Paige had been looking forward to her trip. She turned 8 in October but had to wait until the summer to go. This was okay because it gave her (and me) plenty of time to get used to the idea that she would be flying on an airplane as an unaccompanied minor.
Because Dave's parents live in Utah, the logistics of getting our kids to the grandparents is little tricky. When Ashley was 8 she flew by herself from Chicago to Utah and then Grandma flew back to Chicago with her. I was nervous when Ashley did it (even though it turned out fine) and was nervous at the thought of Paige doing it too. Paige has a lot of self-confidence but she is very shy around strangers, so I was more worried about her flying alone.
After trying to come up with a bunch of scenarios, a plan finally fell into place. After our family trip to California, instead of flying home to Chicago with the rest of us, Paige would fly from LA to SLC by herself. This worked out because the flight was much shorter and cheaper. She would only have to be alone for a 1 hour flight versus 3 hours. I felt much better about that.
After a few days in Utah with her grandparents, Dave's parents flew back to Chicago with Paige and stayed to visit us for a few days. I think we got the best deal out of this and we are so grateful to Dave's parents for not only taking Paige but also coming out here to see us!
Here is Paige boarding her plane at LAX, she is all ready to go. In fact, she was so independent that she wouldn't even let Dave roll her suitcase through the airport. She was determined to take care of herself. I guess, I had no reason to worry!
Of course, once she got to Utah, I wasn't there to document her adventures but I did hear a few stories and did have some wonderful family members share some pictures.
I have to say that she had a great time. Grandpa and Grandma took very good care of her and she also got lots of playtime with her cousins. This is a pretty special treat because we don't have any cousins nearby. Paige also has a number of cousins around her age and she loves to play so it was perfect. What a great tradition Dave's parents have. Paige loved her trip! It will always be a special memory for her.
One of her first items of business when she got to Utah was to go swimming with Grandpa, Grandma and the cousins!
She then went around in turns visiting the rest of the family:
Paige was lucky that her trip happened to take place right after Dave's sister, Kelley, and her family moved back to Utah from Rexburg. Paige got to go over and play with the Gees and then right before Paige left, Kelley's two girls, who are about Paige's age came over and played on the trampoline at Grandma's house. This was exciting because we don't usually see the Gees too often.
Paige also got to have a super fun day with her cousin Megan. Megan came to the Lagoon with Paige and those two were perfect riding partners. They went on all the rides even the big roller coasters. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from this day :(. I think Grandpa sent Dave a picture, but Dave deleted it --- that's what I get for being over a month behind on my blog! Anyways, I'm just going to put this picture of Megan up so you can see how cute she is and just imagine her and Paige running around the Lagoon together!
I have to admit seeing all the pictures of our extended family made those of us in Chicago (Ashley, Dave and I) a little homesick for family. It's amazing how fast everyone's families are growing up!
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