Air Travel and cockpit fun

At the beginning of the month we went on vacation to Red River, NM (there will be another post about this trip soon) and the kids and I and my mother in law Amy flew while Derrek and his brother drove. This is the first time that Mason has flown where he has been old enough to actually have a memory of it. He was so excited!! He had been talking about flying in an airplane for a full 2 months before the event was going to take place. Samantha was excited too but obviously doesn't have the understanding about the situation like Mason does. Anywho, the morning of our departure finally arrived and he was so excited. It all started with a ride in a big shuttle bus that we had pick us up so we wouldn't have to leave a car at the airport.

Mason and Mamie

Samantha

After dragging in the car seats and the 1 bag we needed to check we made it through security very easily (thank goodness) and were on our way into the main part of the AIRPORT!!! Oh the excitement that this spurred in my children.

Here we are on the escalator walk that they LOVED!

Of course getting to see all the airplanes was HUGE excitement! They basically ran passed all the windows yelling " Airplanes, look at the airplanes." So we set up camp next to a window and what do you know there was a plane parked at the gate. This was so fun because the pilots of this plane were already in the cockpit and they were waving at my kids in the window. Thank you kind pilots for making my kids morning!!

When the time finally arrived for us to get on our plane they were so excited that we had to capture the moment before entering

When we walked in I took Samantha back to choose some seats and Mamie asked the flight attendant if Mason could just peak into the cockpit. They did him one better and let the child IN TO the cockpit and IN TO one of the pilots seats!!!

HOW AWESOME IS THAT??

Here is the pilot explaining all the cool gadgets to him.

A GIANT THANK YOU to the crew of that Southwest Airlines flight!!! They made my son's flying experience so incredible. Mason and Samantha were both champs on the flight and did beautifully. When we landed I made sure to tell Mason that it may be a bit bumpy because we were touching down on the concrete. I then made the mistake of putting my arm in front of him upon landing so he wouldn't lurch forward to much in his seat. He promptly moved my arm away and said "No mom, I am wearing my seatbelt." haha!

Stay tuned soon for a full write up of our vacation in Red River.