The flight to Utah was stressful, but that was to be expected. What wasn’t expected was the angelic flight attendants on both flights. On the first flight, we sat down one and three. Max being across the aisle (what is it twelve inches?) sitting next to a stranger and I was on the other side with the three youngest. Max started having a melt down. Tears were streaming down his face as he clutched the arm rest closest to the aisle. I told him to calm down and he said, “I’m SCARED! He might take me!” Apparently my anxiety of one of my kids being kidnapped has passed on to my kids… oops. I was trying my best to handle the situation, but the flight attendant could tell I was struggling. She came up and said, “What can I do?” I was a bit unnecessarily embarrassed, so I just said, “he’ll be fine. It’s a one hour flight.” She was seriously more in tune with my kids that day than I was and was very astute, because she pointed to Maverick who was already on his device and just chilling during the chaos. “He seems pretty laid back, could they switch spots?” A light bulb clicked and I had Maverick move (with some mild bribing) and two seconds later it was as if nothing had happened. Another flight attendant came by later and said, “I just have to say I see moms on flights all the time and you seem to have it together more than any of them and they usually only have one kid! You’re super mom!” Whether that was true or not it was so needed to boost my confidence for the five hour lay over and longer four hour flight yet to come. We survived both, especially now that I knew Max needed to be by me and my outgoing kid was going to be just fine across the aisle even if he was the younger one. Towards the end of the second flight we hit some major turbulence. We were at the very back of the plane which tends to feel the movements of the plane more and generally feels more stuffy— a potion for motion sickness. I did everything I could to fight it, but it was some of the worst turbulence I’ve ever faced. I must’ve said, “I’m going to be sick,” out loud because before I knew it a cool breeze wafted across my face. They hadn’t turned up the air, no, the flight attendant sitting behind me was fanning my face with the safety manual. It was so helpful and I was so touched I just kept saying, “Thank you so much.” And it really did help. We landed without incident and made it safely to my parents’ home.
The day after we arrived we went to the zoo with my sister Adrienne and her kids, my mom, and Sara and her kids. It was a hot day, but really not too bad considering it was June in the middle of the day. I was still pretty wiped from traveling, but luckily everyone was ready to go when I was. When you have a pass to the zoo it makes it easier to come and go as you please instead of trying to get more bang for your buck every time you go. The kids love Hogle Zoo. So do I. It brings back a lot of memories for me when we’d travel to Utah and go to the zoo with my grandma. I was a hot mess though. I forgot a stroller and my sun glasses, but luckily Sara brought an extra stroller!
Thursday we left around lunch to head up to the Gorge. The three. Hour drive took closer to five because we stopped a couple of times for the kids to stop and stretch. This is my family’s favorite park to stop and stretch at because it’s right off the road they have to pass through. The kids appreciated the break.
After the Gorge we had some time to recuperate at my mom and dad’s house, but not long, because my dad rented a pony the next day and had a big barbecue for all of the families. The grand kids were in paradise. Though Bev refused to ride for some reason.
I am going to end this blog post so I can write about Max’s baptism weekend and then I’ll finish up my Utah trip and share what we’ve been doing since then! Stay tuned 😉
Such cute pictures!!!
My kids had a great time with your kiddos. Avie still asks when she can see Bev 🥰