured out a workaround.
Spiderman, the newest addition to our travel team, came through in a big way, and Mimi was asleep within minutes.
That freed me up to do a bit of people watching. The passengers on our flight were easily separated into two strikingly dichotomous groups. El Salvadoreans of seemingly modest means, and affluent white 20 somethings on spirit journeys. There was a lot of of recently-dreadlocked hair sitting on top of heads that were considering whether or not to take that job at their fathers’ law firms.
I would have taken so pictures of them, but I was too busy melting over watching Quinn learn how to eat a banana chip.
He quickly figured out what the rest of us already know; there is no wrong way to eat a banana chip. They're delicious.
As you probably put together, Aimee was sitting in front of Mimi and me. And that was entirely on purpose. We learned several lessons from our last toddler flight, and booked our seats in an L formation. Aimee got a bit of the peace and quiet needed to nurse Quinn to sleep, and I didn’t have to worry about Mimi kicking the seat of someone who wasn’t genetically pre-disposed to still finding her adorable. And as an incredible bonus, both Aimee and I had open seats next to us. Six hours in, we already knew this trip was going to be amazing.
As you probably put together, Aimee was sitting in front of Mimi and me. And that was entirely on purpose. We learned several lessons from our last toddler flight, and booked our seats in an L formation. Aimee got a bit of the peace and quiet needed to nurse Quinn to sleep, and I didn’t have to worry about Mimi kicking the seat of someone who wasn’t genetically pre-disposed to still finding her adorable. And as an incredible bonus, both Aimee and I had open seats next to us. Six hours in, we already knew this trip was going to be amazing.
