Today I will just post a few pictures from our week in New Mexico with my parents and share a bit about that. We flew from Love Field on Christmas Eve. It was an uneventful flight for the most part other than a few friendly people REMINDING my children that Santa would be coming that night. Which of course was not in the original play book. Mom and I had conspired that they would wait until we arrived to put up a tree. That meant we would all get to traipse through the Gila in search of the perfect Christmas tree. We dreamt of sipping hot chocolate while the kids enjoyed decorating it, yadda yadda....Christmas music you know like in the movies. My kids would get to experience the whole tree deal the way it's suppose to be done. If you don't know I grew up with A fake tree (yep, same one for must have been at least 25-30 years). Now Kent and I have continued the tradition with fake trees. So, this was a big deal for us to do a real live tree.
If you don't know my parents don't live near the airport(arrive and then drive at least 3 hours of which 45 minutes is dirt road). So we got up EARLY, got the kids ready, drove to the airport. Let me add this background--we always arrive barely in time, Kent dumps me, kids and as many bags as you are allowed to check per ticketed passenger along with carry on items at curb. Then anyone within 15 feet of us helps us scoot towards the SkyCab and relays their memories of traveling with kids to me, while I continuously count in my head kids and bags making sure not to lose anyone or anything.Then Kent comes breezing back in time to tip as they haul our bags off. That's the routine. Well this year, I got smart!! I inform Kent as we breeze up to the curb that I will be taking the car to the garage this time, while he has the HONOR of escorting our 11 bags and 2 children with coats to the SkyCab. He never knew what hit him. Didn't even give him time to think about it. I was gone! (I did offer to take 1 kid for fear he'd lose one, but he declined and instead sent me with one carryon to the garage to park).
I got back to the SkyCab just in time to grab Landrie and take her for a last minute potty stop while the boys checked bag. Thinking to myself what a genius thing this was. After all Kent didn't appeared nearly as frazzled as I would've been in the reverse situation and the only thing wrong was the fact my wool coat was left in the minivan. Mom would have an extra, so no biggie. Win, win! .....errrrr, maybe not.
We arrived back at Love Field late on NYE. We had just as many bags only fuller and a board game to carry this time. Landrie and Kole were both quite sleepy. As we approached the turn for the parking garage in the airport I offered to take the kids and head across the bridge and retrieve the mini-van while leaving hubby with 1 carry on and 8 checked bags to retrieve.
Kole was in no mood to walk 1 foot let alone out to the B garage (an indoor trip). His ears had been driving him nuts for the last 10 minutes of the flight and continued to do so. (he's basically getting the suck it up and keep walking speech from me at this point). I'm carrying Landrie, wearing his backpak and carry another bag and we are all in coats of some sort. On we trudge. We look for the car briefly in A garage before I notice the Big A's all around and we march on just like little grumpy dwarfs. Moving sidewalks were mostly not moving that night. We approach minivan and think happy thoughts only to discover the remote is having zero impact on the minivan. Rutt rowww....I manually unlock it with the key and discover the doorlocks won't even do a thing. Sigh. More instructions to Kole about his whining and ear options and the consequences of one more whine. Minor victory as he follows intructions for popping ears out after hearing them for the 70th time! He smiles, probably knowing a smile might be the one last thing to keep me from completely losing it in a deserted parking garage with under an hour until the new year.
I managed to locate phone and reach Kent. Kent is somewhere with 9 bags and a Jamaican grandmother he can't understand but has decided to risk helping with his dying cell phone battery. Thank the Lord he allowed the phone to continue for a bit longer until Kent communicated with me that my knight in shining armor riding a golf cart was on the way. He just forgot to tell me the kind of individual who works the NYE shift driving that chariot of good will might be. I'm certain 3 guardian angels were sitting on top of my minivan for a few moments that night. My description after the "rescue" mission was "creepy". My sweet 6 year old informed me "you should be ashamed Mom, he just helped us". Thank you angels and Mr. NYE Creepster we did make it home albeit in 2011.
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Anyone know how to add photo to a post?
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