Trains and Planes

Eli was so excited to go to California. Though I couldn't tell you why. He can't remember his last trip there- he was 10 months old. I told him about it two weeks before our departure date. Big mistake. He woke up from nap time and said, "NOW we get to go to California, yeah!!!" I told him not yet, so the next morning he woke up, same thing. CA bound. So I dropped it.

We told him Sunday night that when he got up in the morning, we would get on a train and go to the airport, and then we would get on an airplane. He was thrilled. And we were praying that the train and plane would it all go smoothly.

I wish we had pictures of the adventure that morning. We don't, because I didn't have a free pinkie finger. We got to the Metro Station and saw the sign "No Parking Overnight". Uh Oh. Too late to change plans though. We hid the keys, Joel took a picture of our parking spot with his phone, and sent it to a co-worker who saved the day and arranged to pick up our car. Meanwhile, we got on the train. With our 2 year old, 6 month old, two car seats, 2 suitcases, diaper bag, computer bag, toy bag, and a stroller. And then we had to get off to change trains. Ugh. Those doors don't stay open long, and it was one part comedy and one part nightmare to try to get all our luggage off AND not leave a child on the train bound for East St. Louis.

We made it to the airport about 2 hours to spare. Another way that Joel and I differ, and truthfully, another way he is making my life less stressful. We had time for some Starbucks, diaper changes, and run around the airport time to burn off some Eli energy.

Eli was still super excited to get on the plane. When it was time to board, he handed the agent his own boarding pass, then ran to the end of the ramp, where we ditched the stroller. He took one step onto the plane, saw the rows of people looking back at him, and thought, "uh, uh." He froze, turned around, and said, "Mama, I don't want to get on this airplane anymore." We eventually carried him to his seat while he protested and cried. The guy in the row behind us had a worried look on his face. I know he was wondering if this was going to be one of those flights with the screaming toddler. But Eli was fine in two minutes, and except for his fascination for kicking the seat in front of him, he was fantastic the whole flight. No significant delays, two easy boys, an easy transfer in LAX...it really could not have gone better.

We're in CA.