We're Going to Texas!!!

About a month ago Trevor finally agreed to take a family trip to Texas to visit my brother and his family. I've been there twice with Ian - once right before he turned two and once right before I got pregnant with Jenna. I figured this Spring would be the perfect time to go because Jenna will be able to fly for free. There was no way I was going to take both kids on a plane by myself so I had to convince Trevor to come too.

As soon as we narrowed down the dates in May I started to watch prices on the American Airlines website. Before we knew exactly when we would like to go I saw an advertised price of $99 each way, but I couldn't find that price again until last night. I started checking every day and figured I would book the flights as soon as it got back down to $99. It's funny - on Monday of this week it was $139, on Tuesday it was $109 and then yesterday it was $99. So we quickly called Jon and Kim to finalize the dates and then I made the reservations.

We're leaving on May 7th (Ian's birthday) and returning on May 16th. We've decided not to have a party here for Ian this year and instead do something small there with his cousins. The plane ride will be his main birthday present from us.

One thing that really gets my goat is that American is now charging for checked bags. The first bag per passenger is $15 each way and each additional bag is $25! That's absolutely insane! We're going to have to figure out how to pack light and carry on as much as possible. That was another reason that I knew I had to wait until I could get the $99 fare. We could've gone with Southwest who doesn't charge for checked luggage, but they didn't have any non stop flights. I really didn't want to change planes and add 2 hours to our trip with a toddler in tow.

I'm really looking forward to spending time with Jon and Kim and the kids. Charlie is just 9 months younger then Ian and Jonathan is 1 year older then Jenna. I'm sure the kids will have a good time with their cousins. I just wish they could see them more often!