Travelogue

I have been meaning to post this since I started it almost a week ago, but got distracted! Here you go, finally!

Before I even left Auckland last Tuesday, I got a facebook message from Crystal (who was meeting us in LA, along with her mother in law, Pat) telling us that our flight from LA to Chicago to Grand Rapids was cancelled because of a huge storm coming through the area. Fun, fun!

Sophia, Zoe and I left Travis at the airport (very sad) and made our way to our gate. Our flight was about 45 minutes late, which was fine because Sophia found some kids to play with at the gate. There was a family from Australia with 5 kids who were moving to Boston! So, I really didn't have it that bad. :)

Anyway, things went well until it was time to get the kids to sleep. They were both so overtired that it was hard to calm them down. Eventually they did get to sleep with a lot of coaxing and me rubbing their faces, physically closing their eyes for them. They both slept for 5+ hours, but I really didn't sleep. Thankfully, the family that was in our row moved back a row and so we each had a row to ourselves. Sophia was able to stretch out on 2 seats to sleep, and Zoe slept in the bassinet. Whoever designed the plane (a newer model Boeing 777) put touch screen TVs up on the bulk-head wall (they must not have had small children). The bassinet clipped into the wall right underneath the TVs, so Zoe kept turning on the TVs with her feet and hands as she moved around. It was a bit distracting and annoying.

With about 2 hours left, I got sick. Travis had not felt good the day we left, and I think I got the little bug he had. I had to keep visiting the bathroom/toilet, if you know what I mean. I did not throw up, thankfully! Sometimes I took Zoe with me, and finally I found a air hostess who Zoe didn't cry with, so I could hand her off. Once in a while I found Sophia wandering around the aisles, but how far can you go in a plane?

When we landed, I was feeling very light headed from being sick, so someone wheeled me out in a wheel chair. I felt a bit embarrassed, but I really didn't think I could walk all the way through the airport. I had someone to help push the girls in the stroller and someone to push me and they both helped me with my luggage and getting through customs. Let me tell you, that's the way to go through! When Crystal saw me being wheeled up the ramp, she just about freaked out! I told her it really wasn't as bad as it looked, that I was just light headed. So, they wheeled me over to Starbucks (the only thing around) and I got some fruit and juice and felt sooooo much better! This is what the kids looked like after going for a walk through the LA airport.

Crystal's husband Don had been on the phone for us and got us a new flight going to Denver, then on to Grand Rapids. We were pretty sure we wouldn't be able to all the way to GR that day. We had a place to stay in LA, so we thought that could be fun to stay, but Don told us that if we stayed in LA, we could be there until Friday (and this was on Tuesday). We decided to go for it and head to Denver. When we got there, we saw our flight to GR had been cancelled so we stayed the night at a hotel. It was about -16 Fahrenheit (-26.67 Celsius). I know, ridiculous. This is how Zoe was dressed on the way to the shuttle to the hotel. When Sophia made it to the shuttle, she was crying and saying, "No more go outside!" She has never felt that kind of cold, ever! I'll write more later. This post is getting way too long!