Spring Break

While perusing the internet one evening, as well as looking some emails that came to the ever-full inbox, I noticed that Southwest was having a fare sale (they have them all the time!) and we could get to Little Rock for a reasonable cost. I was hopeful that my sisters loved me enough to be willing to drive 2 1/2 hours to pick us up, and sure enough, they were! Tickets were booked and although it was late January at the time, Spring Break in Memphis was looking like a great little time away with family. The only downer (aside from the fact that SW doesn't fly into Memphis) was that my sweet hubby couldn't come with us. But we'd "only" be gone 5 days, and we could Skype him every night, so it seemed manageable.

So I picked up Micayla early from school the Thursday before Spring Break, talked up how exciting riding in a plane was going to be, met Hudson at his office, and we managed to get all baggage checked, go through security without any pat-downs, and even had time to wait at the gate. Hallelujah! Micayla was so excited about going to ride on that big "red and blue plane." In the best little kid's voice you can think of this is what I heard over and over, "Mommy! Look! Red and Blue Plane! Mommy! We going to ride in da plane!" Everyone around us thought it was cute, not annoying, which was helpful. :) Off we went, without any complications, and 1 hour and 10 minutes later, we were arriving in Little Rock. My sister Lesli and my nephew Miles picked us up at the airport, and then drove us back to Memphis. We had a great family dinner with my sisters and their families that evening (Corky's BBQ! Yum!) and then had a little fun playing Just Dance 2 with the nieces. We hit the zoo, a little more Just Dance wii fun, and just enjoyed hanging out with each other. Here's a good picture recap of our time in Memphis.


Uncle Emery reading to Miles


Kathyn letting Uncle Justin know something very important


Micayla at the Memphis Zoo


Miles having lunch


Mommy and Micayla at the end of our zoo day


Is this not the funniest picture of my sister Lesli, her husband Justin, and their son? This wasn't coerced...we were just trying to get Miles to look at me so I could take a picture.


And this is the best picture of when he was sort-of looking at me.


Micayla playing on Miles' swingset while waiting on dinner to be finished one evening.


Lauren getting ready for a little Just Dance 2 wii action while Justin hooks everything up.


Emery and Lauren competing against each other on some song on Just Dance 2.


Lauren and Emery playing Just Dance 2 together.


Emery...need I say more?


I love this picture for so many reasons. I think Emery must be saying, "Aw, come 'on, I only got 10000 points for that?" while Lauren is thinking "I can't believe my dad beat me." Micayla is just happy she got to dance a little, and Lesli and Lisa are having an intense conversation about what song to pick for the next battle.


Lisa and Emery playing against each other...Emery continued his winning streak.


Does this look like a sick little one, or what? So on the way back to Little Rock, my sister Lisa and nieces all piled into the car to take us back. Micayla was in her car seat, Lauren in her booster, and Kathryn in the middle. They were content to watch a movie together. Earlier that morning, Micayla didn't eat breakfast and told me she didn't feel her best. I figured she was coming down with a cold because Miles had one and they played together. Arkansas had decided that Tuesday morning was a great time to do some road construction, so there were several places that we were going very slow. We left with about 45 minutes to spare just in case we had any problems. We got stuck between 18-wheelers in the work zones, so we were going no where fast. And then I noticed that Micayla just didn't seem to be acting herself. And then she started throwing up. In the car. In her carseat. In to her jacket as I quickly turned around to catch whatever I could. Kathryn and Lauren could easily have joined in, but Lisa rolled down their window and kept them focused on other things. We are in the left lane on I-40 and there is no getting off. Micayla is crying at this point and I'm thinking about how in the world you clean someone up while driving to make your flight. And thinking about her continually throwing up and how awful that would be on the plane. Finally, we see an abandoned gas station (probably not the smartest place to stop, but who would mess with a kid that is throwing up?). So thankful for a new package of wipes in her backpack, since that is how we cleaned her up, as well as her carseat. Plus, I had packed a few extra empty Target bags and could throw the very smelly clothes in them and in our luggage. Poor girl did not feel well. We got back on the road only to stop a few more exits up for the girls to have some lunch. Lisa feels like we are about 30-45 minutes away from LR at this point, so I check the GPS on my phone to figure out when we would get there. Um, we're 1 1/2 hours away and the McDonald's line is slooooow. So as fast as we could, we get out of there and hit the road again, only to be caught in more road work traffic.

Our flight leaves at 2:50. I'm praying Micayla won't throw up again, she's finally sleeping in the back now. It's 2:25 when we finally arrive at the LR airport, and Micayla is limp, wants to be held, and I've got to manage to get two pieces of luggage, a car seat, 2 small bags (purse and backpack), and her stroller inside by myself with literally minutes to spare. She's crying because she doesn't feel good and I can't hold her. I'm running to the check baggage area and asking if we will make the flight, and the attendant says "yes." Y'all, someone should have videotaped this....at LR airport you check your baggage, but then you take it back and roll it to the TSA scanners. Mind you, I have two bags that I can roll, but the stinky carseat isn't one of those that you can easily carry with one hand without getting a bruise on the back of your thigh every step you take. Micayla, still crying about not being held is in the stroller. And this might be TMI, but I really have to go to the bathroom. I know exactly where the bathroom is, and I decide to chance it....I've never been in and out so fast, but boy I felt better. (I did think of an Amazing Race moment several seasons ago when a team went to the bathroom and then lost and thought that Hudson might be really upset with me if I missed our flight because I went to the bathroom.) I get our luggage to TSA, and with strollers at LR, you have to take an elevator up...I thought about hoisting it on me somehow, but with Micayla in it, that might not have been a wise option. So the slooooowest elevator on earth is at the LR airport. Running to security. Finally! We are in the line to go through the scanners, etc. I'm pulling out all the 3 quart baggies I had ready, got our tickets in hand, Micayla is out of the stroller and on my hip, I'm trying to get the stroller to fold, and the ladies in front of me are taking their la-te-da time. And then they send their packages through the scanners, and I see the TSA scanner shake her head and tell the lady in front of me, "how naughty." I'm sweating profusely, I'm worried about the girl on my hip who might throw up again at any moment, and I have 15 minutes before my flight. And the TSA scanner looks at me and says, "are you in a hurry?" Why yes, I am. Can we hurry this up? She asks what time my flight is, I tell her, she says "you'll make it." She must not have realized that putting shoes back on both myself and Micayla, getting our bags, throwing our baggies in my purse, and putting the stroller together takes a few minutes, because she looked every inch of our stuff up and down and up and down. Granted, I'm thankful for them to look and be cautious, but come on, my kid might puke on you and this momma wants to get home. (She looked like the picture above.) We make it out of the scanners, I get our stuff, we run through the airport (thankful it was't big). I'm telling Micayla, we've got to hurry. She's crying because I can't hold her. We run up to gate. I see people coming out of the jetway.

Wait a minute. Shouldn't there be any empty gate? We're 5 minutes out from leaving, and SW leaves mostly on time. Then the gate announcer states that our flight is 15 minutes late. Now, don't you think that the lady who checked my bags 20 minutes ago, whom I asked if I would make the flight, could have put this little bit of information into what she told me? If I had known that I had 15 minutes to spare, then (as one of my teenage clients often tells me), that would be gravy. (That sounds so weird coming from a thirtysomething.) Oh well, Micayla's being held at this point, we're about to get on the flight, I text Hudson to let him know we'll be there. Micayla wants the window seat (fine by me!), I pull out the "special" bag from the seat pocket just in case, and off we go. And by the time we were at cruising altitude, little sickie looked like the above (I took this just as we had departed and were climbing through the skies), except that she was asleep. And she slept the entire flight (which goes to show you how she really didn't feel good at all), and we arrived back into the arms of a wonderful and loving husband and daddy.

It was a great trip with my family, but I was more than thankful to be home. :)