Meilani's First Plane Ride: We made it, y'all!

We're happy to say we arrived safely in Virginia today and we all survived Meilani's first plane trip! Ericlee celebrated his second father's day on a wild adventure from Fresno to Phoenix to Raleigh by plane and then by car to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where we stayed last night with cousin Sean.


Meilani conquered the plane ride like a pro. She was so excited for the first trip from Fresno to Phoenix that she skipped her nap and spent much of the time with her nose glued to the window. When she wasn't looking out the window, she spent time on a new bug puzzle (B-day gift from Uncle Paul & Auntie Michelle).
When we arrived in Phoenix with all the gear, we strapped Meilani in the jogging stroller and she immediately fell asleep. Go figure. She was quite content for our 4-hour layover. She spent the first two hours sleeping and the second two hours chasing Daddy up and down the terminal and playing hide and seek at various gates.
Our second leg from Phoenix to Raleigh was a little hard on Mama who was feeling nauseated (especially since there was some turbulence and we were seated in the very last row). Luckily, our neighbors were a nice family from North Carolina and Meilani was quite occupied by the playing cards from Mary's wedding, the infamous puzzle, stacking cups and Daddy's generally funny-looking face.


Probably the biggest challenge was today's 4-hour car ride from North Carolina to Virginia. Cousins Sean and Amy graciously are loaning us a car for the summer. After playing with their son, Whitaker, for a few hours this morning, we piled in the Honda and headed for Hollins University. Meilani seemed happy to see her familiar car seat in a not-so-familiar car - at first - but after an hour nap she wasn't too pleased to still be sitting in that thang. We made the best of it. We sang, checked out the puzzle again, ran around in a field and laughed at some of the infamous Southern signs. Our favorites: "BOLOGNA is BACK!" and "Two breasts, a thigh and a roll." (That was on a full-blown billboard. Yikes!)
We cruised into the familiar city of Roanoke at 6:15 p.m. just in time for the Opening Reception for Dorina's program. Tomorrow classes begin and the Daddy-Meilani Bonding Time commences.