Wow, it has been a crazy few days. This past weekend, hubby worked overnights Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and then a 4 hour shift Tuesday evening. So other than during a pediatric appointment and dentist appointment, I barely have seen him. That also meant I got to do the usual laundry, cooking, dishes, cleaning and baby care but also all the packing and cleaning before our two week trip. Ugh.
It really wasn't TOO terrible but I have had a backache for days. And may have suffered a near nervous breakdown, haha.....
So we left the house half an hour late on Wednesday and hit bad traffic that lasted almost the entire way to the airport so my stomach is rolling the entire extra half hour it took us to get there. We arrived at 8 am, our flight leaft at 9:30am. Took forever to get our bags together, checked and make our way to the gate tram. Then, after showing our tickets to the guard and making our way to the tram coming, I turn and see my husband frantically patting his pockets and looks up at me with a terrible expression.
"I can't find my wallet."
.....let's just say I almost sat down and bawled right there. We searched frantically for a while but no luck. After asking the guard, however, we found that it could be looked up.
After getting to security (which thankfully only had two people in line), I was pushed through quickly, and sat to wait. Jesse was detained for 10-15 minutes, had a pat down, and all his bags were thouroughly examined and tested. Finally we are passed through and arrive at our gate.
The first flight was tiny. I hate tiny planes. Andrew fell asleep almost instantly. We woke him up for milk at takeoff and then we read and played the rest of the flight. And mama may have made herself a cocktail with the small bottles of booze in her wet bag.......
We had a 3 1/2 hour layover in Raliegh which scared me that Andrew would not have any of it, but it went great! We found a mainly empty gate and set up camp. Took turns walking behind the little guy as he explored, sat on the floor and snacked, read books, played music on daddy's phone..... then we had a picnic before it was time to head over to our gate.
Flight #2 was pretty good as well. Nice, big plane. Andrew slept for 2/3 of it, he woke up breifly 3 or 4 times and cried but we were able to coax him back to sleep pretty quickly.
Once we landed it became clear Andrew was done with the traveling thing. If we set him down for even a second it was tantrum city. So, we quickly made our way to baggage claim, threw bags on a trolley and headed to the shuttle pick-up area. The shuttle arrived quickly and we were the only ones on. The driver was super nice and very informative of the hotel and everything.
The hotel itself was FABULOUS. They had a crib in our room before we arrived, supplied a fridge and microwave, put all alternative down bedding and pillows in per request (I'm allergic), filled Andrew's bottle three times a day with whole milk so we didn't have to buy any, and even made a special trip to a gas station so we could purchase some advil. Definitely our go-to hotel from now on.
There was a snowstorm Thursday night welcoming us back to our home state, lol, but thankfully was over and dealt with by check-out time. We picked up the car and headed out.
We stopped for lunch, shopping and to quickly meet up with my friend Dante whom I haven't seen in something like 3 years. I believe our wedding was the last time we saw him. Yikes!
Finally, we headed to St. Cloud. We arrived about 90 minutes later, quickly bought our wedding gift and then got to my in-laws house.
St. Cloud was fun! Very relaxing and so, so much fun seeing Andrew get all this quality time with his grandparents!! We didn't do a ton, but Saturday Jesse went to the bachelor party where many drinks were enjoyed by all ;) and then Wednesday we drove the cities to pick my mom up from the airport.
Thursday was the grooms dinner. Earlier that day Andrew started having diarrhea (his molars were coming in so he was clingy, tired, not wanting to eat, feverish, etc.) It was really hard to leave him for the dinner but knew he was in Granny's good hands. We had a lot of fun with Jesse's family and it was so nice having a night on our own.
Friday was the wedding day! We were able to have a relaxing morning, quickly got ready, drove to the hotel to check-in and drop off bags/ dress Andrew and then on to the venue for pictures. Pretty soon Andrew and I were done so we went back to the hotel for a nap and lunch and then drove over just before the ceremony started. It was a short and sweet ceremony, Jesse officiated which was really cool. Everyone looked great and it was great to see everyone! Cocktail hour went quickly, though Andrew got reeeeeeally shy and had to be walked around outside after a while (it was warm and crowded inside).
 |
| First time eating fries.... I think he likes em. |
The reception was a blast, Andrew got picked up by granny after dinner and Jesse and I danced the night away :) As per usual with his family, the reception was a blast, and the after party went on for another 6 hours after the venue shut down, haha.
The next day Andrew was one angry baby. He was still a bit sick, not eating, clingy and cranky. Baby and I sat out of the gift opening so he could sleep on me/ have some private, quiet time. Later we went to lunch with my family, Andrew was able to run around with his 2 year old cousin for the first time! Later we napped and hung around before bed. Shortly before bed I started having some stomach issues but figured it was just from the drinking the last two nights.
The next day was HORRIBLE. I threw up several times, was running to the bathroom, nauseous, and just all around sick to my stomach which made our good-byes and the 3 hour drive north really suck. We spent lots of time with my family minus my oldest uncle and one cousin. It was really cool to see Andrew and Alec running around together, and fun to have another few hours with my fam.
After not eating all day, some water, a back massage and 2 naps later I was feeling lots better, but that evening I ate a plain bun and apparently that was stupid. Basically I was sick for the next 5 days straight.
We drove to Duluth Monday morning, met up with my friend, had lunch and put Andrew down for a nap and sat and talked in the hotel lobby for a few hours. Then we had a playdate with our two friends and one of their babies. During said playdate Andrew went through FIVE diapers. Literally back-to-back changes. He was SO much happier after, thank goodness, but it was rough. God love the other mama we were with who had 2 disposable diapers with her :)
We relaxed at the hotel for a while seeing Andrew's mood before we drove to our friends' place for dinner. We brought a whole pack of diapers and wipes just in case, so what happens? Not a single diaper change while we were there but one huge puke. Yup. Total facepalm, embarrassment deluxe sort of a moment. Thankfully it was on hardwood, we missed the nice rug, and our friends were really cool about it. Went back to the hotel and passed out for the night.
I woke up sick at 5 am and felt like crap for the rest of the day. We checked out, ran to our bank (we still bank with our credit union out of MN-- they are great working with us living in a different state!), did some shopping, met friends for a beer and sweet potato fries, went to lunch with them and another friend at our favorite place, and stopped at my old job (a toy store) to play and pick out something fun to bring home.
We then went to see another old friend and his new apartment which had the most beautiful view! And finally to coffee with another friend and her boyfriend. During coffee Andrew was having a meltdown from no nap so we had to cut it short and head back to my aunt's place.
Re-packing for the trip was a nightmare as usual. We were up late trying to get everything to fit, I was praying I was gonna make it through the 12 hour travel day.
Wednesday morning we woke up, scrambled to get ready and finally got on the road half an hour after we meant to. About an hour in the winter storm began to hit. Poor hubby drove three hours through terrible winter roads (unplowed) to the cities. It was horrible. No wonder we ditched Minnesota for a tropical climate ;) Returned the car, got checked in and booked it to security.
After getting pushed along to a checkpoint on the opposite side of the building as we were, we were thankfully given a pass to the front of the long line thanks to having a 15 month old. We got a ton of grief from the guard there saying they weren't going to allow the stroller through to be checked at the gate. They did but it was so frustrating and a waste of time arguing with her. Got through security pretty quickly other than the standard hand wipe test and they had to look at the baby powder in the pocket of one of our bags.
Our gate was waaayyyy far away but we finally got there and hunkered down for the 90 minute wait. I got called up not much later and asked if we'd like a non stop rather than a 2 hour layover in memphis. I said "Um, yes. That would rock." So not only did we get a non-stop flight home, we also got $400 worth of travel vouchers from Delta for transferring. It was an awesome change in schedule. After a quick lunch and a sprint across the terminal to our new gate, we quickly fed Andrew and changed him and boarded our nice, big plane. We barely left on time and I was squished in the center seat but the flight went well. I got terribly motion sick in the last hour or so but was able to fall asleep for a while which helped a lot. Andrew slept the ENTIRE flight until we landed.
We grabbed our luggage, caught our shuttle, transferred bags to the car and drove home thanking God for the day being over and being back in the Florida weather, haha. Jesse left to pick my mom up from her later flight, pick up pizza and smoothies for dinner since we had nothing in the fridge.
I was sick for the next 3 days or so, went on a liquid diet Thursday- Sunday morning but have felt much better this week. While it was really rough sleeping in a new place for the last 6 days of the trip, dealing with a sick, teething toddler and having the stomach flu..... it was a good trip. We have learned some things for our next trip though for sure!
Will definitely do the same cleaning as this time, though will do laundry the evening before we leave. It was such a blessing to come home to a clean apartment, recently bug sprayed and no dishes. I only would have a friend or my mother pick up a few things for the day we return (like milk).
Without a doubt we will be buying two large suitcases to check on future flights. Having a car seat carrier, stroller in a bag, suitcase on wheels, large suitcase, duffle bag, kid's bag, diaper bag and coats was RIDICULOUS. No more. We will be checking our bags. Next time we fly it will be Jesse, an almost 3 year-old Andrew, myself and hopefully another little munchkin. Thinking Andrew can bring his little roller bag of snacks and toys, Jesse can have his back-pack diaper bag, and I will have a travel tote in addition to the two large checked bags. We also need to invest in a credit card with flight mile rewards lol!
Wow this was long! I guess I will leave it here for now and hopefully I will be out of this post-travel funk by the next post.
TTFN! <3
