To BC and Back. . .

I have a really good reason for the absence this time, the girls and I went to BC for a visit and left poor Darin home alone. We all had a great time visiting friends and family and I will post more on that later, but I wanted to write down some traveling stories before I forget them . . .

The way there was not too horrible or memorable other than chasing after my 16 month old that thinks darting is the next best thing to jumping off of high objects. Without any moments notice, she would be trying to make a get away, halfway across the terminal or down the plane aisle. The flight that I was dreading the most was from Houston to Vancouver, but overall they did really well. Lexi even passed out for an hour or two and I think I was more done than they were.

On the way home was a different story, I became that Mom with that child that I swore I would never be. There were many variables that should have warned me of the level of melt downs to come, but there wasn't much I could do to prevent them. We had to leave my parents house at 5 am and Caily fell asleep in the car, both good and bad. She doesn't wake up well, thanks to me, and just wanted to be held, which didn't really fit into our day. Our first stop was customs and she had to go potty, of which she was announcing loudly and telling me that pee pee's coming! Of course there are no bathrooms in customs, so I tell her she is just going to have to hold it and that was not going over too well. We were getting so close to getting to the bathrooms, last stop that thing you have to walk through. I needed Caily to go through first and I would follow with Lexi, but that started the crying and then I hit the side as I was walking through holding Lexi, so I had to go back and start again. This was the end for Caily and she landed in a heap on the ground screaming! Eventually we got it all figured out and we are allowed to collect our belongings, while Caily was sitting on the ground crying quite loudly about wanting to be held and having to go potty. I was trying to gather all our belongings, while making sure Lexi doesn't dart off and most of the staff just stared at me like I was the biggest inconvenience ever. So, we made it through, got to the potty, tried to get a sprinkle donut (didn't have any), made it to our gate and on our plane to Houston!

Flying went all right, other than Lexi trying to get away from our seats the entire time, but we had an extra seat, giving us a whole row, which was helpful. Eventually, Lexi passed out for two hours and we arrived in Houston, late! We only had an hour layover and were about 30 minutes late and had to switch terminals. Caily wanted me to hold her, which I could do for a little while, but I had to push the umbrella stroller as well. So, off we went, me alternating between, holding Caily and pushing Lexi one-handed and pulling Caily, while she screamed, "I don't want to run, I don't want to run!" All the way through the airport. Everybody was staring and all I could do was give a smile and a nod as I tried to get to our gate on time. Then came the part where all I could do was laugh. I was trying to hit all the moving sidewalks to help speed up our not so fast progress, when on one, Caily didn't make it on with me. She was standing at the start, screaming for me to come hold her hand and I am trying to walk backwards, while pulling Lexi backwards to get to her. I wasn't making much progress, but eventually she took a step and I got to her. At this point I was laughing because it was the best alternative!

With all of that we made on our flight to San Antonio and arrived safely! All in all the girls did really well, but they definitely had their moments. Hopefully I will post more with pictures soon, but I wanted to write down our wonderful traveling memories while they are fresh in my mind.