Option #1: Take the whole family down there. This option was immediately dismissed because who wants to travel with a young family of six from Idaho to Arizona for a mere weekend?
Option #2: Leave the three older girls with my parents and drive down. But when I looked up the distance and saw it would take us 15 hours of driving PLUS the time it takes to stop every three hours and feed a baby, I was concerned.
Option #3: Leave the three older girls with my parents and fly down. This would cost us a little more, but we'd spend a lot less time traveling.
Option #4: I stay at home with the girls while Seth either flies or drives down. This (obviously) would cost the least, but even though Seth could have traveled with other family members, he didn't want to go without me. (Awww!)
After debating about it and making a choice only to question it and change my mind several times, we opted for #3. Thus Gwendolen experienced her first flight.
Seth holding Gwendolen on our flight from I.F. to Mesa while Grandma Susan watches.
She was perfect on the flight. She slept, nursed, and looked around. No fussing, no wailing.
We left Friday, November 9, and came home Monday, November 12. My parents/sister watched the big girls while we were gone. While is Arizona, we spent a lot of time with Seth's Uncle Keith and Aunt Carol at their lovely home, we had a big family dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we witnessed the wedding (Gwendolen didn't so much ... she was under the nursing apron during the ceremony) and danced at the reception, we attended the televised regional conference on Sunday, and we enjoyed the flora. (This was my first time in Mesa.)
Seth holding Winnie at the wedding dinner. It was a lot cooler in Arizona than we expected it to be. We huddled under the propane heaters they had in the orchard, kept Winnie bundled in her blanket, and gratefully borrowed the sweaters/sweatshirts Carol brought from their home.
Susan, Seth and Winnie at the wedding dinner.
Keith has several citrus trees in his backyard, including this grapefruit tree. I took pictures of a few to bring home and show the girls.
The thorns on the lemon tree.
Even though the big girls had fun at the "blue house" (where Grandma and Grandpa Scott have recently moved), Ana felt a little put out that Winnie got to travel by plane before she did. We promised her that she would get the opportunity to fly in the next few months when we take our family to Washington, D.C.