We have returned to our comfortable, routine-driven, quiet home. After our trip to Washington, I was never so happy to be in my home in Ames. The trip was wonderful, but it was a lot of work. Thanks to the help of my parents, my Aunt Lora and my sister, Maria, I did not go crazy, throw a fit, scream at my children or even raise my voice out of frustration, throw things, or hide in the closet to get away. Everyone was so helpful and I could not have done it without you. Here's how our trip went (you can check out the album of pictures by clicking on the "Photo Journal: Washington" to your right).
Wednesday, February 27
We started our journey with a four-hour drive to Nana and Papa's house. It went very well considering this is the first time the boys have ridden together that long and it's the first time I've done it by myself. Jonathan set up a prepaid Verizon phone for that "just-in-case" moment...which fortunately didn't happen. We hit the hay early, but Phin didn't want to go to sleep so we were up until after 12:30am. That meant that our 2:30am wake-up call was going to be rough.
Thursday, February 28
Yep, as I Phin and I were finally asleep on the couch, it was time to rise as 2:30am came very quickly. So we dressed, showered, loaded up and headed out the door. Maria joined us on our early-morning trip to Sioux City for our first flight. I was really nervous about how Asher would sit still on a plane that long and then how both boys' ears would do. But Maria and I jammed out to some '80's Michael Jackson to distract me from my worries and we arrived safely and on time. We boarded our flight about 6:30am and by 6:55am we were cruising down the runway. The boys did extremely well: Phin slept the whole flight and Asher played by Nana and Papa.
We were worried about our 45 minute layover because we didn't know how far apart our gates would be. But our first plane arrived a little early and the next gate was right down the way. We met Aunt Lora when we landed in Denver. She was going to go with us on this crazy journey to the Pacific Northwest. Our next flight was on time, we boarded and I was still worried about this flight because it was longer. But Asher fell asleep on Papa and Phin did just fine. It was great. We arrived in Seattle, Papa got the rental car, Nana got the car seat and we were off on our 2-hour drive. It went really fast.
Andrea knew that my parents were coming, but the rest of us were a surprise. My Dad and Mom tricked her and took Asher in with them and said this was their surprise. And then five minutes later when we all walked in the door she was shocked. She even shed a few tears...of joy I hope. We hung out at the apartment for a while and Papa and Nana took Asher and Will for a walk. When they got back we decided to load up in the van and head about 20 minutes north to Blaine where we were staying.
We were pleasantly surprised when we walked in the door: 2 bedrooms (one with a king and and a bathroom; the second with 2 twin beds and a pack'n'play), an open kitchen with dining area, another bathroom, a living room with a couch and a chair and a Murphy bed, a gas-fireplace and a deck with a gas-grill. It was decorated really nice. Maria and Aunt Lora took the king room, Asher took one twin bed and I had the other with Phin in the pack'n'play and my parents took the Murphy bed (with a full mattress). Andrea, Will and Jaelyn hung out with us that night and we made a few frozen pizzas. It was nice to rest and get to bed on time.
Asher woke up a few times during the night. I think he was afraid to fall out of the bed and when he woke up he didn't know where he was. But I was in the bed next to him so I held him and reassured him that I was right there. Phin woke up about 1am to eat. Prior to this trip he had been sleeping through the night.
Friday, February 29
Phin woke up at about 4am and ate breakfast because it's 6am at home. And then Asher woke up at 5am. The time change was hard on their little bodies. So, I snuck out of the room and got Asher some milk and we watched Curious George and read books. About 8am everyone else started to wake up. So we changed diapers and clothes and joined the others for breakfast. When Asher was finished eating, Papa took Asher outside to the "waters." They took a few pictures and collected some sea-shells. Asher cried and cried when it was time to go inside.
Andrea arrived with the kids around 2:30pm and we talked and watched the boys play. We took some pictures of the boys. They were so fun to watch together. Will loved to kiss Asher. It was really funny because sometimes Asher would run away. Nana and Papa took the boys to the "waters" to throw rocks and collect shells. They were gone for a long time and Nana said that Asher's little legs lasted a long time before they got tired. We grilled burgers and fish for dinner. It was nice to have grilled burgers again. After Andrea and her kids left, we all unwound and headed to bed.
Saturday, March 1
We were awake at 5am and had breakfast in our room and watched some Curious George. Asher was great and didn't fight to get out of the room. He was probably still tired from going to bed late, but he didn't care. Once, that bedroom door was open, he was off! After breakfast, Papa took Asher to the "waters" and then we loaded up in the van and headed to Andrea and Jeremiah's place.
Once we were there, we headed to Will's favorite place to feed the seagulls. Nana took a loaf of bread along and everyone had fun feeding the birds. My Dad got pooped on and man, we all thought that was funny! Maria took some great pictures of the boats and the birds. And my Dad took some more scenic pictures. We had fun walking around and splashing in puddles. Andrea gave Asher a pair of Will's outgrown galoshes. There was a little park there too with some playground equipment. Then we took a walk by the boats. There were so many fishing boats, it was really pretty.
We then headed off to the mall to grab some lunch. Most of us had Chinese food, but the Will and Asher had chicken nuggets and fries. Then we walked around the mall and the older boys played in the play-yard in the center of the mall. It was fun to watch how they are so different when they play. Will is more daring and rough and Asher will watch first and then try something. He's used to getting pushed around so he was a little more cautious.
Then it was back to the condo for swimming and grilling. We grilled burgers and fish and tried to finish up as much food as we could. We gave all our "left-overs" to Andrea and Jeremiah. Who wants to take a half a tub of butter home? Then we changed clothes and headed down to the pool. Asher was SO tired and he really didn't want to swim. So, we tried as long as we could and then headed up to the room. When everyone came up from swimming we had a little birthday party for Andrea and Asher. Andrea turned 25 on February 21 and Asher will turn 2 on March 12. My Mom got a cake and we sang "Happy Birthday."
After cake and clean-up we tried to get the boys dressed up to take a picture...but there were few smiles. There was a lot of whining and crying and rubbing eyes...and that was mostly from my kid. So, we did the best we could and laughed at the rest. We all had a hard time saying good-bye to Andrea, Jeremiah, Will and Jaelyn. After they left, I packed up my stuff and had our suitcases ready to go for the morning. Then it was lights out.
Sunday, March 2
We packed up the van, cleaned out the condo and headed to the airport. We got to the airport at 10am, returned the carseat, rental and checked in. The Seattle security people were SO nice. They were really helpful and it was a breeze getting through security. They were unbelievably nice and helpful! I had heard horror stories so I wasn't sure what to expect and they were just great!! Our flight was to leave at 1:40pm and was delayed until 2:40pm.
We arrived safely in Denver. I was sad that I didn't get a chance to sit with Asher on any plane. I would have loved to look out the window with him and point at the little buildings, mountains, rivers. We said good-bye to Lora and checked out where our next gate was. We had a 2 hour lay-over (was three, but we were delayed an hour) and our next gate was in the basement, so we hung out upstairs and found something to eat. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:35pm and it was delayed until 11:40pm. It seemed like we were at that airport for forever! Asher watched Curious George and went on long stroller walks. Phin was sick of it and would only stop crying if you were walking with him in your arms. We were exhausted and our nerves were running short, but we made it without yelling at eachother or crying or killing anyone.
Monday, March 3
2am arrive in Sioux City. We weren't able to leave the airport until 2:35am. Maria rode with the boys and me while my parents waited for the rest of the luggage. We got home about 4am. I was so tired when I was driving that we're really blessed we didn't have an accident. But we made it to Rock Valley. Asher and Maria went right to bed, but I still had to feed Phin. My parents arrived home while I was feeding him and they went right to bed. I was up with Phin until about 4:45am and then we went to bed.
My Mom's dear friend, Jo, calls every morning at 7am to visit and I'm sure she was anxious to hear how the trip went so the phone rang on time at 7am. That was hard because then Phin woke up. We layed on the couch upstairs until about 8:30am when the phone rang again, and it was Jo leaving a message this time. By that time, Asher had woken up. And that was the start to our day. It was mostly a lazy day with Asher napping as often as I could get him to go down.
For dinner, we went to the Van Maanen's and had pizza with Philip and Liz and Kristin and her kids. Asher had a nice time playing with Isaiah and Adriana. We got back to my parents at about 10:30pm. Asher went right to bed and I fed Phin and then we headed off to bed.
Tuesday, March 4
When Phin woke up to eat...about 7am, I went upstairs to feed him and found my Mom sound asleep in the recliner with Asher. She said he woke up at 12:30am, 2:30am, 4:30am and then he wanted to go to bed, but she said, "No, we're sleeping right here." She got up and made a pot of coffee and then I started to pack up the car. When Asher woke up, we changed his clothes and diaper and tried to feed him breakfast. He didn't want to eat, so at 8:45am we loaded up the kids and I headed back to Ames.
We were so happy to be home! It was a great trip, but NOT a vacation. It was way more exhausting than being at home with the kids. But we made it and it was really nice to meet Jaelyn and spend time with Andrea, Jeremiah and Will. We're anxious for them to move closer so our kids can play together.
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