It Might Have Been Easier To Take A Twister

Well, I can't say the traveling portion of the vacation was very...how should I say?... vacationy. The night before I left, Todd and I both took some cough medicine before hitting the sack at 11pm. I had the alarm set for 5am, giving me an hour to get myself and Robben ready to leave by about 6 to make it to the airport by 6:30 for my 8am flight. Well, the cough medicine prohibited any kind of restful sleep for both of us. We tossed and turned for a couple of hours, knowing that there were precious few left for sleeping. We must have finally dozed off, because I was awakened by the phone ringing at 2:30am. I smacked Todd and said, "the phone is ringing and it's 2:30 in the morning." Of course 2 people came to mind: Amy (34 weeks pregnant with twins) and Papa George (92 and health going downhill). Any call at 2:30 in the morning cannot be good. It turned out to be United Airlines calling to inform me that my flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems. I thanked God right there on the spot. For not putting Robben and me on a potentially dangerous aircraft, and for the phone call notifying me. Oddly enough, the last time Todd and I traveled to see Lyndsay it was for her wedding and our flight was changed without our knowledge... so we missed it... and we had used a travel agent... and we ended up losing a whole day in Mexico. Needless to say, we haven't used that travel agent since. Anyway, United Airlines did me a HUGE favor and called me JUST IN TIME to reschedule on an earlier flight. With a whopping 12 minutes to spare, I booked us on a 6am flight out of Fresno to LA, then on to Denver, and then connecting with my original flight to Wichita. So Lyndsay & Luis would not be affected by this little snafu. I, however, was AFFECTED!!! My arrangements were all settled by 2:48am and with the change, I now had to start getting ready no later than 3am. So the day that never ended turned into the day that was about to begin.

And how did the baby do on the plane? Dare you ask? Well, there are a couple of things that need to be said about that. 1) Robben is a very social baby. He worked the planes, man. In his opinion, every person on that plane was a friend to be made. Why, after all, would they be in his little world if not to love him? 2) Little boys, apparently, are not meant to be confined in small spaces. 3) Someone felt it was a brilliant idea to seat us in a MIDDLE seat, where he couldn't lay down or stretch out. There was smiling, giggling, crying, screaming, shhhing, squirming, kicking, arching, and finally sleeping... and that doesn't even touch on what Robben was doing the whole time! Three flights over = three daring challenges for Mommy. And once we got there, the little chap had to be strapped into a carseat. More screaming ensued. I can't tell you how done I am with the screaming. After "The Day That Never Ended", Lyndsay set me up with a foot massage and an alchoholic beverage. Hallelujah.

The trip home was not much better. It was in the evening when he should be ready to crash for the night. Instead, he walked up and down the aisles, making friends and being all-around rambunctious on the first flight, only falling asleep about 15 minutes before we landed. And on the second flight, there was only a short bout of screaming and fighting before he fell asleep. But that seemed too easy, so he woke up and puked on me. Curdled milk... again. Luckily, I had an extra outfit for him (I'm not stupid), but nothing for me (or maybe I am). He was up and cranky for a little while after that, but then he finally let me have some peace.

I'm sorry if this post was not a lot of fun to read, but you should at least be glad you didn't have to live it! Oh yeah, and Benedryl? It only makes the cranky baby crankier.