To Tejas and Back

So Jack fell down an escalator today.

We arrived at the Dallas airport later than expected this morning and the curbside gate agent was rushing us upstairs to see if they could still get us on the flight back to Chicago.  As he hurried up the escalator with our suitcase, I followed behind with Samantha in her car seat and two carry-on bags in my arms.  Eric put Jack onto the escalator and then turned back to get Ellie in the stroller (with Jack's car seat atop it), not realizing that Jack would totally freak out.  He lost his balance and was reaching out for anything to steady himself--unfortunately I was too far away to grab his hand and was fearful of setting Samantha down in her car seat on the escalator steps, as we were nearing the top, in order to run down to him.  So to my horror I watched poor Jack try to grab the wall, which as you know does not move with the escalator, and after fumbling for a few seconds he suddenly went toppling backwards, head-over-heels, down the stairs.  I screamed to Eric, who lunged forward to catch him, and in doing so he let go of the stroller, which then tipped over backwards with Ellie in it.  All I could see were her little feet dangling in the air as the stroller calmly continued its ascent...so scary.   By the time we got to the top of the escalator there was a crowd of people standing around (drawn by my frantic yelling, "Eric! Eric!" no doubt) and our hearts were pounding fiercely.  Both kids are fine, miraculously.  Jack managed to come out of it with only a scraped knee and a need to be held for much of the afternoon.  I am so thankful they were not hurt worse than those boo-boos.

Early last week we decided to head to Austin, TX for Eric's ten-year high school reunion that was planned for this weekend.  Originally we had planned for just Eric to go, until a generous donor (thanks, Dad) offered to help the rest of us accompany him.  We left our house on Friday around 2:30pm (Jack, as we pulled out of the driveway: "Okay, Mommy!  Hold on tight!")  and arrived in Dallas at 8:30 pm (after missing our original flight and having to pay $150 to be put on another flight all together), then had to pay $100 to upgrade our rental car because all the cars we tried were too small to fit three car seats!  Maddening.  We arrived in Waco after 1am at the home of our good friends, Rishi and Amanda.  We stayed up way too late talking, then Eric and I were up the remaining four hours of the night with our kids who were taking turns waking up and FREAKING OUT.  Bad, bad night. 

We spent Saturday morning with a bunch of friends in Waco, enjoying a delicious leisurely breakfast and watching our kids run around and play together.  We haven't been back to visit since before Jack was born so it was wonderful to see everyone again!  

After lunch we drove up to Austin to spend the afternoon with Eric's dad and Connie.  The kids enjoyed frolicking in the wading pool that Papa Marc bought for them (pictures to come) and chasing/being chased by Marc and Connie's new dog, Kiska.  Eric and Rishi went to their reunion in the evening while Amanda and I hung out with Marc and Connie (and my three kids slept in one room together--awesome!).  When Eric and Rishi returned well after midnight we had a hard time saying goodbye and ended up staying up way too late once again.

Sadly, we had to get up at 6:30 am this morning in order to make the three-hour drive to Dallas for our flight that left at 12:30.  We were of course running late and dragging like molasses, so we ended up getting to the airport too late to check our bags on our flight, so they had to be checked on the next flight to Chicago.  Then, to our surprise, Jack and I were flagged at security and endured a very thorough "check."  There I was, standing in this roped-off area, holding a fussy Samantha in my arms, trying to keep my kids from running all over, while they nit-picked through our diaper bags and stroller and car seats.  Then they conducted a pat down of both our bodies--can you picture a little three-year-old standing in the security section with his arms held out to the side while a security officer searches him for weapons?  He had this look on his face like, "What the heck?"  This held us back once again from getting to our scheduled flight, and upon arrival at the gate we were told that for some reason Jack and I had been taken off the flight and listed as stand-by, but the flight was full so we would have to take a later flight!  Fortunately they were also willing to bump Eric to the same flight at no extra cost.  We were able to feed the kids and ourselves without inhaling the food, so in the end it seemed to work out for the better.

Until we arrived in Chicago.  Without our bags.  Our bags that contained our toiletries, as we cannot bring these items in our carry-on bags any longer.  Our toiletries that contain such items as contacts and toothbrushes and deodorant...

Have I mentioned that Eric starts his new job tomorrow? (I know, I know, such a tease; but this is a topic that deserves it's own post, which I'm working on!)

Overall, it was a whirlwind trip but we enjoyed almost every moment and are so glad we made the tremendous effort.  The kids were beautiful on both flights, well-behaved and cheerful and patient.  We had been talking about our "trip" for a few days, so as we left home Jack was so excited and kept "oohing" out the window at various strange things as we drove to the airport.  When we arrived at the terminal he said, "Look Daddy, trip!"  He was thrilled to get to ride on an airplane; I packed little backpacks for each kid with some new traveling toys: coloring books and crayons, stickers (a BIG hit), snacks, and a toy airplane for Jack and a little stuffed puppy for Ellie.  Jack had his little American Airlines model plane in his hand most of the weekend.  Both times we landed he kept saying, "Go back up, Mommy!"  We also had the laptop along for the first time so they enjoyed a little Diego and Elmo on the flight as well.  We were a little disappointed because we were seated in the very last row for both flights, with a perfect view of the engine out the window.  I was mainly bummed for Jack's sake, not that he even knows what he's missing.  But as crazy as travel is with little munchkins, and with the exception of the escalator topple and missing luggage, we agreed that this was one of our most successful travel experiences with kids.  What a relief.

So good to see you all this weekend...Waco folks, Papa Marc and Connie, and those of you that Eric saw at the reunion who apparently read our blog and already knew all about our family.  (Creeps me out just a little.  Okay, a lot.)  Thank you for feeding us and housing us and being such gracious, thoughtful hostesses.  We are so glad we got to see you all!

Pictures are coming, when I get another minute.  (haha...so like, November?)  I must get to bed right now...