June heralded a couple milestones for us. First it was Jasmine’s birthday. Second it was my niece Savannah’s baptism. And third, we wanted to begin introducing Jasmine to our family. And so with the help of Gran Gran Rachel, we planned a one week East coast vacation to Maryland and Delaware.

Like most kids, Jasmine is in constant movement, so were concerned how she would cope being confined to an airplane seat for many hours. Jasmine’s positive attitude and our detailed preparation paid off, because Jasmine did great.

Earlier we had gone shopping for additional luggage and had purchased a little rolling black suitcase for Jasmine. When we got home, Jasmine took it upstairs and filled it with a nice selection of toys and then took it back downstairs next to the door. She then yelled “I’m ready to go!” After laughing, we explained that the trip was still many weeks away. And that our next step is to decorate your suitcase. So the black suitcase now has pink poke-a-dots. On travel day, Emily filled the suitcase with snacks and toys which Jasmine happily rolled around the airport.

My preparation was researching and purchasing a portable dvd player. I then tested the battery life, which seemed to be about 3.5 hours, even thought the box said it was good for 6. We then acquired movies that would appeal to both parent and child such as The Incredibles, Elf, Robots, and Wallace & Grommit. The dvd player proved to be good investment as it provided a calming distraction during an unexpected 4 hour layover.