Above picture is of Ryan's brief nap on our second flight.....My previous blog post was going to lead up to this day but I got sidetracked by my self (which I've been attempting to crucify and kill off) and didn't even get there. So, as I said we had been pretty busy before the trip started. I had my "surprise" birthday party on Friday night and was "allowed" to sleep in the next day. We had Ryan's swimming lesson that morning and hung out at the pool until nap time. Then, on Sunday we were going to go to church but Pat was ushering and I would have to be in the nursery with both kids so there was really no point (other than getting Ryan in the habit) in going when I had ALOT of laundry and packing to do. We figured Ryan was going to miss the next few weeks so being there this week was not vital. Then, I worked Monday and Tuesday to make up for the time I was taking off. So, by Wednesday morning I was already exhausted.
Our travel day to Portland went very well considering we had a 2 1/2-year-old, 8 month old, and 37-year-old that acts like a 2 1/2-year-old while traveling. Gin Gin and Bubby brought food the night before and stayed for about an hour to help us get some things done (thank you). Gin Gin came again in the morning (thank you Gin Gin) to allow us to get some last minute packing done. We got out of the house in a panic as usual. It doesn't matter how early I start organizing and packing, at the end it is always a mad rush which translates into 2 1/2-year-old crankiness due to the chaos. So, we drive to Little Rock hoping that Ryan would sleep because it was her nap time. She didn't. She was so excited about "vacation." She had been asking to go on vacation "now" every day for about a week.
Our flights went well other than me having to pump on the plane which I had never done before. I shielded myself with a blanket and Pat was next to me. I don't think anyone noticed.
Our layover was very tight and therefore we took the escalator instead of the elevator. We usually take the elevator because of the strollers. I told Pat I didn't think it was a good idea for me to be on a moving staircase with a stroller especially when signs warn against it. Well, I was right. I had Charley's big stroller with her in her carseat unbuckled. It usually doesn't matter if it is unbuckled because she is lying on her back and can't really sit up or lean over. But, the situation I got us in warranted her needing to be buckled. Pat and Ryan calmly stepped onto the escalator while I TRIED to back on going down while pulling the stroller after me (I'm backwards if you are trying to picture this). But as my feet were on the escalator, the stroller was stuck on the ground so I was holding on to the stroller handle and running in place up the escalator (sort of like a treadmill). At this point my memory is foggy and I'm not exactly sure what happened except that I obviously pulled the stroller onto the escalator with Charley facing me. Whatever I was doing caused the stroller to tip forward which meant that the whole stroller, Charley included, was tipping forward and she had gone from being on her back to being vertical in the air unbuckled. The next step would have been flying face first out of her carseat. But, luckily two screaming men intervened. One man on the escalator alerted us to what was happening and that Charley was in danger. At that point I pushed the handles up so that she wasn't tipping out and another man came to the rescue by bracing his body against the stroller so it wouldn't roll down the escalator. I was there somewhere in shock over what had happened. We made it to the bottom and raced off to get on our flight. It's funny (or not) how I worry about how a little scratch could be the beginning of rapid, terminal malaria (I made that up) but when there are real safety concerns (buckling in high chairs/strollers, etc) I'm pretty laid back. You would have thought I learned my lesson, but in a later post about the trip I will recount the episode in which I did, in fact, learn my lesson.
We arrived in Portland, got our rental van, and drove the exhausted munchkins (and parents) to Seaside, Oregon where we stayed at Pat's cousin's beach house. Ryan actually did fall asleep on the second flight for about 45 minutes (much later and shorter than her regular nap). Ryan stayed awake for the whole trip and then fell asleep 10 minutes before we got there. Poor thing didn't get to see the beach that night. We arrived at the beach house around 10 pm (midnight CST) after having left our house 14 hours earlier. I'd say that we made it there at all was an accomplishment. Ryan's lack of sleep and good behavior was nothing short of a miracle.
OK, that's it for that day. Pat, if you have anything funny to add you can add in the comments. You know I don't want to miss a thing!
KK
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