flying solo

We planned to take one big road trip in the RV this summer. We loved Utah last summer and didn't get to spend enough time there. We wanted to go back this summer and were going to meet Braden's sister and her family there.

When it came time to work out the details of the trip none of the adults really wanted to go. We've been enjoying being in one place for a while and the thought of all the planning that goes into a 1,200+ roadtrip just didn't sound fun at all.

The cousins really wanted to see each other, so I asked Braden what he thought about having our nieces and nephew fly by themselves to our house. Emma overheard that conversation and was jealous she wasn't going to get to fly on an airplane by herself.

After a couple phone calls and lots of texts it was decided that Emma and Olivia would fly to Oregon, and then they would fly back to Minnesota with their cousins.

Not going to lie... I know they have traveled more than some adults, but man it was hard putting them on an airplane by themselves. I had lots of tears in the days before their flight, but I kept it together at the airport until the gate agent took them to get on the plane.

It didn't help that the weather in Minnesota was terrible that night and their flight was delayed over an hour.

I watched their flight the entire way.... even though it was after 2 AM in Minnesota by the time they landed in Oregon.

Of course they had an amazing time - they got to see their cousins, and they got to surprise their Nana and Grandpa who didn't know they were in Oregon.

It took a couple days to adjust to having an empty house. While they were gone Braden and I went to a movie just the two of us for the first time in years, and we had lots of dinners out.

Finally it was time for them to come home! I thought they might be homesick at some point (they weren't), and I'm pretty sure they weren't ready to come home.

Of course I watched their flight the entire way...