Vacation, Part 7...heading home

Hearing about someone else's vacation is always a little bittersweet.  It's hard to tell sometimes if a person is bragging or sharing.  Seven posts later it's time to wrap this thing up.  We've been home for 9 days now, and vacation is definitely over.  Our first plane ride was such an adventure, I feel I need to write about the one home just for comparison...and maybe to show we learned a couple of things.

Our flight home was scheduled to depart at 11:20 am.  I thought we'd get to he airport about 10.  Toona and Gido vetoed that saying, due to traffic, we needed to leave the house around 8.  Maybe we'd get to the airport at 9, maybe 10.  I think we ended up leaving about 8:25, and arriving there about 10.  It worked out just fine.  Toona and Gido were going to help us carry stuff to security so we didn't have to strap the car seats to the suitcases, then take them off 5 minutes later.  We had trouble finding short term parking, though, so we ended up saying goodbye at the curb.

We managed to lug all of our stuff in without the car seats being attached.  LO really enjoyed rolling his bag along, so that helped both to keep him moving in the right direction and to get one more piece of luggage to the gate.  Security was a little more intense, but overall they were nice and helpful.  I go the extra hand swabbing because NB was strapped to me and I had to accompany our lunch to a scanner for additional screening.  All of that took an extra 5 minutes or so, then we just schlepped everything to the gate.  LO really wanted to ride int he car seats, but we just thought it would be faster not to deal with that.  We got to the gate to find it full of passengers for another plane.  We then spent the next hour (and a half ultimately) rotating through bathroom trips, snacks, wrestling tired boys, watching our many bags, etc.

Us with all our stuff.  This pic was supposed to be more about the stuff than us, but half of it is hidden behind the chair.

Watching the ground crew work on our plane.  Looks like LO is pushing the plane doesn't it?

 When the gate agent arrived, I hopped right up to talk to her.  I had a plan this time.  A better one.  One I needed her to make happen.  I explained that we had small children and I would need to board early.  She offered the zone three boarding we had used on the way up.  I explained that the need was not to board the children, but to give me time to install both car seats.  I explained that task had delayed our flight about 10 or 15 minutes on the way up.  I explained we needed a better option.  She saw my point.  (Glory hallelujah!) I could board with "people needing  assistance" which is before everyone else.  Yes, I definitely needed assistance, so that seemed perfect.  About 11:15 they announced that our flight had a mechanical problem, there would be a delay while they fixed it.  Those announcements always make me feel like a sitting duck.  At least we could wait in the terminal though. At least we weren't being diverted to another city.  I kept thinking they would call me to board with the seats any minute.  In the meantime we tried to entertain the boys any number of ways.  NB was getting cranky.  It was nap time.  I went to see if DH needed any help with him to find NB chewing something.  I asked DH what he had.  DH didn't know he was chewing.  NB was sitting on the floor near a metal cart that can be rented to carry luggage.  On the bottom of the cart was who-knows-how-old half eaten pizza crust.  Yep, the other part of that crust just got swallowed by my baby.  Sigh.  My baby then proceeded to have a fit because we would not let him eat the rest of said crust, not would we let him get the M&M on the floor.  Yuck!  That's about the time I was called to board.  Remember I am a "person needing assistance."  Apparently the crew didn't remember that because, as I lugged about 60 lbs of car seat down the walkway, I asked the flight attendant for help.  I needed to lift both seats up over a rail so I could traverse the narrow bridge onto the plane.  Her response?  "What, you want me to just take your stuff for you?  I can't just hold that!"  "Well, I need help getting these on the plane and to our seats so I can install them."  "O could take one from you for a minute, but I can't just carry your stuff!"  Yeah, flying the friendly skies not feeling so friendly about then.  Glad I wasn't a person who REALLY needed assistance. She did, ultimately, hold one car seats while I carried the other across.  She then followed me to our seats and sat one down.  She explained she isn't allowed to pick up heavy things.  Well, Twiggy, if it was too heavy to pick up, do you think I would be carrying TWO of them?  Anyway, I did a much faster job of installing the seats.  In fact, I installed LO's two or three times trying to get the seatbelt buckle in the most comfortable position for him.  DH boarded the plane with both boys at the final boarding call, and I was ready and waiting.  It was MUCH SMOOTHER than the ride up.  The gate agent helped DH get one of our bags checked and he was able to get the other bags and both boys on by himself.

Da and NB getting ready for take off

LO during early take off...

NB during early take off

So long PA!

We were about 20 minutes late leaving, but take off went well.  DH and I both felt woozy, but I recovered better than I had on the ride up.  DH not so much.  Both boys were harder to handle on the flight home.  Perhaps because the novelty had worn off, perhaps because they were so very exhausted. Probably both.  DH and I traded spots mid-flight to keep our best energy directed at keeping the boys under control.  NB kicked the seat  of the man in front of him about every two minutes the whole flight. I tried to stop him, but really just slowed him down a little.  LO went potty while we were flying for which I was quite proud of him.  It was unsettling to both have to stand in the aisle to pee (no room for both of us in the bathroom) and to feel unsteady on your feet while you do it.  LO was a little anxious, but did great.  He even kept it all in the potty.  LO behaved pretty well until right about the time we started the decent.  DH was sitting next to him, so I don't know details for sure, but I think he had the wild idea he should sit in DH's lap.  Well, that was not possible as we had to keep seat belts on.  DH explained, and LO melted down.  He started in a full-fledged screaming fit.  I'm not sure what DH was doing about that, but I chimed in that LO would be having a time out in the bathroom if he didn't straighten up.  Now I never bluff about discipline, but this time I wasn't sure if I'd be able to follow through or not. I planned to try if I had to, but thought I had about a 50/50 chance of being told to get back in my seat.  Fortunately LO believed me.  He piped down and that was the end of it.  We landed without event, lugged our stuff to the curb and met our sweet neighbor there.  Neither boy napped on the plane, NB napped a little in the car.  Before we knew it we were home.

It had been so good to leave, and it was so good to be back.  That, I think, is the mark of a good vacation when you have kids.