Thursday, January 01, 2009

The Bad With the Good

So, we're back from a week in Kauai for Christmas. The time on the island was really nice. But, oh, the transit was rough this time!

The night before we left, Pumpkin woke up at 12:30 and threw up, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night alternating between sleeping in my arms and retching pathetically. When I called Hubby to come help clean up the initial mess, he said "Hmmm. I don't feel so good either." To his credit, he still helped clean up. But he and Pumpkin were both pretty miserable the next morning, and I hadn't really slept much. We almost delayed our trip, until we figured out that the delay would cost us more than $2000. We were flying out of LAX at night, so we left home after "lunch" (I was the only one who really ate) and nervously made our way north. Surprisingly, the flight went well. Pumpkin slept, mostly in my arms, the entire way. (For anyone keeping count, that is two nights in a row where I got very little sleep.)

I have yet to get the bug, but Hubby and/or Pumpkin infected my parents, my sister, and my mother in law. Only my father in law and I were left standing. Amazingly, they all claim the trip was still worth it.

Last night, we flew back to LAX. We somehow managed to book flights that just about ensured we'd be flying with a toddler who didn't get enough of a nap. She screamed a bit, but not nearly as much as I feared at the start of the flight. She didn't want to sit in her seat for this flight, either, though- making the purchase of the seat for her one of the biggest wastes of money of the year. (Note to other parents: unless your child really likes his/her car seat, don't waste your money on a seat for him/her until the airlines make you do it).

We arrived in LA a little before midnight, and proceeded to stand at baggage claim, with sleepy toddler squirming pathetically in my arms, for 1.5 hours before we determined that our bags had decided to spend an extra night in Hawaii. We didn't get to the (airport) hotel we'd booked for the night until after 2. By this time, the sleepy toddler was throwing tantrums if someone looked at her funny. Good times.

However, as we let our GPS navigate us through the thick fog from the place we'd parked our car to the hotel, we were really, really glad that we'd booked the room. Tired, grumpy parents + tired, grumpy toddler + heavy fog + prime hour for drunk drivers <> good time to drive the 2-2.5 hours home to San Diego.

We had a pleasant drive home this morning, in very light traffic.

I'll write more later about the good things that happened in between our two airplane flights. Right now, it is time for bed!

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:48 AM

    I'm glad the trip was still worth it, and hopefully you manage to avoid the bug. I'm still not quite right a week later.

    Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy New Year!

    Hawii, huh? I am so jealous that I can barely write!!!! ;-)

    I'm glad you guys had a good time even with the stomach bug. I hope everyone feels better soon and that you somehow stay free from it.

    A tip I learned from my sis (whose almost 3 year old has probably flown more than most adults) is to not buy the seat for the child but when you get to the check-in desk, ask if there are any extra seats. They will often move you so that you have have one for your carseat and child next to you, without you paying for the seat. This worked great on our trip to and from Florida last November.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:35 PM

    wow, so pumpkin didn't throw up on the flight? that's amazing. and even more amazing that you didn't catch it!

    11 days until we fly to the states... I'm getting more and more nervous! I've actually got sweaty palms already :(

    ReplyDelete

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