Yesterday morning we woke up dark and early. Betsy and I showered and packed before the boys even woke up. We were all out of the hotel by 6:30 and airport bound. We skipped our continental breakfast (a big selling point for Holiday Inn Express) and got into a frozen car. We hadn't experienced this at all during the trip so of course this happens on the morning we actually have to be somewhere on time. I ran back into the breakfast, filled three coffee cups with hot water and ran back to the car. After pouring onto the windows and putting the address for the car rental company into the GPS we were on our way into the heart of Tuesday morning New York traffic.
I enjoyed the ride, sitting in traffic watching the Manhattan skyline reflect the sunrise back to us, eating leftover cannolis (Betsy turned the bathroom sink into a frig the night before.)
We got the airport a lot earlier than we needed to be which was nice not having to rush in a mad panic with two little children, but it did mean that we had to wait in a panic with two small children. I spent the majority of this time chasing Big D around. Betsy and Little P returned with to little bowls of Instant cereal; Big D got the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Little P had Cocoa Crispies. This entire time, Betsy and I are juggling two bowls of cereal, the gate is filling up with more bodies and we shift our attention to the two year old. We both tell him repeatedly to sit down so he wouldn't make a mess or worse, spill the whole bowl. That's when the bigger one dropped his bowl all over the floor, his clothes, and the carry-on bags. Sweet symmetry! The perfect book end to the beginning of our trip. Betsy comforts him, Big D continues to eat his Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and i get to work using a brochure as a dust pan. As soon as I finish scooping up the Rice Crispies and find a garbage can, Big D has finished his breakfast and fleeing to wherever he wants (because he's two years old, and can easily fit under areas security has roped off for normal sized folks like myself.) And carry him kicking and fussing back to Betsy and tell her that if I were the crying type, I'd be doing it right now. As if on cue, Big D spit up Cinnamon Toast Crunch on my jacket sleeve. We couldn't help but chuckle.
The plane ride back to Orlando was just as moderately stomach-churning as before with Big D kicking the chair in front of him (I removed his shoes to lessen their impact and also reduce a half-inch of reach) while Little P annoyed him (his duty as a big brother.)
After we touched down and got our van back I kept trying to get a high-five from Betsy. She wasn't having it. She was still far from thrilled that we still had to drive four a half hours home. I was just relieved to not have to "share" my boys with the rest of the world. We were in the comfort of our own private little van.
Keeping the speedometer between 85 and 90 we got home in almost record time. Big D fussed a bit and Little P took two naps (something he only does when he's sick or tired.) I checked the mail inches before we pulled into the driveway home and tried to get a high-five from Betsy and she still wasn't having it. I told her to lighten up. We'd crossed the finish line. As Betsy and I unpacked the van and started laundry, I went back to the van to get Little P. He was crouched on the floor between the middle chairs having just thrown-up all over the back of the van.
This was by far, the worst vacation I have ever been on. This is the vacation to measure all other bad vacations against. I'm confident, that given time, we can look back at this time a smile. It was definitely memorable.
The good news is, I've come back to work on a team planning day. I could certainly use some time away from children for a while.
You know, like a vacation.
No comments:
Post a Comment