Friday, September 12, 2008

Traveling with the Marrs family.

Sorry we haven't blogged in a while, but there has not been any new or exciting news. I will, however, share our recent travel woes with you. We took a trip back to Birmingham to drop the kids off with Kody's parents for 2 nights while Kody and I attended a business seminar in Atlanta. Besides being away from Maggie when I delivered the twins, it was the first time we have ever left our kids over night to do anything! I was pretty nervous leading up to it and for the first 24 hours because I just want to be with them all the time, but Kody and I had a great time and I know the kids were well taken care of and enjoyed playing with Grandma and Grandpa. 
The getting there and getting home, on the other hand, was a nightmare. 
First Flight: Orange County to Atlanta--3.60 hours. (keep in mind: during all flights kody and i cannot sit together because there are not enough oxygen masks in one row for 5 people...so we were always separated by a few rows at least. One of us took Joe, while the other took the girls). 
During the first hour I managed to get Delaney to sleep and get maggie set up with a good movie in her dvd player...then Kody brings Joe to me screaming his head off and asks if he can trade me (that sounds fair, right?! Ugh!). I take Joe, he takes sleeping Delaney and content Maggie. Joe continues to flip out, I take him to the airplane lavatory to check his diaper, and as I remove the diaper he pees ALL OVER ME. I swear he hasn't done that sort of thing since he was like 3-4 months-old! I was not expecting it! Anyway, I clean him up, clean myself up and we go back to our seat. Then I notice Delaney has awaken and is happily eating a snack while sitting on kody's lap. Kody is talking with the guy sitting next to him and Maggie is still content with her movie. Then, unknowingly, Kody smashes Delaney's foot between the arm rest and the seat and she screams out and in pain and within 15 seconds has passed out (terrifying the guy kody was talking to). After that, Delaney went back to sleep for another hour.  Maggie then comes to me telling me she has to use the bathroom. I take her and Joe to the back of the plane where we cram ourselves into the lavatory only for her to take one look at the weird toilet and say, "No, Maggie doesn't have to go potty."  We go back to our seats....and she tells me 2 more times that she has to go and we make the trek only for her to back out. After the third time I was a little irritated because we sat back down and within 2 minutes Joe had a poopy diaper. No sooner did that happen then we hit turbulence and the Captain turns on the "fasten seat belt" sign. I wait a few minutes and then decide to just go change his diaper. The flight attendants didn't really seem to care, but they did care that Maggie was out of her seat with me. I take Maggie back to Kody and she FLIPS out that she can't go with me into the lavatory! She screamed for about 5 minutes and then calmed down. The rest of the flight (which was about 40 minutes) was a breeze.
Flight 2: Atlanta to Birmingham- 30 minutes
All was well until we were delayed 30 minutes before take-off so they could fix the bathroom in First Class. During that time we decided to let the kids walk around a bit since it was a very empty flight. While Delaney and Maggie were playing in our aisle they accidentally bumped heads and Delaney passed out again (terrifying the flight attendant that witnessed the whole incident). 2 for 2. Then, 5 minutes into our flight Joe throws up on Kody. Kody cleans him up, and 5 minutes before landing Joe leaks through his diaper and Kody gets a nice wet pee stain on his pants. 
Touchdown to Birmingham, everything is awesome for 5 days.
Going Home:
Flight 1: Birmingham to Atlanta-30 minutes
That flight was great...until we landed and spent an additional 30 minutes on the runway taxiing slowly to an open gate and ultimately missing our connection by minutes. 
We then spent the next 3 hours hanging out at the Atlanta airport with 3 very irritated children. When we discovered that the next flight to Orange County didn't leave for another 6 hours we waited on one to LAX. We luckily made it,
Flight 2: Atlanta to LAX-5 hours
That time frame alone should tell you that it was a total nightmare. It felt like the twins were crying the whole way there. This should tell you something about the noise level: the flight attendant was giving Kody free snacks (not the free snacks everyone gets, the ones you pay like $20 for: pringles, m&m's, etc...) I think he thought it would entice them or something, but they could have cared less. They just wanted off the plane! So, 4 cat naps of about 15 minutes, a lot of crying and dirty diapers and potty anxiety from maggie on the plane and 5 hours later we landed in LAX.  I don't know what we expected from one 2 year-old and two one year-olds....maybe less crying and longer naps I guess! Anyway, that second flight was awful and when we finally made it we didn't even care that our luggage didn't. We picked it up the following day at another airport and are now trying to put this traveling mess behind us! 
Needless to say we'll be taking a break from plane travel for a bit (Kody says a year, but I think amnesia will set in in about 3 months).
The following pics are not from our trip, but are just some recent ones of the kids so you can see how they're growing! We hope everyone's summer came to a lovely close. We're enjoying the newly cool weather the past 2 days here. It makes me anxious for all of the fun holidays and yummy wintery comfort foods just around the corner! 
We'll be back later with--what I hope will be--less Marrs family drama! 

I know, I know, he needs to get rid of the pacifier. It's a work in progress---we're trying to cut it down to just naptime...but I cave all the time. 
Little miss Delaney can finally wear her cute little pigtail sprouts and she looks adorable...
...even her bed-head sprouts are cute! And she is totally attached to her blankie, which I love because she always looks forward to naps and bedtime!
I just thought this picture of the twins was funny. We were at the park and when we got there they just kind of stood off to the side as if pondering, "Well, what do you want to play on first?"
Maggie continues to be my big helper and loves her little sister! She keeps asking me, "When can Delaney sleep in my room?"    (I'll have to remind her of that later when they're fighting over boundary lines and clothes in their shared room).  :)

5 comments:

Jeff and Jenny said...

The flights sound horrible! I'm glad you had fun on your trip to make it all worth it. Playdate soon!!!

The Doerr Four said...

What a nightmare... but that is exactly what I would expect my 3 and 1 year old to do. That's why we have never traveled on a plane yet. You are a brave women. We're planning on going to Texas in a few months, you're making me fear the day! Good story though.

Jalyn said...

That is so terrible. We've never flown with Marin and hearing that story doesn't make me look forward to the prospect. : )
They're all adorable and look so happy (other than on airplanes).

Rachel said...

If birth control could be put into writing, it would be similar to this post.

Funco Preschool said...

Love it, love it, love it. I was laughing so hard Mike actually stopped his movie to hear about it all. I'm so sorry it was horrid, but these stories will all make great memories later on. Love the pigtails too. Delaney is starting to look so much like Maggie to me. Just beautiful!!