We got home last night after a long day! Whew!
The kids and I started the day off yesterday by getting packed up and checked out of the hotel. Wouldn't you know... as soon as I had returned my key cards, put most things in the car but was still rolling the suitcases, Kaitlyn turned to me and said, "I have poopies, Mommy!" Oh geez. So off to the bathroom in the lobby we went, and whaddayaknow... no changing table. Awesome. Pull up some bathroom tile Kaitlyn!
I texted Kevin (who was with the kids, en route from Rapid City to Sioux Falls) to make sure he would be at the airport at 4:30 to help me with my 5 tons of crap that I had hauled along on the trip. Agreed, he'd be there at 4:30 at the Enterprise desk.
We picked up some food for the plane ride at the local "Grab N Go" gas station, you know, the usual... M&M's, two Lunchables with ham and cheese, etc. Pretty nutritional stuff there! The kids, especially James, were thoroughly excited to get Lunchables (James' first experience was on a picnic with Harrison, Bennett and Aunt Beth). At least we had one orange in the bag... that made me feel much better! Ha.
We got to the Enterprise place to return the car, so I left all the stuff in the car and went into the airport to tell them that I had the car but still needed to unload. Kevin and family were still no where to be found, so the nice guy at Enterprise helped me get all my junk out of the car, get my car returned, and walked us to the ticketing counter to check in. Lovely. Thank you kind guy. We chatted about Florida, he had lived in Tampa for a while.
We headed up through security and by the time boarding started, Kevin and kids still hadn't been through security yet. I was thoroughly excited to see them boarding the plane after we had all gone to the bathroom one last time. I seriously thought they were going to miss the flight. Turns out someone had a screw driver in their bag through security. Who was that anyway? I never heard.
The flight was uneventful, thank goodness. Kaitlyn had a first. She sat in her seat by herself instead of in her car seat. I literally didn't have enough hands on the flight there to carry the seat, so Kevin did it for me. This time around I elected to check the thing. I thought I had made the WRONG decision when we first got seated. Kaitlyn threw a fit because she wasn't in the window seat (where she is required to sit if there is a car seat involved). I had her in the aisle, and she didn't like that much. I bribed her to calm down with a half of a pack of M&M's, and told her if she didn't stop crying that I'd take them away. #1 Mom award nomination, right here, thank you. It worked though, and the rest of the flight was great.
When we started our decent and I had to turn off Cars on the computer, James started acting extremely bothered. He was saying that his tummy hurt, so naturally I asked him if he was going to throw up... he said yes. OH NO. GET THE BARF BAG! I got it out and opened it. He put his face in it and then said that he was fine. Oh thank goodness.
After we got over that, he started saying that he had to potty really bad. He said, "OOOOh, I have to go poottyyyy!" for the next 20 minutes while we landed and deplaned (he even tried to go into the bathroom when we were walking off the plane). Poor kid, I didn't think he was going to make it to the bathroom. He provided some entertainment for the people around us on the plane, and I'm sure, they were silently rooting for him to make it to the potty. Everyone, on the way out, was telling me that there was a bathroom at the top of the jet way. He made it. Whew!
We were so excited to see DADDY! Both kids ran up to him and gave him gigantic hugs and kisses. Love is so beautiful. The smiles even spread to those around us that were watching the kids reunite with their Daddy. So sweet.
Since we had that potty stop, Nathan had already gotten all of our luggage from the baggage claim, including both car seats. Onward! Home! Oh, wait, what Kevin? Mandy accidentally went to the wrong airport to pick you guys up? Oh, well, we'll all fit in the VAN! So, in we piled, all 8 of us and our luggage into the Odyssey. Three Miller kids in the back, the Wilcke kids and me in the middle, and Nathan and Kevin in the front. Voilla! We felt like clowns in a car... or sardines in a can... you get the picture. It was fun though, and we made it home safely. It was fun to see the Miller kids reunite with their mom.
The kids slept until 10 this morning, which was wonderful for me. We just got home from the doctor's office, not much to report on that. James is sick, but we think it's viral. I got a prescription for him though, in case it doesn't go away in a few days. It's most likely a sinus infection if it hangs around for a while. Poor kid.
We are all very happy to be home!
