Charlotte will be embarking on an adventure today; she is going to meet Grandpa Frank and Grandma Linda. Charlotte & I are flying Southwest, a direct non-stop fight from here to Long Island and they allow 2 carry on’s …one of a moderate suitcase size and the other about  the size of a lunch cooler. I have packed, unpacked, repacked and come to the conclusion that no matter what I pack, we will land and I will have the “aha!” moment realizing that I forgot something. I’m glad she hasn’t bonded to any of her toys in such a way that if I left a particular one home she would treat our fellow passengers to the mother of all meltdowns.

She has, however, 2 favorite blankets that must make the trip. The first one is her soft fleece monkey blanket that Charles got for her before she was born. This was the first blanket she was wrapped in when she came home and loves to touch the monkeys on the corner and bring them up close so see can really study them.  We’ve had to alternate between this one and her other favorite, a pink fleece one with owls on the corner as they seem to be the only ones that pass whatever invisible test she put all her blankets through because these are the only two that she will fall asleep with – she likes to pull them up to her face and rub her cheeks against them as she falls asleep.

She must have felt my pre-flight jitters because she was wide awake at 6 am when I got out of the shower. She is sleeping an hour later as I type this. I’m the kind of person that would rather drive 20 hours and spend 3 visiting than spend 3 hours flying and 20 visiting. Charlotte will be a good distraction. Take off is at noon and we arrive about 2:40 in the afternoon and will return on Friday afternoon/early evening.

I’m not going to bring my laptop but I can post updates here from my phone so I will do my best to update as much as possible.