The trip -- Chapter One.

Our adventure began Thursday around noon. Beanie had gone down for a nap around 11:30 so I carefully moved her into the car so she could sleep the rest of the way down to the airport. It worked! Traffic wasn't bad at all and we drove to the lot we were parking at. We had chose to drive down ourselves because the people we would usually ask were either (1) going with us or (2) having a meet and greet with Gwen Stefani at the No Doubt concert on Sunday. Somehow I think #2 is the better option ;).

The shuttle dropped us off at the airport and we lugged everything around. Somehow we chose the skybridge to our left instead of our right which turned out to be the one farthest from the Delta check in counter. Glenn was carrying the carseat, our suitcase and a lunch bag. I had Beanie in an umbrella stroller we bought especially for the trip, the heaviest backpack ever on my back, and my purse on my shoulder. We got checked in (LOVE online check in...made it so much faster) & headed through security. The checkpoint closest to us was way backed up so we went to one a bit farther away. And a lot farther away from our gate it seemed. Actually we had to take the underground train (which I insisted didn't exist) to our gate.

Luckily our gate was close to food because we were starving and had figured a good way to kill some time at the airport would be to eat lunch. Plus, french fries make for a happy Beanie. Would've been great except for the fact that the line didn't move an inch in the ten minutes I was standing there and it was almost time to board the plane. Sigh. I let Beanie run back and forth up the aisle at the airport, hoping she would burn off enough energy to sit still for our upcoming 5 hour flight. Then Glenn walked her around and, of course, right after they leave they start boarding the plane. Not that it mattered because we were boarding in Zone 4 even though we had a toddler and a carseat. Actually, I'm glad because we boarded pretty late, the car seat was a breeze to get installed on the plane, and we only had to sit for a short bit before we took off. But, anyways, it gave me a huge anxiety attack that they weren't there. Of course they were very close by and came back with a smoothie (which sort of tasted like Pepto Bismal???) and a sandwich.

We got on the plane and as soon as Beanie sat down her feet were touching the seat in front of us. She tapped it a little with her feet and we told her no. About fifteen minutes after takeoff the guy in front of us reclined his seat all the way and Beanie started saying "No! No! No!" and kicking his seat. But, really, what did he expect? We did pretty well with stopping her from attacking his seat, although I'm sure she got her toes between the seats a few times and got him pretty good.

The flight went really well. Normally I am anxious as hell during takeoff and landing. This time I wasn't, mostly because (I think) I was more worried about Beanie's well-being during the two. I was force feeding (okay, not really) her monkey fruit snacks and making her drink milk. We had plenty of new toys for her -- a magnadoodle, a new book, a Curious George coloring book, and soem movies. She was more interested in the TV set in the back of the seat in front of her, at least until the satellite to Nickolodeon went out.

We landed in Atlanta just after ten and walked about ten miles across the airport to baggage claim. It wasn't until we were almost there that we noticed that the train was heading to baggage claim too. Oops! I figured it was good exercise for all the food I was about to consume the next few days.

Father-in-law (FIL)picked us up. He had a friend call and say his car had broken down and he needed help. FIL had some many stories he had made up to trick mother-in-law (MIL). We got to the car and he said we could just throw Beanie's car seat in the trunk and she could use her cousin's. I was not so okay with that. First off, cousin's car seat was front facing and it wasn't a convertible one even (at least it didn't look like it), it was a booster. Totally didn't make sense to me because Beanie's cousin is almost 6 months younger than she is. Anyhoo...Glenn installed our carseat and I squished my butt into the backseat between the two.

FIL asked us if we were hungry and we were. He took a different exit than usual so we could drive thru somewhere. So we pull up to the exit and it is way backed up. Then we see the police lights. FIL didn't think we could even head the way we wanted. Well, we could. We got waved ahead by a police officer. Glenn noticed that there must be a big accident because there were a bunch of cars on the side of the road. That's when we realized there were about two dozen police vehicles on the shoulder of this off ramp. There were about six cops checking the cars as we came up to the stoplight on the exit ramp. Like checking FIL's driver's license, shining a flashlight all over the inside of our car, asking if the carseat was belted in, and then telling us to have a good night. As we drove away Glenn noticed that there were K9 dogs out too. Um scary!! I still have no idea what was going on that night. I tried to look online and the only thing I found was that they caught a murderer who had fled to Villa Rica on July 12th, but this was the night of the 16th, probably early the 17th by the time we were there.


So after that whole ordeal we stopped at McDonalds. Yay for gut bombs at midnight. We were parked behind a van that was sitting at the ordering thingy forever. We told FIL what we wanted to order & Glenn had to assure him about 5 times that, yes, you could order a 2 cheeseburger meal even though it wasn't on the menu. After waiting for what seemed like way too long, we decided to try the Wendy's across the way. Of course, the van pulled away from the ordering thingy as soon as we pulled away so we ended up turning around and getting back in the drive thru. Good thing to because Wendy's was closed. So the McD employee says "good night what can I get for you?" FIL orders and (very cautiously) asks if there's such a thing as a 2 cheeseburger meal. The McD guy says "you can order now." Apparently he hadn't heard anything so FIL ordered again and again asked about the 2 cheeseburger meal. Pulled through after ordering and waited forever again. The employees were arguing about something inside. Finally get our food and head on our way to the house.


I share some french fries with Beanie who, amazingly, has yet to fall asleep on the ride home. After about two or three french fries she says "No french fry" and hands it back to me. I look over at her. She fell aslpeep mid-handoff.


We get to the house where we are all tired beyond belief. On the way home we were told that sister-in-law had "comandeered our bedroom" and we were stuck on a futon. For the three of us, I asked. FIL had bought a pack and play (which he kept, to my amusement, calling a play and pack) for both Beanie and her cousin. Problem is, Beanie sleeps on a twin bed and spins around in her sleep. There was no way in hell she was going to sleep in a pack and play. I know he was genuinely trying to help and make things work out and I totally appreciated it. I told him we'd figure it out. Well, figuring it out meant Beanie and I slept on quite possibly the most uncomfortable futon in the universe and Glenn slept on the floor. Honestly, I think the futon wasn't really any more comfortable than the floor. Maybe a little tiny bit, but barely.


As soon as we got into the bedroom I heard Beanie's cousin coughing up a lung. Seriously, he sounded horrible. Then I knew we were all going to get sick. Amazingly, I slept. I think it was pure exhaustion and staring at the ceiling that did the trick. Glenn slept too, although he woke up every morning with a horrible back ache.


We were woken up god awfully early by a 19month old banging on the bathroom cupboards. The bathroom was adacent to our room. Okay, seriously, I don't care if you wake up super duper early. And I don't care if you bring your kid into the bathroom with you. But, for crap's sake, at least once tell him not to bang on the fricking cupboard doors because people are sleeping. Just a little common courtesy I would think? But, no, we woke up to banging cupboard doors every morning. Luckily they never woke up Beanie because that would've really pissed me off.


So, its Friday.....

Okay, to be continued....if tonight is anything like the last three nights I'm totally going to crash out on the bed with Beanie while she's falling asleep. If so, at least you can be entertained by chapter one. If not, I'll start writing chapter two :)