oh, the joys of traveling!

So here is my traveling experience, in case anyone was wondering . . .

Our flight was scheduled to leave just before 1:00 on Thursday. Things were going great, the girls were in a good mood, Ava and I had already talked about how if she didn't behave on the plane, that I would cry and Nana and Papa would cry and the whole plane would just be in hysterics. She was cool with it, she was ready to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Stella had other plans. Our plane was on time, which is miraculous for United (don't get too excited). We were in our seats for about 5 minutes when I heard a rumor that they were going to push us away from the gate and make us sit grounded for 2 hours due to delays in Chicago. Oh, joy. You mean I get to sit on a plane for two hours with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old who haven't even been given any Benadryl???

When all was said and done, we did have to push away from the gate and sit for an hour because Chicago's air traffic control delayed everything due to storms. I'm okay with that . . . flying is NOT on my list of favorite things to do, I'm convinced we're going down at every little bump, and I'm used to just ordering a few cocktails and talking up my seatmate to deal. Well, this doesn't happen with two kiddos. Anyway, both girls had tantrums on the plane but I just went with it and figured, whatever, if someone has a problem then they can take them and do a better job. Ava chatted up our seatmate, and at one point even asked him if he was going to spank mommy's butt. She also commented that the person in front of us farted when his seat squeaked. To make things even worse, the flight attendants thought it'd be fun to play presidential trivia, which ended up really pissing off the historians on the flight when someone got the answer wrong. Hell. in. the. air.

We got to Chicago to find that our 6:50 flight was delayed to 8:50. Then 9:10. Then 9:40. Then 9:45. Then 9:48. Seriously. I've been there before when the girls were 2 and 3 months and they continued to do this until about 12:30 in the morning when we finally boarded. Compared to that experience, this was a walk in the park. Anyway, Chicago has a cool little playground for the kids so the girls ran around that for a bit. I soon got bored and decided I'd burn some calories by pushing the girls around the airport in the super duper double stroller I brought . . . then decided an even BETTER choice would be bringing them to Chili's for some wine (me), cheesecake (me) and peanut butter pie (them). PERFECT decision. We had a great time, got on our flight on time, and made it to Burlington around 1:00 a.m. Stella slept the whole way, Ava sat staring into space, and I had a Coke and a smile.

I will summarize my thoughts on the whole ferry experience by saying this - the only people on a boat at 3:00 in the morning are either going to/from the airport or to/from a job. Why, then, for the love of God, is it necessary to turn off the engine and freakin' FLOAT across Lake Champlain? To save fuel, of course.

We got home at 4:00, slept til 9:00, and now I'm enjoying myself and my family and can't wait for tomorrow's wedding!