Thanksgiving of 2006 will be an occasion that I will remember for a long while... for good and not-so-good reasons! Let's name a good one first - the kids were awesome!! I couldn't believe how well-behaved Madelyn was and how great Greyson did! I was relieved because you always want to show off the best of your kids, especially when it is family. I only really have two not-so-good things that I will remember - 1) the Dallas airport (enough said?) and 2) all four of us sleeping in the same room for 4 nights in a row.
So we started off our trip by flying non-stop to Dallas on Tuesday morning. I can't complain about the flight at all. We got checked-in fine, through security fine (with two kids, stroller, carseat, backpack, diaper bag, camera bag, plus having to remove all our shoes and empty our pockets - it was probably a trip to watch!), and then to the gate fine. We had a great flight with well-behaved children too. Everything was going great and I was so thrilled to be done with what I thought would be the worst part, then Ben and I decided to split up, Ben to get the bags and me to get the rental van. I assumed that we would only be split up about 30 minutes.... Only one problem with this scenario - I didn't take note of what gate we flew into to. This may not be an important piece of information at most airports but it IS at DFW. You see, each gate has its own baggage claim area and door to leave the terminal. So, now I was trying to backtrack and find Ben (and a hungry Greyson) and had no idea of where he was.... Not only that but the rental car hub was outside the airport and I couldn't find my way back into the airport either. I drove up and down the service road a couple of times trying to decipher the signs to figure out how to get in the airport. This is when I broke down and starting crying. I had Madelyn in the van with me and she was saying from the backseat, "Okay, Mommy" like when I tell her to say "It's okay, Greyson" when he is crying. It was sweet but I felt like such a doofus with my two-year-old trying to console me, the mom. I've finally found my way into the airport and it is just at this moment that I realize that I have no idea where Ben is waiting for me (and Ben, the anti-cellphone dweeb, can't help me). I stop to talk to someone at a gate and he takes pity on me (since I'm sobbing at this point) and tells me that NWA flies into terminal E, so I go to terminal E hoping that I will see Ben on the curb... So after lots of searching and driving in circles, almost two hours after Madelyn and I left my husband and hungry baby to get the van, I find them! Looking back, I wonder how much of my break down was frustration and how much I should attribute to the post-partum hormones... anyway, it was good to get out of that God-forsaken airport!
Note to Self - if you are picking someone up from DFW, take note of what gate they are flying into.
Maybe I should go ahead and write about the other not-so-good thing to get it out of my system.... The four of us, Ben, Madelyn, Greyson, and myself, slept in the same room for four nights of our "vacation". I would not suggest this for a family that has a 3 week old baby. I don't think any of us slept well any of those nights. I think Madelyn slept the best and Greyson probably slept okay, but Ben and I had a really hard time sleeping while Greyson was snorting and grunting. I think he started battling some awful gas pains on the second night and was grunting more often and more loudly! I actually would have slept a whole lot better if I hadn't been afraid that Greyson was going to wake up Madelyn! So, by the fourth morning, I was more than ready to move to different sleeping quarters.
Note to Self - make sure to have two rooms for your family to sleep in when traveling with a newborn.
Now I really should spend some blog space on things that I am thankful for from the trip (it was thanksgiving after all). I will list them in chronological order for you:
- Spending time with Ben's sister and her husband at their home. And I'm also thankful that they have two rooms that we were able to use while we slept there!
- Children that traveled well on planes and in cars
- Sonic (Man, do we love Sonic!)
- Spending time with the Murphy family in Ruston, LA
Okay, now that I have that out of my system.... we then left the airport to go to Ben's sister's house. Of course, we also had to stop by a Sonic on the way for food and beverages. We love Sonic! Once we got the house, we settled in and spent some time with Ben's sister and her husband, Christina and Brandon. We spent the night there and Madelyn got to sleep in her own room that night. Looking back, that was our last good night of sleep for several nights. The next morning, the four of us headed out to Ruston, LA - a surprisingly wonderful 3 hour drive. Once we got there, we visited Sarah's grave and Tech's campus and ate dinner with a couple of my friends from college that still live in the area. It was wonderful! After dinner, we left the Murphy's and headed up to Lake Darbonne State Park. That is where we stayed for the next 4 (long) nights.... more to come...
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