I made it back home. I think in one piece. One very tired piece. I had a great time being at my dad's house and spending time with Kathy. I think she enjoyed it (of course she did, there was a baby there!). Stephen had a great time because he got to go outside and play! He hasn't been able to do that here, yet. Once he was mobile this fall, there was snow on the ground, or it was pretty cold, so he just hadn't had the chance. I had a great time watching him play in the dirt and leaves. One day we went to Fit for Fun - a Parks and Rec facility specifically for children under the age of 5. Why are there no places like this here? I think I'll open one in my unfinished basement.
Stephen LOVED the ball pit. He couldn't move around too well in there, but he liked to be buried and just be surrounded by those plastic balls!
He also had a good time in this little house things. Mostly because there was a door he could open and close. He could go in and out and no one stopped him. That is rare for him these days.
They had a bubble machine. Yes, it was cool. This picture was taken after it had been on for a little while. Most of the other kids there were no longer interested. The look on his face when he first saw all those bubbles was classic. He was in awe. He was never able to catch one, though, he just isn't fast enough yet.
I did enjoy my time in NC, as I always do. I have already posted some about the wedding and the birthday party we had. Most everything else was pretty normal stuff. I did get to spend a little time with a couple of my new step-sisters. It was fun to get to know them better.
Coming home was another adventure. I hope that I don't have to travel alone with kids again for a long time, maybe not until they are old enough to be able to entertain themselves with coloring or something! Our day started at 4:30am ET when I got up to get ready to leave. My flight was at 6am. I was hoping Stephen would just drift back off to sleep in the car... nope. Not a chance! He was grinning and giggling when we got to the airport. Security was not a problem for me, not in this small of an airport. Someone even came over to help! My first flight was full, so Stephen got to sit in my lap. I am using the word sit very loosely. He squirmed and fought me the whole time. The seat belt light was only off for about 10 minutes, so that was a long hour for me.
Then I had 3 hours in the airport to kill. We had breakfast that was cut short by a grease fire in the food court. I saw smoke pouring out of one of the food stalls and got Stephen out of there. I later found out that it was grease pouring out (I guess greasy smoke, is that what happens?) So I'm glad we didn't stick around. But just about every airport employee was hanging around watching the mayhem and firefighters. I checked it out as we did our laps in the terminal.
When it was time to board the plane, the gate agents had left one last seat open on the plane next to me so I could take the carrier on and let Stephen sleep. As I was boarding, though, the agent told me that someone had purchased a ticket at the last minute so that seat was no longer available. Bummer. Stephen drifted to sleep as I entered the jet way. Of course he did. I got him out of the stroller and had everything folded up and got to my seat, he continued to sleep. Then I had to get up to let this last minute ticket purchaser to her seat. Stephen woke up. I tried to get him to go back to sleep with no luck. As soon as we were to altitude and we could "move about the cabin", we started to pace the aisles. This was a large plane, with two aisles, so we had "a lot" of room to move. At about our 5th trip around the plane, the guy sitting in front of me gave his seat to the lady sitting in the middle of my row and he went to the back and sat in one of the jump seats. He was a delta pilot that just happened to be on the flight. I thought that was terribly nice of him. So, I was able to sit for a little bit with Stephen, since he now had his own seat, but we still had to walk.
At about hour 3, a Stewardess took Stephen to the back for a few minutes. I don't think she was gone for more than 5 minutes or so with him, but I dozed off and began to dream! I was tired. As we were getting ready for descent she brought him back to me and he fell asleep as did I. I know I was sitting there with my head back and my mouth wide open. I always think it is funny when people fall asleep like that... that was me. When we did land, he stayed asleep and as I was getting off the plane, a couple stewardesses mentioned to me that they saw how we were both out at the end of the flight. It was a long 4 hour flight, but I made it and wasn't frustrated, just tired. I am just now beginning to feel rested from that and that was Tuesday! I was home by noon, though, that was nice.
Stephen slept all the way home, but when I tried to put him in his crib, I think he woke up just enough to realize he was home and he was excited to be there! He ran around and played with all of the toys he hadn't seen for two weeks. I just laid on the couch and hoped he would get tired. He didn't. Scott was so excited to have us home, but when he got home from work I was too tired to even say much. I went to bed that night at 8:00. Then woke up at 4. Great.
I made this post a lot longer than I intended to. I have no plans to go anywhere on a plane anytime soon, so this is probably my last "poor me alone with a toddler on a plane" post. Let's all hope so.
