We have finally made it to the airport in L.A.! Hawaii (and the beach) is mere hours away! After months and months and months of planning, orders changes, packing, and hauling crap all over creation, we are within reach of the promised land. Woohoo!
Our flight to Honolulu departed from LAX on time, and yes, we and all of our baggage were actually on the plane. If you've ever traveled with even one small child, you know that by now I am terrified that my children will behave like the typical heathen children that they are and run screaming through the plane for the next five hours. Enter the mommy plan: ear plugs for the kids and all surrounding passengers, followed by a first course of benadryl for the kiddos. This, surprisingly enough, seemed to work. We managed to survive the flight relatively unscathed, even if I did have to go into the teeny airplane bathroom at least once with each child. Houdini even slept for about half the flight, which meant that I didn't have to spend that time making sure that she was still in her seat and not trying to decompress the cabin by opening the door. The in-flight movie happened to be Gray Gardens..eh....alrighty.
So, we land in Honolulu, and the luggage circus begins again. I had already reserved us another rental mini van, so the plan was to go downstairs to the baggage claim, get the luggage, and leave my poor husband with all four kids and 13 bags while I took the shuttle bus to get the rental car.
Enter....my husband's sponsor! Finally, an Army program that comes through like it's supposed to! His sponsor, who is a very nice and very very patient man, immediately sizes up the catastrophe in progress and calls for reinforcements in the form of more soldiers with big vans. He also offers to take me over to get the rental car. So off we go. Rental car acquired, we return to the terminal in time for the other vans to arrive, but due to the fact that I have rented a van, and SuperSponsor has a large SUV, we wave off the reinforcements. Thanks, anyway! We load up both vehicles and I pause to marvel that we even got all that stuff into one van in the first place.
If you've never PCS'ed to Hawaii, then here's a little tip: when you get here, you MUST drive all the way from Honolulu to Schofield Barracks and check in at the Inn there. At the Inn, they have a little deli with frosty beverages. The pleasant staff there will politely inform you and your hot and sweaty jet-lagged party that you must now turn around and go back to downtown Honolulu to the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki. Don't get me wrong, even though this adds about an hour to your settling in time, this is actually a good thing.
The Hale Koa in Waikiki is AWESOME. Let me say that again: It is AWESOME! The lobby itself is completely open air, and there is a HUGE banyan tree named Gus in the courtyard just inside the lobby. We were given adjoining rooms at the end of the fifth floor with NO neighbors. The kids got their room, and Hubby and I had ours. Woohoo! Not only that, our rooms each had their own balcony with a stunning view of both the ocean and downtown Honolulu. Very very cool. This is yet another thing that the military has done well for it's beneficiaries. Thank you!
After we spent some time settling in, we meandered downstairs for dinner at one of the restaurants at the hotel. By now, No. 1 has figured out that we're finally in Hawaii, and her focus in life has become the beach. She wants to go to the beach. Now. Right now. She doesn't want to eat dinner, she doesn't want to rest, she wants to go to the beach. Of course, it's getting dark, so no beach. She has to be content with seeing the beach from the open air porch at the restaurant. Bummer. After a tasty dinner, we all go back upstairs and turn in. Aloha and good night!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
L.A. Day Two
Having picked up our second rental mini van, and spent a peaceful night, we decided to check out the sights in L.A. Discussion was given to the merits of the La Brea Tar Pits, Disneyland, and many other places. We finally settled on the Museum of Natural History and the California Science Museum. So we loaded the brood in the van, and took off for the museum. When I rented this van, I decided to throw in a Garmin GPS with the rental. This turned out to be a very good decision because a) we didn't have a map of L.A., and b) I didn't want to spend the whole time arguing about where we were going. So we plugged our intended destination into the GPS, and off we go. Ten minutes later, we arrive at our destination only to discover that there are no less than five museums all in the same spot, and that the L.A. Olympic Arena is also right there. And we've forgotten the camera. Great.
So we find a place to park, get the kids out of the car, and head in to the science museum. This is the hands-on type of museum, and it's actually got a lot of really cool stuff in it. Out in the parking lot, you can try to pick up a truck. Really. The girls were actually able to do it (with a little help from Dad). The thing the kids seemed most impressed by was the HUGE gift shop inside the museum and the fact that there's also a McDonalds in the museum. Admission to the museum itself is free (donations are requested). There are three floors to the museum, with lots of things to try. The girls had fun running around and generally making us crazy. After the science museum, we walked next door to the Museum of Natural History. Admission there was $9 per person, but the museum was pretty neat. I was very Night At the Museum kinda feeling, with lots of dioramas and stuffed animals to see. Unfortunately, the dinosaur exhibit was closed for remodeling. Somewhere on the upper floors, though, they have a real working fossil lab where you can watch techs dremmel away the stone surrounding fossils found in the field.
After the museum, we went back to the hotel, and had another uneventful evening.
The next morning, we got up before the rooster. This was the morning of our flight. Our flight departed around 9-ish, so we planned to be at the airport no later than 7. This also coincided with the time I had to return our rental van, so we proceeded with the rush to the airport, unload all our luggage and run like hell to turn in the van plan. We got everybody up, ate breakfast in record time. Crammed all our luggage back in the van, loaded up, and drove down the street to the airport. As is the case with every other airport I've ever been to, there is only a one-lane loading zone in front of the departures area. We pull up, hubby jumps out of the car and starts to unload. We start the check-in process with the SkyCap at the corner, who checks all of us in for the flight, then proceeds to check the luggage in. For those of you who may not have read my earlier blog, we had 13 bags to check. That's right. THIRTEEN BAGS. (Of course, that's counting two car seats, a stroller, and a portacrib.) So hubby is getting the bag checked, and I notice that the motorcycle cops are like white on rice for people parked in the loading zone. I'm trying to communicate this to the hubby, but he just gives me the it'll be fine wave off. So I go and stand next to the van with the kids still in it right as a cop shows up. I assume my best frazzled mommy face and quickly explain to the officer that we're trying to get checked in. My husband is with the luggage, and I have the kids in the rental car. The cop lets me go. Thank GAWD! We finally get checked in, unload the kids, and I hop in the van to race over to Alamo and turn in the van.
I have to give props to the folks at Alamo. They have streamlined the rental process with barcode scanners. All you do is pull up, let them scan the car, get out and take off. Great. And they have a shuttle that goes right back to the airport. So, van turned in and back to the airport I go.
Get there, potty breaks, gate check in, and we're on the plane to Hawaii. ALO-HA!
So we find a place to park, get the kids out of the car, and head in to the science museum. This is the hands-on type of museum, and it's actually got a lot of really cool stuff in it. Out in the parking lot, you can try to pick up a truck. Really. The girls were actually able to do it (with a little help from Dad). The thing the kids seemed most impressed by was the HUGE gift shop inside the museum and the fact that there's also a McDonalds in the museum. Admission to the museum itself is free (donations are requested). There are three floors to the museum, with lots of things to try. The girls had fun running around and generally making us crazy. After the science museum, we walked next door to the Museum of Natural History. Admission there was $9 per person, but the museum was pretty neat. I was very Night At the Museum kinda feeling, with lots of dioramas and stuffed animals to see. Unfortunately, the dinosaur exhibit was closed for remodeling. Somewhere on the upper floors, though, they have a real working fossil lab where you can watch techs dremmel away the stone surrounding fossils found in the field.
After the museum, we went back to the hotel, and had another uneventful evening.
The next morning, we got up before the rooster. This was the morning of our flight. Our flight departed around 9-ish, so we planned to be at the airport no later than 7. This also coincided with the time I had to return our rental van, so we proceeded with the rush to the airport, unload all our luggage and run like hell to turn in the van plan. We got everybody up, ate breakfast in record time. Crammed all our luggage back in the van, loaded up, and drove down the street to the airport. As is the case with every other airport I've ever been to, there is only a one-lane loading zone in front of the departures area. We pull up, hubby jumps out of the car and starts to unload. We start the check-in process with the SkyCap at the corner, who checks all of us in for the flight, then proceeds to check the luggage in. For those of you who may not have read my earlier blog, we had 13 bags to check. That's right. THIRTEEN BAGS. (Of course, that's counting two car seats, a stroller, and a portacrib.) So hubby is getting the bag checked, and I notice that the motorcycle cops are like white on rice for people parked in the loading zone. I'm trying to communicate this to the hubby, but he just gives me the it'll be fine wave off. So I go and stand next to the van with the kids still in it right as a cop shows up. I assume my best frazzled mommy face and quickly explain to the officer that we're trying to get checked in. My husband is with the luggage, and I have the kids in the rental car. The cop lets me go. Thank GAWD! We finally get checked in, unload the kids, and I hop in the van to race over to Alamo and turn in the van.
I have to give props to the folks at Alamo. They have streamlined the rental process with barcode scanners. All you do is pull up, let them scan the car, get out and take off. Great. And they have a shuttle that goes right back to the airport. So, van turned in and back to the airport I go.
Get there, potty breaks, gate check in, and we're on the plane to Hawaii. ALO-HA!
All Aboard!
Okay, so we've gotten on the train. I reserved us the largest single room available on the train, the Family Bedroom. This room takes up the entire width of the train car, and is at one end of the lower level of the car we're on. When you board the train, you enter on the lower level of the car, and there are hallways (NARROW hallways) going both left and right. If you bear left, there are three restrooms, one shower, and the handicapped bedroom. If you bear right, there are three small rooms, the stairs to the upper level, the luggage rack, and the family bedroom. While the hubby sorts out the carry on baggage, I stuff our kids down the hallway (did I mention it was narrow?) to the family bedroom. Needless to say, it's 10 p.m. CST, and all is quiet -- except us. The kids are very excited to be on a train for the first time ever, and they're literally bouncing off the walls. As we're trying to cram like sardines through the doorway of our room, one of our fellow passengers slams open her room door, gives me the stink eye, and slams it closed again. Sorry lady, but if you wanted a quiet trip, you shouldn't have booked the room next door to the family bedroom. I do, in fact, feel pretty bad about the noise we are making, but I think it is better to get them all contained than to try to quiet them at this point. So, we get everyone crammed into the room. Actually, the room is quite spacious by railroad standards. There are two upper single bunks (one long and one shorter), and two bottom bunks. One of the bottom bunks is a double bed, and one is a single. We hoist the oldest two girls into the upper bunks, and secure them in their bunks with the luggage webbing provided. No kidding, you literally put up the luggage webbing to keep them from falling out. Then the plan was to get the younger two to go to sleep and put them both in the small bed. Riiiiiiight. Number 3 (Houdini) decides at this point that sleep is highly overrated. She's had ample time to get her second wind from the car ride and has absolutely no intention of sleeping in a weird bed on a moving train. Great. So much baby wrestling and threatening later, I end up in the double bed with Houdini, and my poor hubby ends up hanging onto six square inches of bunk edging. Poor guy. Number 4 peacefully drifts off in her car seat. We make several stop throughout the night, not all of which I actually wake up for.
Early the next morning, we decide to take breakfast in shifts. Hubby takes One and Two up to the dining car for breakfast, while I wait in the room with Three and Four. When he returns, I take Three up to the dining car for breakfast. The dining car is quite an experience. If you've never been on a train and/or had a meal on one, I highly recommend it. When you purchase a first class ticket on Amtrak, your meals are included in your ticket price (let me hear it for all-inclusive). Breakfast was fresh juice and coffee with an omelet for me and two scrambled eggs with bacon for Houdini. Houdini took all of two seconds to wolf down her breakfast and then spent the rest of the time trying to make sure I spilled mine. Seating in the dining car is first-come-first-serve, and you will end up sitting with people you don't know. This is a great way to get to know your fellow passengers, provided you don't have a screaming toddler wallowing all over your lap. The lady we sat with was fortunately very patient with us, and we finished breakfast without too much difficulty. To get to and from the dining car, we had to go up the stairs (again, NARROW) and through the upper levels of two other cars. The girls loved this, especially when it was time to transition between cars. The doors between cars on the upper levels are controlled by flat, rectangular hand switches. You basically slap the black rectangle to open the door. I might also mention that the switch just happens to be right at the eye level of a four-year-old. The girls were instantly in a rush to see who could slap the switch first. Joy.
Having eaten, and returned to our room, we settled in for the rest of our trip. For those who are attached to your electronics, you might as well forget it. There are no wi-fi, internet, TV, phone service, or even power outlets in the room. So we're stuck in a room the size of a walk-in closet with no electronic babysitter. Ha.
I do have to admit, the scenery is just plain awesome. We hit a big dust storm shortly after breakfast, and it was something to see from the train. There was lots of wildlife to see (caribou, elk, deer, and even a bear). And several of the towns that the train stops in are straight out of history. Very cool.
About the time we hit Santa Fe, I realize we are out of formula and diapers for Four. Being that we can't just do without these items, the hubby valiantly volunteers to scout for supplies. He leaves the girls and I at the station, returning less than an hour later with the necessities. He said that the cab driver took pity on him and waited for him outside the pharmacy while he ran in and got the goods. So, thanks to the cabby in Santa Fe!
We passed the rest of the trip in relative peace, with the exception of a complaint from the Stink Eye Lady next door. Apparently, the kids were disturbing her. Puh-lease. Apparently, she even got so loud about it, that the other passengers heard her fussing. I sat with several of them at dinner on our final day, and they were more upset that she had complained than they were about our kids. It's nice to have people on your side.
Once we got to L.A., things got kinda nuts. We had a LOT of luggage, and had to haul it from one end of Union Station to the other. Now, Union Station in L.A. is huge. So by the time we got to the baggage claim, we were all breathing hard. Then we had to get all of the checked bags, and find transportation to the hotel. Now, this was a detail that escaped me when I booked our accommodation in L.A. I neglected to consider the fact that the Hilton LAX would not have a shuttle bus from the train station. Duh. So, thirty minutes, a bunch of cussing, and a bunch of luggage hauling later, we managed to find a cab that was a mini van. Now, this mini van was not big enough to hold everything and us at the same time. But the cab driver (who just happened to be Russian) was patient and helped us cram (and I do mean CRAM) all of our belongings into the cab. We had had to travel with the car seats for three of the kids, so we installed two of those in the back bench seat, then had One squeeze in between them. Good thing she's skinny. We packed luggage in the floor underneath their feet, and in the walkway between the captains seats in the second row. We also filled the front passenger seat with luggage, and put Four in her car seat in one of the second row seats. That left one seat open....for two people. By now, I look at my poor, beaten up husband, and decide that I will let him have the seat. I then proceed to cram my 5'10" frame on top of the luggage in the center aisle. My husband then takes the remaining seat. Several lectures about auto safety later, we take off for the hotel. Our cabby does an awesome job of hauling us halfway across L.A. to the Hilton LAX, and drops us at the door. The bellhop manages to load all of our luggage on one cart (I had no idea they could hold that much) and totes it to the desk, where we finally get checked in. We haul everyone up to the fifth floor to our room, which is cool, quiet, and seemingly far away from any other human being. Maybe we won't get a noise complaint tonight.
Early the next morning, we decide to take breakfast in shifts. Hubby takes One and Two up to the dining car for breakfast, while I wait in the room with Three and Four. When he returns, I take Three up to the dining car for breakfast. The dining car is quite an experience. If you've never been on a train and/or had a meal on one, I highly recommend it. When you purchase a first class ticket on Amtrak, your meals are included in your ticket price (let me hear it for all-inclusive). Breakfast was fresh juice and coffee with an omelet for me and two scrambled eggs with bacon for Houdini. Houdini took all of two seconds to wolf down her breakfast and then spent the rest of the time trying to make sure I spilled mine. Seating in the dining car is first-come-first-serve, and you will end up sitting with people you don't know. This is a great way to get to know your fellow passengers, provided you don't have a screaming toddler wallowing all over your lap. The lady we sat with was fortunately very patient with us, and we finished breakfast without too much difficulty. To get to and from the dining car, we had to go up the stairs (again, NARROW) and through the upper levels of two other cars. The girls loved this, especially when it was time to transition between cars. The doors between cars on the upper levels are controlled by flat, rectangular hand switches. You basically slap the black rectangle to open the door. I might also mention that the switch just happens to be right at the eye level of a four-year-old. The girls were instantly in a rush to see who could slap the switch first. Joy.
Having eaten, and returned to our room, we settled in for the rest of our trip. For those who are attached to your electronics, you might as well forget it. There are no wi-fi, internet, TV, phone service, or even power outlets in the room. So we're stuck in a room the size of a walk-in closet with no electronic babysitter. Ha.
I do have to admit, the scenery is just plain awesome. We hit a big dust storm shortly after breakfast, and it was something to see from the train. There was lots of wildlife to see (caribou, elk, deer, and even a bear). And several of the towns that the train stops in are straight out of history. Very cool.
About the time we hit Santa Fe, I realize we are out of formula and diapers for Four. Being that we can't just do without these items, the hubby valiantly volunteers to scout for supplies. He leaves the girls and I at the station, returning less than an hour later with the necessities. He said that the cab driver took pity on him and waited for him outside the pharmacy while he ran in and got the goods. So, thanks to the cabby in Santa Fe!
We passed the rest of the trip in relative peace, with the exception of a complaint from the Stink Eye Lady next door. Apparently, the kids were disturbing her. Puh-lease. Apparently, she even got so loud about it, that the other passengers heard her fussing. I sat with several of them at dinner on our final day, and they were more upset that she had complained than they were about our kids. It's nice to have people on your side.
Once we got to L.A., things got kinda nuts. We had a LOT of luggage, and had to haul it from one end of Union Station to the other. Now, Union Station in L.A. is huge. So by the time we got to the baggage claim, we were all breathing hard. Then we had to get all of the checked bags, and find transportation to the hotel. Now, this was a detail that escaped me when I booked our accommodation in L.A. I neglected to consider the fact that the Hilton LAX would not have a shuttle bus from the train station. Duh. So, thirty minutes, a bunch of cussing, and a bunch of luggage hauling later, we managed to find a cab that was a mini van. Now, this mini van was not big enough to hold everything and us at the same time. But the cab driver (who just happened to be Russian) was patient and helped us cram (and I do mean CRAM) all of our belongings into the cab. We had had to travel with the car seats for three of the kids, so we installed two of those in the back bench seat, then had One squeeze in between them. Good thing she's skinny. We packed luggage in the floor underneath their feet, and in the walkway between the captains seats in the second row. We also filled the front passenger seat with luggage, and put Four in her car seat in one of the second row seats. That left one seat open....for two people. By now, I look at my poor, beaten up husband, and decide that I will let him have the seat. I then proceed to cram my 5'10" frame on top of the luggage in the center aisle. My husband then takes the remaining seat. Several lectures about auto safety later, we take off for the hotel. Our cabby does an awesome job of hauling us halfway across L.A. to the Hilton LAX, and drops us at the door. The bellhop manages to load all of our luggage on one cart (I had no idea they could hold that much) and totes it to the desk, where we finally get checked in. We haul everyone up to the fifth floor to our room, which is cool, quiet, and seemingly far away from any other human being. Maybe we won't get a noise complaint tonight.
On the Train
So, a couple of days later, we load our stuff and ourselves back into our rental van. This time, our destination in Kansas City, MO. We are on a mission to meet up with the Southwest Chief, an Amtrak train with service from Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA. We'll meet up with the train in Kansas City, and ride all the way to the end in L.A. The car trip is five hours of long and boring for the kids. When we finally arrive in Kansas City, we are THREE HOURS EARLY for the train. We decide to see if there is any possible way that we can go ahead and check our bags. All 13 of them. So, we haul the kids and some of the bags inside Union Station. If you've never been to Union Station in Kansas City, it's something you should check out. In addition to the Amtrak station, there is a museum, shops, and some fairly interesting looking restaurants. Anyway, the Amtrak station is located on the BACK side of the station. Yay. We haul all four kids and their overweight backpack to the ticket counter. Fortunately, the extremely nice lady who was working the counter said that yes, indeed, we could check all of our bags three hours in advance. She even gave us a free luggage cart to use to get all the bags in from the car. We formulate a game plan: I will stay inside the station with the kids, and the hubby will make the trips out to the van to get all the bags. Three (yes, three) trips out to the car later, we got all of our luggage inside. Now, what Amtrak neglects to tell you is that they too have a fifty pound weight limit on their bags. That's right. We did the overweight suitcase repack shuffle right there at the ticket counter. After everything is repacked, we check everything but our backpacks and the diaper bag. By the time that we are done, an hour has gone by. I've also had to take two of the girls to the bathroom during this time. The bathroom, by the way, is downstairs in the basement down some godforsaken hallway. Yep. Made that trip. Twice. Now that the baggage is checked and everyone has gone to the bathroom, I take off in our rental van to return it. Closest return station - - Kansas City airport. Groovy. Drove like a crazy woman to get there, then had to call a cab to take me back to the train station. Cabby takes 30 minutes to get there. Yep. My train is leaving in 30 minutes! Ack!
So while I'm waiting for the cab, my husband texts me that No. 2 has, well, done No. 2 in her pants at the train station. Fortunately, she has a change of clothes, but he can't haul all four kids and the carry on luggage downstairs to the bathroom. He'll have to wait until I get there to change her. Fabulous.
The cabby finally arrives. I notice two things right off the bat: he's Russian, and he's chatty. Fortunately for me, he drives as fast as he talks and I'm back at the train station 20 minutes later. I run like a mad woman inside (I'm sure someone probably thought I was nuts as I went tearing across the station lobby), grab No 2 and her change of clothes, and run with her downstairs to change the pants. Got the pants changed, all the while lecturing No 2 on the evils of pooping our pants in public, and run back upstairs just in time for the train boarding call. By this time, it's 9:30 p.m. CST. We've been on the road all day, had a small clothing crisis, and the train platform is dark. Nothing is labeled, and we don't know which door of the train to board. Fortunately, the hubby excells at night time land nav, and he snags an unsuspecting conductor who points us in the right direction.
So while I'm waiting for the cab, my husband texts me that No. 2 has, well, done No. 2 in her pants at the train station. Fortunately, she has a change of clothes, but he can't haul all four kids and the carry on luggage downstairs to the bathroom. He'll have to wait until I get there to change her. Fabulous.
The cabby finally arrives. I notice two things right off the bat: he's Russian, and he's chatty. Fortunately for me, he drives as fast as he talks and I'm back at the train station 20 minutes later. I run like a mad woman inside (I'm sure someone probably thought I was nuts as I went tearing across the station lobby), grab No 2 and her change of clothes, and run with her downstairs to change the pants. Got the pants changed, all the while lecturing No 2 on the evils of pooping our pants in public, and run back upstairs just in time for the train boarding call. By this time, it's 9:30 p.m. CST. We've been on the road all day, had a small clothing crisis, and the train platform is dark. Nothing is labeled, and we don't know which door of the train to board. Fortunately, the hubby excells at night time land nav, and he snags an unsuspecting conductor who points us in the right direction.
Shipping Vehicles - Day Two
Okay, since it's actually been a while since I've been able to update, let's make this quick. Sorta.
So, stuck in the hotel in Texas and waiting to ship our vehicles. Hubby runs in real quick to the Best Western to get us a room (another added expense, thank you). He comes out and says they gave us the second floor room right next to the stairs. Next to the stairs is good because it allows us to make a quick exit. Second floor -- not so good.
Anyone who has ever stayed in a less-expensive hotel knows that you can hear EVERYTHING going on in the rooms next to you. Anyone who works at a hotel should also know this, and therefore should avoid putting people with children anywhere near anybody else. I know my kids are loud. I often remind staff of this and ask for special accommodations so that we don't disturb anyone else. Well, my husband apparently is not aware of this golden rule. So, around 8 p.m., the phone rings in our hotel room. It's the front desk, who is asking us on behalf of the little old couple in the room directly below us, if we could please be quiet. "If you have any children, could you please try to keep them quiet." By now, I am emotionally and physically exhausted. I kindly inform the young man on the phone that we not only have one child, we have FOUR. And we have the dog in the room. "Oh," he says. "I'm sorry." Yeah, me too.
Eventually, we get the kids into bed and everyone has a somewhat restful night.
Bright and early the next day, we all wake up, go downstairs in shifts to have breakfast, and pack everyone back into the vehicles to go try to ship them again. We're the second family in the door, and they've been waiting for us to come back. The staff immediately absconds with the paperwork, my car keys, and my husband. The kids and I are asked to wait in the family waiting room. So we wait.....and wait.....and wait....Thankfully, there are several broken toys in the waiting room for the kids to hit each other with. This keeps them occupied for all of five minutes. Two and a half hours later, my husband returns, only to inform me that the emergency brake on his truck doesn't work. I do the only thing I can do at this point. I give him the stink eye. Fortunately for us, the guy who works in the shipping dock knows a guy who can fix it (I smell a kickback). It'll only cost us $150. Woo. Hoo. So, another hour and a half later, the emergency brake is fixed, and both vehicles are ready to go. Let's hear an 'Amen'.
We cram ourselves into our rental minivan (which barely holds us, the dog, and our luggage) and take off for Oklahoma. Six LONG and Barbie-video filled hours later, we make it to the in-laws house near Lake Keystone. Having a surprise birthday party to get to, we dump the kids on the folks, load up the dog, and head off to meet our friends in Stillwater.
Somehow, I managed to get in touch with some old friends of ours to arrange a shindig so we could say goodbye to everyone before heading off to paradise. A couple friends of ours have a farm near Stillwater with a large back porch and a working blender. Having recently been to Hawaii themselves, they have learned the magic recipe for lava flows.....Much alcohol consumption ensues, and somewhere in there we managed to drop the dog off at her new home. Bye, Molly! Anyway, after the stress of the last two days, it was absolutely great to sit out on the porch with some old friends, drink a cold one, and catch up. We pass out in the wee hours (me in the guest bedroom, him on the floor with the dogs).
The next morning, we jump up, shower, and head off to visit our favorite old haunts in Stillwater. Stopped at Eskimo Joe's to visit Joe's Clothes and see if there were any new t-shirts we didn't already own. Didn't find anything on that trip. Then headed over to Chris' University Spirit to get a new window sticker for the truck. Then from there over to the Student Union Store for some more spirit apparel. We even stopped and checked out the new Alumni Association building on campus. Very swanky. (BTW, Go Pokes!) Headed back to the parent's house in time to relax a bit. Then it was back to Stillwater for a combination going away/birthday party. All of the hubby's family are there to help celebrate the birth of our No. 2 daughter. And my birthday. and my husband's birthday. A good time was had by all.
So, stuck in the hotel in Texas and waiting to ship our vehicles. Hubby runs in real quick to the Best Western to get us a room (another added expense, thank you). He comes out and says they gave us the second floor room right next to the stairs. Next to the stairs is good because it allows us to make a quick exit. Second floor -- not so good.
Anyone who has ever stayed in a less-expensive hotel knows that you can hear EVERYTHING going on in the rooms next to you. Anyone who works at a hotel should also know this, and therefore should avoid putting people with children anywhere near anybody else. I know my kids are loud. I often remind staff of this and ask for special accommodations so that we don't disturb anyone else. Well, my husband apparently is not aware of this golden rule. So, around 8 p.m., the phone rings in our hotel room. It's the front desk, who is asking us on behalf of the little old couple in the room directly below us, if we could please be quiet. "If you have any children, could you please try to keep them quiet." By now, I am emotionally and physically exhausted. I kindly inform the young man on the phone that we not only have one child, we have FOUR. And we have the dog in the room. "Oh," he says. "I'm sorry." Yeah, me too.
Eventually, we get the kids into bed and everyone has a somewhat restful night.
Bright and early the next day, we all wake up, go downstairs in shifts to have breakfast, and pack everyone back into the vehicles to go try to ship them again. We're the second family in the door, and they've been waiting for us to come back. The staff immediately absconds with the paperwork, my car keys, and my husband. The kids and I are asked to wait in the family waiting room. So we wait.....and wait.....and wait....Thankfully, there are several broken toys in the waiting room for the kids to hit each other with. This keeps them occupied for all of five minutes. Two and a half hours later, my husband returns, only to inform me that the emergency brake on his truck doesn't work. I do the only thing I can do at this point. I give him the stink eye. Fortunately for us, the guy who works in the shipping dock knows a guy who can fix it (I smell a kickback). It'll only cost us $150. Woo. Hoo. So, another hour and a half later, the emergency brake is fixed, and both vehicles are ready to go. Let's hear an 'Amen'.
We cram ourselves into our rental minivan (which barely holds us, the dog, and our luggage) and take off for Oklahoma. Six LONG and Barbie-video filled hours later, we make it to the in-laws house near Lake Keystone. Having a surprise birthday party to get to, we dump the kids on the folks, load up the dog, and head off to meet our friends in Stillwater.
Somehow, I managed to get in touch with some old friends of ours to arrange a shindig so we could say goodbye to everyone before heading off to paradise. A couple friends of ours have a farm near Stillwater with a large back porch and a working blender. Having recently been to Hawaii themselves, they have learned the magic recipe for lava flows.....Much alcohol consumption ensues, and somewhere in there we managed to drop the dog off at her new home. Bye, Molly! Anyway, after the stress of the last two days, it was absolutely great to sit out on the porch with some old friends, drink a cold one, and catch up. We pass out in the wee hours (me in the guest bedroom, him on the floor with the dogs).
The next morning, we jump up, shower, and head off to visit our favorite old haunts in Stillwater. Stopped at Eskimo Joe's to visit Joe's Clothes and see if there were any new t-shirts we didn't already own. Didn't find anything on that trip. Then headed over to Chris' University Spirit to get a new window sticker for the truck. Then from there over to the Student Union Store for some more spirit apparel. We even stopped and checked out the new Alumni Association building on campus. Very swanky. (BTW, Go Pokes!) Headed back to the parent's house in time to relax a bit. Then it was back to Stillwater for a combination going away/birthday party. All of the hubby's family are there to help celebrate the birth of our No. 2 daughter. And my birthday. and my husband's birthday. A good time was had by all.
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