10 pm – Manila time. Head to the airport. Both boys have been asleep since 7. Both immediately wake up when we get them from their beds, but both are in good moods despite this. We’ve taken a red eye with Adam before to Bali which did not go well, so we had pretty low expectations. But this was the only flight that worked for us. So off we went.
10:45 pm- Arrive at Manila airport. After a small argument at the check-in where were told to check Malcolm’s car seat (despite their helpful suggestion that he sit in the regular chair and our explaining that at 5 months he’s not quite able to do that) we’re able to successfully board with the car seat.
1 am- Flight takes off. Bit jumbled but this consisted of eight hours of amazingly well behaved babies. Malcolm slept and ate, Adam slept and ate and watched cartoons and miraculously both boys slept for three hours at the same time so we got to sleep too. I was amazed at how well both boys handled being up for most of the night.
1 pm Manila time – We headed off on our second flight from Abu Dhabi Athens. Full disclosure, this flight was not as easy as the last one. It was only 4 and a half hours long but it felt like an eternity. Malcolm was a little fussy, mostly tired but settled down eventually but Adam, oh Adam. He fell asleep after two hours and slept for an hour and it was delightful. I watched some of Monument Men. But then, he woke up. I know what the poor guy was feeling, that feeling when you’re soooo tired and you wake up way too soon and feel terrible. And he let everyone know it. After walking around, a nice stewardess giving us some juice, cookies and a toy, which didn’t work, we finally calmed down when Randy broke out the Cars pez dispenser I had bought for just this moment. It worked like a charm. But then, we ran out of Pez. Thankfully we were about to land so the passengers on the plane were only subjected to a short amount of screams. It was for sure the ONLY moment of the trip where Adam was anything but great, so I think that’s pretty great for a two and a half year old. The minute we landed tides turned and Adam was in a great mood. These moments are always the hardest when traveling with kids. Special candies, treats and new apps on the Ipad help, but inevitably there is a time when nothing works. In these moments, you just have to give in and realize soon enough you’ll land and there will be a glass of wine waiting for you.
6:30 pm – Our next leg was a 45 minute taxi ride from the airport to the Port. Remember our luggage picture at the start of this…I was sure we would need two taxis, but we managed to find an amazing taxi driver that squeezed all our stuff in one and took us, even though this meant the stroller wheel blocked his fifth gear and if there is anything a Greek taxi driver loves, it’s fifth gear. Adam was in a great mood, he loves taxis and he was excited to get to the boat.
9:30 pm Manila time – Last step of our journey. A four and a half ferry ride to Serifos, the first island we’re staying. We debated staying a night in Athens, but the only direct ferry to Serifos left at this time so we decided to just go for it. The ferry thankfully went well. I think Adam was just happy to have some room to move around. Or he was just too tired to complain. Poor guy, but he kept going. He watched Nemo, he walked around the deck and was still in a pretty good mood.
bosas-from-us.com 