Trains, planes, and automobiles - Part 1
Every parent has a story about that trip they took when the kids were little that ends in crying/vomitting/disaster/family turmoil/all of the above, resulting in a truncated visit. This was nearly that trip.
We were down in Oregon and Idaho this past week for the wedding of my favorite brother, David and his new wife Angela (new favorite sister-in-law). Not a wedding that we would have/could have missed. Oddly enough, we have been invited to 11 weddings this year. In light of our burgeoning family, this may be the only one we make it to. Ever again.
The trip down was surprisingly uneventful. The most impressive part is the transition through security and I honestly felt that the TSA simply took pity on us. (Note to terroists:show up with lots of children. That'll throw them off. PS-they didn't make us take Jackson's shoes off.) Just to let you know, all items must be broken down and pass through the xray. The two strollers break down. The car seats come out and ride the belt upside down, the shoes and jackets go in the bucket, the laptop rides on its own, the bags follow, Rob carries two babies, all in their bare feet, and Jana coaxes Jackson through the maze. Then it all has to go back together again. Oh yeah, then we have to gate check everything once we get to the plane. FYI-don't forget anything on the jetway-more on that later.
We left on the red-eye, apparently the only flight available out of this state. Our flight was only half full (the pessimist would say half empty) and we had a good two rows of three seats for our team of five. This was a good situation. There was minimal crying and gnashing of teeth and the babies hardly cried either. The boy fell asleep almost instantly, also good. Sleeping while hanging onto a sleeping baby is a trick unto itself. Jana buckled hers into the seat next to her. I didn't drop mine.
The key fob (there didn't appear to be a real key, it was some sort of computerized nubbin') to our Town and Country was dispensed by a particularly disinterested nineteen year old, and we fit the entirety of Team Church (Grandma, Grandpa, Me, Jana, Jackson, Jonathan, Ella, and all our accoutrements) into the minivan. We are so getting a minivan when I get a real job. Sweet.
The remainder of our was was to be simple. Relax, visit the grandparents, a couple of days at a conference downtown, a short 8 hour drive to Boise, 9 hours back, and another flight back to Anchorage. Simple. I'm not sure anything will be simple for the rest of my life.
We were down in Oregon and Idaho this past week for the wedding of my favorite brother, David and his new wife Angela (new favorite sister-in-law). Not a wedding that we would have/could have missed. Oddly enough, we have been invited to 11 weddings this year. In light of our burgeoning family, this may be the only one we make it to. Ever again.
The trip down was surprisingly uneventful. The most impressive part is the transition through security and I honestly felt that the TSA simply took pity on us. (Note to terroists:show up with lots of children. That'll throw them off. PS-they didn't make us take Jackson's shoes off.) Just to let you know, all items must be broken down and pass through the xray. The two strollers break down. The car seats come out and ride the belt upside down, the shoes and jackets go in the bucket, the laptop rides on its own, the bags follow, Rob carries two babies, all in their bare feet, and Jana coaxes Jackson through the maze. Then it all has to go back together again. Oh yeah, then we have to gate check everything once we get to the plane. FYI-don't forget anything on the jetway-more on that later.
We left on the red-eye, apparently the only flight available out of this state. Our flight was only half full (the pessimist would say half empty) and we had a good two rows of three seats for our team of five. This was a good situation. There was minimal crying and gnashing of teeth and the babies hardly cried either. The boy fell asleep almost instantly, also good. Sleeping while hanging onto a sleeping baby is a trick unto itself. Jana buckled hers into the seat next to her. I didn't drop mine.
The key fob (there didn't appear to be a real key, it was some sort of computerized nubbin') to our Town and Country was dispensed by a particularly disinterested nineteen year old, and we fit the entirety of Team Church (Grandma, Grandpa, Me, Jana, Jackson, Jonathan, Ella, and all our accoutrements) into the minivan. We are so getting a minivan when I get a real job. Sweet.
The remainder of our was was to be simple. Relax, visit the grandparents, a couple of days at a conference downtown, a short 8 hour drive to Boise, 9 hours back, and another flight back to Anchorage. Simple. I'm not sure anything will be simple for the rest of my life.
posted by rob at 10:09 PM
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