Panic Sets In

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house did Landen and I go. We headed out a couple months ago to go to Ashland, Illinois so Landen could meet his Great Grandmother. It was my first trip traveling ALONE with a BABY and not gonna lie, I was a bit panicky before we left(ok, so I was really panicky and had three minor panic attacks the week before we left then almost canceled the trip all together) but I could have been WAY worse than I was.

In order to prepare for our journey from Lewistown to Ashland, I told myself I was going to be packed an ready to go three days before we were to leave. Riiiiggghhhhtt. If you know anything about how Chad and I usually travel, you know this was just an unrealistic dream. Wednesday came around and I was so tired from work that I said to myself "Ehh, I'll just pack tomorrow". Thursday came and went and still no packing. Friday rolls around and work was insane that I ended up working until about 9pm- so I definitely didn't feel like packing after that. Saturday morning arrives and the alarm goes off at 4 am- CRAP! I need to shower and pack! We leave in 2 hours! I shower and run around throwing what I could find into our pack. Then I stopped and laughed about the situation I was in. Every dang time we go anywhere, this is how it is. Running around like a mad woman saying "next time I am NOT going to wait until the last possible second to pack!!!" Chad and I both know that is just how we roll and this probably will never change. Plus, I don't think we have missed a flight yet- so there is method to our madness...

The trip to Illinois involved the following:
-2 hour drive from Lewistown to Billings
-Flight from Billings to Denver
-3 hour layover in Denver
-Flight from Denver to St. Louis
-2 hour drive from St. Louis to Ashland, IL

Exhausting.

Landen flirted his way through airport security in Billings, which definitely made my life easier. I guess, when you look this good, it is easy to go places:



Then the flights to St. Louis went off without a hitch. Landen struck the look of fear in every person that we sat next to on our flights, but then quickly won those people over the second he fell asleep. The little guy is a pro at traveling- he packs light, always smiles and he can even slept through some crazy turbulence.

After a 2 hour drive from St. Louis, we arrived in Ashland around 9:30 pm and I don't think I have ever been so tired. I was seriously questioning why I decided to take this trip with Landen by myself- plus it was humid and hot in Illinois- yuck! But the second my Grandma saw Landen and Landen flashed her a huge smile and laughed, the long trip was totally worth it.

Our trip to Illinois flew by and before we knew it, it was time to make the journey home. We got back to Montana with only a 20 mintue period of fussiness on the flight from Denver to Billings- I consider myself lucky, that 20 minutes was the only amount of time during the whole trip that Landen had a meltdown. I am hoping our trips this summer follow the same pattern (fingers crossed!).