Back in Lauderdale-Land...for now

Isla and I managed to get out yesterday before the big snow storm hit and enjoyed a pretty uneventful trip.  Little missy had a couple minor meltdowns for a few minutes here and there (both her naps were screwed with, mind you), but over all - she was her sweet, squirmy, adorable little self and made friends with all the people around us by popping her head up over the seat, grabbing the hair of the person in front of us, making eyes at the guy next to us and being 100% cute in general.  This marks the second flight where random people have whipped out their smart phones and taken her photo in a "Oh, she is so cute!" fashion.  We landed here in Florida and were immediately greeted by a blast of warm air and sunshine, glorious sunshine!

While it wasn't my first time traveling with her alone, it was my very first time travelling with her outside of the newborn sleeps-like-a-zombie stage.  I have mentioned before that she is a SUPER active (almost) nine month old and non-stop energy in motion.  She is so curious and just loves to use her little legs, arms and fingers to explore everything around her.  Being that there is not much to explore from a coach plane seat I was a little nervous about this trip.  Luckily, she was plenty entertained by (eating) the pages of Sky Mall Magazine and my arsenal of baby snacks.  My secondary fear of managing all our luggage (a car seat, a large duffle, diaper bag, purse and baby) was for naught as well.  The Ergo baby carrier coupled with my general consensus that people are good and helpful proved to be the secret.  Strangers assisted us every step of the way from ushering us right through security to helping with my bags, entertaining Isla with smiles and coos or just a lending a hand so I could get a cup of coffee.  Those small kindnesses make a world of difference to a mama travelling alone.  As if that wasn't enough, my sweet-as-pie friend, Melody, went above and beyond by not only picking us up at the airport, but helping me schlepp all of our stuff onto the boat.  As a "thank you" I bought dinner and Melody and I celebrated the coming apocalypse over pizza, wine and great conversation in the cockpit.

Buuuut...the apocalypse was a no show, which I for one am happy about.  Turns out the Mayans just ran out of paper...or rocks, or wall space or whatever it was they were making their calendar on.  And you know what that means?  There's still a lot more sailing and travelling in our future, and for that I am VERY thankful.

Tomorrow, we drive across the state to meet up with my family who's spending Christmas in the Sarasota area.  We're travelling fools...just not "wind" travellin'.  But soon enough...This boat and it's crew are itching to get moving again!