Air travel shots

I splurged on some big boy backpacks for the kids and got one for myself, too.  They turned out to be way more spacious than necessary.  Next trip, we're thinking the kids will have their own suitcases, as well.

I love this method of packing for kids (it could work for adults, too).  Bag outfits to keep operations and organization during the trip running very smoothly.

I cannot shake the romantic notion that air travel will afford me hours of uninterrupted reading bliss.  The reality: my travel-themed issue of Granta remained unread by me for the duration of our trip.

Gem whiling away the time at our gate in Newark Airport.

We both caught Iron Man 3 on our non-stop flight to SFO.

Minecraft at cruising altitude.

Lounging on the monorail to the rental car center where Cap waited on the line from hell for over an hour.  The rental car center and the monorail system are super convenient.  I blame Dollar Rental Car for the outrageous bottleneck at their counter.

Another shot from the monorail.  Beautiful Bay Area twilight.

On our return trip, the Bay Bridge was closed so we had to take the long way around the bay to the airport...alongside a multitude of morning commuters.  We left Barbra and Audrey's at 6:30am to ensure plenty of time for our 10:55 flight.  It took us about two hours to get to the airport.  (I took this shot because I liked the old school lettering on the United Airlines hangar.)

Their backpacks actually looked smaller to me on our way home.  These boys are growing at an astonishing rate.

Gem enjoying his first breakfast on the monorail.

Once we checked in and were through security (we were sent through a much shorter "family" line, thank you SFO!), the kids had their second breakfast: bacon for Gem, pizza for Sag.

I was thrilled to spot this rainbow of kombucha in our terminal.

Gem is afraid of heights.  He decided to conquer some of his fear and chose to sit in the window seat during the SFO - ORD leg of our trip home.  I love this photo and what it represents.  LOVE.

I tried to get a straight on shot of them in the Oakland t-shirts I got for them, but no dice.  Here they are reading the comics from the newspaper Cap picked up at the airport.

In Chicago, I was happy to pick up a torta from Rick Bayless' shop.  It had a lot of flavor and the bread was impressive because it retained essential bread-ness despite being served in an airport and consumed on a plane over an hour later (while containing a glob of wettish meat and cheese).

ORDino!

I was one of those crazy people darting around looking for an outlet to charge my phone in the airport.  I found the experience dehumanizing...but refused to get a hold of myself and be okay with the possibility of my phone running out of juice before I got home.  Boy, do I have mixed feelings about my relationship to my personal technology.

Poor bubbie.  By this point we'd been traveling for about eleven hours with three more to go.  The kids have always been good travelers (Sag was on his first plane at four months and Gem at one year) and this trip was no different.  They keep up with agendas other than their own and go with whatever the flow is with an air of confident contentment and no complaint.

Back at EWR, waiting (briefly) for our ride home.  We were lucky to have Max chauffeur us to and from the airport for this trip.  He was duly rewarded with much chocolate.

Peace and love.