Family reunion in Missouri was pretty cool. I have tons of pictures that I'm not in the mood to upload. Probably later today I'll be willing to do so.
Thursday after work drove to Nampa to stay the night at Mom's to make our 7:15 flight the following morning. Woke up at 4:45 after deciding to forfeit a shower (otherwise I'd have had to rise at like 4 -- sickening). Got a late start anyway and headed to Jeff Day's before the sun even thought about lighting my way. Jeff lives by the airport and had previously agreed to store my car at his place so I wouldn't have to pay for long term parking. And he kindly drove me to the airport and helped me with my luggage. So, yeah, that was totally rad. Then he drove my car back to his place.
Security was a freaking pain. You have to take off your shoes!!! That's gotta be a constitutional violation of privacy. But, I guess with all the recent national news top stories about people smuggling drugs and explosives between their toes, it's a necessary precaution. By this time, my kids were already starting to be cranky from having been robbed of precious rapid eye movement. I understood.
Well we finally got through security (no issues -- CTU wasn't contacted) and I wheeled the stroller and our carry-on items and was about to sit to wait when "now boarding for flight blah blah" (our flight) sounded over the loud speakers. Talk about in the nick of time. So we boarded, which was no easy task (single parenthood of two small children while traveling is a difficult recipe). I was carrying a ton of stuff PLUS pushing a stroller with a squirming and screaming preschooler boy child and keeping track of a walking preschooler girl child. Matthias was very, very nervous. I'd tried to talk up the experience. "We're going to fly on a jet and it will be so fun! It will be just like a rocket ship!" He was excited and even said the night before, "Mommy, guess what? I'm going on a rocket ship today!" Super cute. But he decided terror was more appropriate than excitement at some point after security. Anyway, so I had to figure out how to remove screaming preschooler from stroller at the gate and I don't remember how I managed, but I did. Matthias quickly escaped my grasp and ran the opposite direction. I was feeling anxiety for the people waiting behind us as I chased my son with my arms and back loaded with gear. I grabbed him and had to drag him down the hallway of doom and his screams escalated. I was surprised at how scared he was. We boarded. He escaped several more times as I tried to deposit gear onto chairs and in bins. He was throwing a veritable, kicking-and-screaming fit. Finally we were all seated and Matthias insisted on sitting on my lap. I told him he could for now but soon he'd have to get in his own seatbelt. He screamed at full throttle for a few more seconds then stopped instantly for no apparent reason and was okay the remainder of the flight, even when he had to sit in his own seat. Not another tear. He's moodier than PMSing woman with a mood disorder. I love that boy.
Due to retarded seat assignments, Anna had to sit across the aisle from Matthias and me. I was hoping the person who had the window seat on our row would see our predicament and off his seat, but he did no such thing, and I had to send Anna across the aisle with promises that I would still hold her hand. She offered a meager complaint at first but then discarded all negativity and obeyed. Cheerfully. And was fine the remainder of the flight. I love that girl.
We got to Denver and I found the next gate and saw one of my cousin's (I only have 60 first cousins on Mom's side), Treasa. She had arrived from SLC with her husband Devon (whom I met then for the first time) and they would be on the same flight to Kansas City as us. Yay! The kids didn't sleep on that flight which was totally annoying. But it was short; only an hour. Matthias had to pee like three times. I swear he plans stuff like that. Who has to pee three times in an hour? On an airplane? They don't really build those aisles with human beings in mind; they're like ten inches wide. Well we made it through and Treasa and Devan were gracious to offer to help me with my 2 children, one suitcase, one bag, two backpacks, three pillows and one stroller to the rental car area. I was very grateful. I had wondered how on earth was I going to transport all that stuff to the rental car.
BUT. On the shuttle from the airport to the rentals, I realized I'd left two very important items at the airport. The kids' carseats. I almost started to cry. I decided I would rent the car and pack all my stuff then drive it back to the airport and get the carseats.
To Be Continued.
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