the travel chronicles- part 1

It has been many moons and countless miles since I last checked in.

More than 3,900 miles to be specific.

We just returned from spending a week with Elizabeth in Arkansas. The trip of such lengthy proportions is not for the faint of heart/those who are not mentally prepared to travel with a toddler. 

We had to wake at 3 IN THE MORNING to make it to the airport in time. Upon arrival we were told that our flight had been canceled. Jorge at the desk said we could hang around the airport for hours before the next flight or leave from the Boston airport in two hours. As commander in chief of the travel expedition, I chose to brave the Boston traffic. It totally undid my careful planning which had us leaving from the close airport, but we make our plans and the TSA totally ruins them. We got stuck in traffic on the way there and screeched into the airport with literally minutes to spare. Naturally we were at the wrong terminal. I cursed myself for packing 47.5 lbs of clothes. I was sure this whole fiasco was a foreshadowing of things to come. We finally got to the very last row in what appeared to be a spaceship. 

By 8:02 AB was halfway through the movie Sing and I was eating the pizza I had brought for lunch. That's what happens when you wake up at the crack of crazy.

After we landed we had to drive three hours to the farm Elizabeth lives on with her friend's family. Annabelle's excitement over the goats made up for the travel hassle. 

 

The farm was lovely and delightful in every way. We got to feed goats, go for a ride on the four wheeler, walk in the woods, have ice cream parties, and in general enjoyed ourselves immensely. We never once got up at 6:45 to help with the morning goat feeding which I still feel slightly guilty about, but we were there at night to hold bottles, tell them they were cute and generally be in the way.

Part of the reason for our visit was to witness Elizabeth's baptism. In a very countryish fashion she was baptized in a river. Annabelle was not impressed with the solemnity of the occasion. She insisted on throwing in rocks at all the wrong moments and I barely got her to the side before she starting having a mini fit because I was ruining all her fun. 

After the baptism I let Annabelle play in the water. She was having a ball until she lost her beloved stick. No other stick was a good replacement. She sobbed and sobbed. It was obviously a very difficult time in her young life. Someone mentioned her stick half an hour later and she started crying again. We spelled the word from then on out. Thankfully the farm has it's own stream with more than enough rocks and s-t-i-c-k-s.

We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday with a garden party. She and Aaron are now 23. HOW DARE THEY CONTINUE GROWING. The Mother's Day they surprised us was one of the best days of my life. I asked for a baby and I got two. 

We had no issues with making our flights home except for complete exhaustion and lack of snacks. On both flights Annabelle fell asleep as we were landing. I do wish she could have made herself more comfortable.

Unfortunately we hit some turbulence because our ride went to pick us up at the wrong airport. I was so proud of myself for staying calm and level headed with all our other travel issues but this was too much. We had been up and traveling for nearly 12 hours. All I wanted was a shower and a large bowl of French fries. I told Mom she had to handle it, dragged all our overpacked bags and stroller to a bench on the side and gave up on travel and life in general. (Overly dramatic, party of one.) I unknowingly picked a bench in the smokers section but I was too tired to move. After many phone calls and someone having to climb through a window to get a carseat inside a locked house we made it back to Mom's house. 

This morning we drive back to our home where I'll unpack, do laundry and repack before our next trip in a few weeks. It's ironic how I never did this much traveling before I had a child. The few trips I did take I didn't fully appreciated being able to read all I wanted or the quick trips to the bathroom without having to make sure no one rubbed their hands on the toilet seat. Now I have a child it feels like we've gone a million miles together.