The Great White North - Part 1

About a month ago, I had a moment of insanity and booked plane tickets for myself, Brooklynn & Cannon to fly up to Toronto to visit my Mom and other family and friends.  Of course the minute I hit submit to pay for the plane tickets, panic set in - what did I just do?!?!?!?  I knew in the end it would be worth it, b/c it had already been 6 months since I last saw everyone and was missing everyone like crazy.  Plus, how neat would it be for Brookie to experience her first real snow?

Well the big day happened the day after Christmas..... I barely slept the night before as I was going over everything in my head trying to figure out if I was forgetting anything.  We got to the airport with lots of time to spare since being that it was the day after Christmas you just never know how busy it would be - and any time we have flown before, the line up is pretty crazy.  Plus the whole mess with the threat of extra security measures...didn't want to end up missing the flight b/c of being stuck at security.  Well when we got to the airport and parked and got inside the terminal to check in...this is what we saw....

Seriously??????  I thought well maybe we were really early and they just hadn't opened up the counter yet....but nope....it was just completely empty so we got checked right in.  I started joking that I guess we were the only crazy people that wanted to fly up to Canada in the middle of winter - ha!

Well since we were done with that in no time....we went and checked the line up at security....and it was not bad at all.  Well I decided right away, I wasn't going to go through security yet since at that point, I would be on my own with the 2 kids....so we all (Andy, Andrew, Brookie, Cannon and me) decided to go ride the inter-terminal train around the airport to kill time and keep the kids entertained.  So that took up some time.  When we were done with that we came back upstairs to see how things were looking and nothing had changed - still completely empty - just craziness!!!  So I ended up giving Cannon his lunch since I had Andy's helping hand and then we finally decided to get moving and head out on our way.  There were maybe like 5 people ahead of us at security, so we got through really quickly - with no extra screening - just the usual metal detector...phew!  By the time we got all our stuff back together and shoes put on, we got to the gate just as they announced boarding time - perfect timing!

Got on the plane and it was pretty empty - maybe 30 people at most if that many??  So it was only 1/3 full.....perfect!!!  The flight itself went really well - perfect weather, left on time and Cannon fell asleep as soon as we took off and slept for about the first 45 mins.  The flight attendants were wonderful and so friendly - I guess since it was such a light flight, they could totally just relax and take time with the passengers.  They told us to feel free to move wherever we wanted to since there were so many empty seats, so once Cannon woke up, we moved to the very back of the plane and pretty much had the whole section to ourselves.  That way Brookie could get up to go to the restroom (since that it like her favorite pastime these days - visiting all the different restrooms she can find...lol) and I could just sit right there close by without having to go with her.  It was also nice being by ourselves so we didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone.  We were able to completely spread out and we all enjoyed our space.  The kids watched their cartoons and played with our toys for the majority of the flight :) 

The flight attendant spent a good deal of the flight back there with us just playing with the kids and hanging out with us.  Cannon was flirting with her the entire time...hahaha!

Once we landed and went through customs and got our bags - and yes we got ALL our bags this trip, Brookie was the biggest help to me.  Since you pick up your bags before you are able to meet up with the outside world, she had the very important job of pushing Cannon in his stroller while I pushed the luggage cart.  She was perfect - so thankful she is at a great age to actually help in a real life situation - b/c that place was crazy with thousands of people and she stayed right behind me and followed me just like I asked.  Such a proud moment of my big little girl :)

We got to Grandma's house a little while later and the kids were happy to be able to relax.  Well the next morning we got quite the little surprise from Cannon....this is what we woke up to....

Cannon woke up completely covered in hives!  He had a couple little red spots the day before but nothing too bad....but that completely changed Monday morning.  I felt so bad for him!  This poor kid just can't catch a break lately.  The last month to month and a half has been a rough one for him.  He got 6 teeth within a month - and actually got 4 of them at the same time!  He's had 2 double ear infections, had 2 colds and now these nasty hives - which turns out is an allergic reaction to his latest antibiotic that he just finished for the 2nd double ear infection.  I ended up taking him to the Dr on Monday up here and he basically told me what I already knew - not much we can do other than Benadryl to help him keep them under control.  Since he hasn't been running a fever and is otherwise completely normal, not much to worry about - just have to let it run its course and once the drugs have completely gotten out of his body, it should clear up.  Well yesterday he woke up and they looked worse - I felt so itchy just looking at him.  Although today they seemed to be getting (a little) better....still didn't look too great, but compared to the previous day, there is a little improvement...hopefully that means we are on the road to recovery! 

And now it seems that he is getting 2 more teeth.  He had a rough night last night - waking up every hour and crying.....my poor little man :(

Other than that, we have been enjoying our low key trip up here.  We decided not to rent a car this trip - I have no desire to drive in snow ever again...so we are using the bus to get around - Brookie is happy!  Its been cold cold cold here....but its not too bad to deal with - mainly b/c I know I only have to do it for 2 weeks and then I get to go back to warmer weather hahahaha!  We are really hoping we get some snow though - right now there is NOTHING!!!  What a shame to fly all this way in winter and not be able to let Brookie play in snow...so hopefully we will get something!  Here's a pic I took the other day on the way up to the Dr's office....this is all the snow that is around :(

So far we have only done one outing on the bus with the kids.  Its not too bad - although I don't think I could do this full time!  Especially having to bundle these 2 kids in multiple layers and jackets...Texas kids definitely aren't used to this...hahaha!

 The bus ride was only about 15-20 mins total, but both ways Cannon crashed pretty quickly after we got on...lol!  Of course he woke up the minute we got off and the cold air hit him on the face....hahahaha!

 Brookie loves riding the bus.....she kept calling it a school bus!

Anyway...thats our trip so far - we still have another week and half left - so I'll share more a little later!

And if you haven't visited my blog lately, I also did a Christmas post yesterday so be sure to check it out right below this one! :)