With Heather being so pregnant we have decided that she shouldn't be too far away from Atlanta, especially flying. So we decided that I would take Josh and Michael to the wedding by myself. We will miss Heather for sure, but I do look forward to spending so much time with the boys.
We had a long discussion if Josh should go as well. Having Josh come will make the trip quite a bit tougher with an additional kid. Heather and I decided to bring Josh as well. It would break Josh's heart for me to leave on a trip and not bring him. We could use the "Mommy needs your help at home" effect, but he would see right through that. Kids are smarter than most adults think. So we decided for both Michael and Josh to come.
We decided to add a trip to New York City for the boys on the way up to PA. I am very excited by this addition. I love New York and look forward to seeing it with the kids. The thought is that with Jermey moving to North Carolina we probably won't be up in the northeast again for fun in a long time. We have taken advantage of Jermey living in Allentown going to New York when we come and visit. Newark airport is one of the closest large airports near Allentown.
The morning of the flight (June 26, 2008) was exciting for all of us. Heather was a bit upset because she was going to miss the boys. Heather’s mom decided to fly down from Iowa and hang out with Heather while we were gone. It was going to be a good mother daughter weekend. We loaded the van and was ready to go. Since we were leaving on Thursday morning the check-in was not busy at all; nor was the security check. Security check with the two boys was a piece of cake. Michael does very well and basically just sticks with you. Josh on the other hand likes to run and wonder off. I had to keep Josh buckled up in the stroller through most of it, except for the scan of the stroller through security. The key to not making the security check point stressful that morning was to take my time which I did.
We went down the elevator to the train.
We arrived at the C terminal (which is where AirTran was located), found the elevator and journeyed up to the terminal. When we got into the terminal both Michael and Josh wanted to see the planes immediately, but we needed to get to our gate first so that we make sure we don’t miss any announcements, etc. We arrived at our gate.
We got on the plane. I had Josh and Michael sit together and I sat on the row next to them. The plane had 2 seats on each row. Michael and I talked and worked out a deal that we would forget what happened and start over. He agreed. From that point on he was great. I was so proud of him. Josh and Michael watched “Cars” on the way up there. Most people think that the hardest point to traveling with kids is on the plane, but I 100% disagree. On the plane is the easiest since we have DVD players. The hardest part is waiting to get on the plane. He can’t go far because you might miss an announcement or just loose track of time and miss your flight.
Once we got close to New York, I told Michael to look out and see what he sees. He became the tour guide for the plane.
One thing I learned is that most people are very helpful. There I was flying alone with these two boys. I had all kind of people helping me. The stewardess carried Josh off the plane and the captain of the flight actually went down to below the airplane and got our stroller for us. I had more than enough help.
We landed at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. This is probably one of the most dirtiest airports in the country. Getting Michael to potty at the airport and change Josh’s diaper at the airport was not fun. In fact it was a challenge in the small stall. Both were troopers on this. We got out without either of them getting sick.
Now it was time to get the luggage. The part I was most worried about was taking the luggage from the baggage claim area to the car rental van with Josh and Michael towing along. How to do it? I decided that I could not do it alone. I got a bellman to help me out and it was well worth it. I don’t think I could have done it on my own.
The boys were excited about riding the van. We got on with all our luggage. The van was not too crowded given it was Thursday around lunch time.
The rental car company was extremely nice. They occupied our boys while I rented the car. The rental car company actually drove our car up to the office for me so I wouldn’t have to haul all the luggage to a car. Now we were off to Manhattan!
I had reserved a room at the Roosevelt Hotel on 5th avenue. I had stayed there earlier on a business trip and knew even though the rooms were small it was clean and in a good location. I got to drive down to Manhattan. That actually was a lot of fun. The traffic didn’t bother me too much. It took us about 45 minutes to get there. I looked back and both Michael and Josh were asleep when we arrived at the hotel. What to do? Do I wake up the boys after they just fell asleep or do I just keep driving a bit and let them get a good nap? I decided to keep driving. I drove up past Central park to see all the nice apartments. The apartments looked nice. Driving around New York was really not too bad. I let the boys sleep for another hour. I did get yelled out by a cab driver while driving around. I was in a spot where I was blocked by traffic in front of me. I was in the center lane. I needed to get into the left lane to keep moving. Those in the far right lane needed for me to get over so they could get over. The traffic on the left lane was spuratic and moving fast. I could see, but I didn't want to risk getting hit by a car so I didn't jump out in front of any moving cars. I was getting honked at and actually being yelled at by some drivers.
We arrived at the hotel.
I pulled up to front of the hotel and pulled over. The hotel does not really have a spot to pull in, it is purely just pulling over. I had to quickly get the boys out and stand them on the sidewalk so the bellmen can get the luggage. What a way for Josh to wake up! I picked him up and put him on the sidewalk crying. If I would have thought a bit harder I would have already had him woke up before I got there.
We got checked in at the hotel and went up the elevator to our room.
I had done it. I had flown with both boys and got them to Manhattan. Now it was time to have some fun.
I got everything all ready to take the boys to Toys R Us at Time Square. I had promised Michael when Jeremy decided to get married that I would take Michael to Toys R Us and the lady. Going to the Statue of Liberty and Times Square including eating dinner and getting some rest (remember the wedding rehearsal was scheduled for the next day). I wanted the boys to be rested so they would be in a good mood. So the plan was to go to Times Square Thursday night and then on our way back on Sunday we would try to go see the Statue of Liberty (the Lady).
I put both boys in the double stroller and went down to Times Square. It was busy as it always is. We went to the place we all wanted to go, Toys R Us in Times Square. Toys R Us in time square is a different than any other Toys R Us.
We stepped out into Times Square. I looked around, what was huge (limited waiting), food that the boys would like, not crazy expensive and was really loud. I saw Hard Rock Cafe.
We sat a table where we could see the videos streaming. Music Videos are not the best things for a 5 year old and a 2 year old to watch, but it was for a short period of time. Michael watched the video and played with his toy. Josh played with Michael's toy when it was his turn and played with some of the toys Heather packed. The boys got chicken fingers and I got a bar-b-que pork sandwhich. It was good. I had to eat quick because Josh was really starting to get fussy. Good thing it was loud. No one noticed the fussing.
Josh on the way back decided he did not want his shoes and threw his shoes in the street in Times Square. I was able to retrieve the shoe after it was hit by multiple cars. The shoe was fine. I wasn't very happy with Josh about this. When we got back to the hotel I couldn't find both shoes. O no did Josh throw the other one out when I wasn't looking. We had a discussion about this, I was afraid that the shoe was gone. We ended up finding the shoe later in the trip. Not sure where it went to, but ended up being in the car.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel. The day was over. We had spent our time in Manhanttan. Tomorrow started the wedding festivities. Our boys behaved well. My patience was tested some, but not too much.
The boys slept well through the night. After a day of flying, driving and going to Times Square the boys were pooped. I was very tired as well. We got up and we needed to find some breakfast. I thought we would journey to a Starbucks and get some muffins and something to drink. It didn't take long for us to run into one. There was a short line, we didn't have to wait too long, but there wasn't much seating. We found a small table to sit at. I had the boys stay in the stroller and eat their breakfast. Josh and Michael made a huge mess with their muffin, but that was fine. I just quickly cleaned the stroller out and we were on our way.
I wanted to hit the road to make sure I wasn't late. I needed to pick up and try on my tuxedo to make sure it fit. I was actually going to be in the wedding. We had discussed ahead of time and had asked Jennifer to watch the boys during the wedding since I was going to be in the wedding.
The bellmen at the hotel were very helpful with getting the car. I had a bellman come up to the hotel room and get the luggage to bring down to the car. That was huge helpful. It was going to be difficult to bring the luggage down and keep the boys out of trouble at the hotel with cars flying everywhere.
The car was loaded and the boys buckled in. Time to head off to Danville, PA for the wedding. I let Michael make the decision of either takeing the Lincoln Tunnel to Jersey or choosing one of the bridges. Both were going to take the same time. Michael chose the tunnel. Off to Lincoln tunnel.
We arrived at the tuxedo shop. Mom was worried that we wouldn't make it in time. No worries. I had the day planned out pretty well. It was time to try on a tuxedo with a 5 year old and 2 year old. That was an adventure. The new stroller was attached to my hip. It was very helpful with managing Josh (he had a tendency of roaming off).
With this taken care of, it was time to find somewhere for lunch. The boys were hungry (I was really hungry too). We drove to Danville, PA (not far from Bloomsberg) and found a Wendys to head to. We stopped to eat some lunch. The boys were fine at Wendys but I leaned just a bit on one of the pieces when I was standing up and it broke on the stroller. O NO!! This is a brand new very nice stroller that someone has given us and on my first trip it broke. I believe when Michael was having his melt down at the airport on Wednesday when he was yanking on the stroller so hard I believe it was broken and I leaned some a bit on it and officially broke it off. Heather was going to kill me! I was upset with the fact the stroller broke.
I folded it up and put it in the car. The actually piece that broke off must have fallen down within the parking lot.
We got to the hotel (Hampton Inn) and I checked in.
I felt bad because I was actually the one that finalized the part breaking on the stroller, but Michael felt bad too since he knew he probably had broken it at the airport. We just needed to calm down.
We got to the hotel room after checking in. The boys and I (mostly me with the cart and the boys riding) carried in our luggage.
Time to nap. Josh, Michael and I took a nap. None of us fell asleep. I really wanted for them to get some rest since the rehersal dinner was that evening. I really wanted our boys to be on their best behavior. I wanted to show everyone that I can handle these guys by myself and prove to them why we took over boys to the wedding. I had received pressure from my family to not bring Josh because they thought it was too much for me. Do they not know be by now? Telling me that just made it so I would bring both boys and prove to them I could do it.
I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about that part and the stroller. Heather didn't know yet. I didn't have the nerve to tell her.
After talking, we decided to head back to Wendy's to see if we could find that part. We drove all the way over to Wendy's which was about 20 minutes or so. No part. The piece on the stroller was broken. That is just the way it was going to be. I finally got the nerve and called Heather and let her know. She took it well. I knew she was really upset inside. She was right we probably should have just taken the other double stroller that was older. What's done is done.
Michael and I decided not to talk about it anymore and enjoy the rest of the trip. Josh was oblivious to the piece of the stroller that was broken.
Time for the rehersal dinner. I got the boys ready for the rehersal dinner. Heather had specific outfits from them to wear. I followed the instructions from when Heather packed and got them ready. I was proud of my two young men. We were in for a fun time.
We arrived at the rehersal dinner. My boys are all boy which I do not complain about, but it does make it hard at dinners. Jennifer watched the boys during the rehersal which went together without a hitch.
Time to eat. The boys wanted chicken fingers (which was offered at the dinner). I really didn't a chance to eat. I was making sure that the boys were behaving. My family has a lot of little girls. Little girls are wired differently then boys. Boys have a harder time sitting still at a dinner like this. The boys were no different. I had to make sure Michael did not run crazy. We sat a table with Rosey and their kids. Josh and Michael did fabulous. We had a few run ends, but nothing too significant.
After the rehersal dinner we headed back to the hotel and hit the sack. The wedding was tomorrow we needed some rest.
The boys slept great! Michael got to sleep with Daddy all night and Josh as always slept great. Josh is a great sleeper. He has been since we adopted him.
I need to entertain these guys all day at the hotel without making them too tired because it was going to be a late one. I decided our plan was to go swimming, play cars in the hall (that is always fun), eat lunch, take a nap and head to the wedding. I wanted to make sure I had myself and the boys ready a bit earlier so as to not have to rush.
I got the boys all ready for swimming after eating breakfast at the hotel.
Time to play cars in the hall. We had brought with us some match-box cars. We sat in the hall at the hotel and drove the cars around. Fun stuff. Then we played with the toys in our room. The boys and I took our nap. Both boys fell asleep. What a blessing! I knew it was going to be a late night.
Time to get ready for the wedding! I had 2 boys to get ready to look great as well as make sure I was ready with the tux. No problems. We ended up being one of the first ones there. Andy and Jennifer were getting there too. Jennifer was really going to be a big help for me during the wedding.
It was picture time. The photographer seemed to have a hard time taking charge and telling them what poses to take. But, I wanted to make sure we had some of the boys.
The boys were not in the wedding. Michael a bit of a hard time with this, since he understood what it was to "be in a wedding". Especially, during picture time. He wanted to be in the pictures of the wedding party and everything, but I explained everything to him and he was ok with it, but I could tell it bothered him. Josh didn't really care.
There were plenty of pictures of the whole family which included Josh and Michael so they had plenty of pictures to be in. Once they started taking these pictures, Michael seemed a lot better.
Wedding time - The boys did great! Not a peep. Jennifer had got them a new toy for the wedding. Go Jennifer! Thanks for all your help!
After the wedding, it was time for the reception. The reception was a sit down dinner at a hotel in Danville. It was a nice rustic look place.
It was time for the dancing. Michael and Josh love to dance. They have had a lot of experience within the last 6 months at wedding dancing receptions.
We stayed until late in the night. Michael, Josh and I were exhausted! It was 10:30 and storm was moving in. We helped Pa and Grandma carry some gifts out to the car and close things down. Everyone else had already left. I worked out a time to hand my tuxedo off to Pa so he could drop it off for me the next day. I actually was going to let the boys sleep and then drop the tuxedo off. Pa and Grandma were only a few rooms down at the hotel.
What a day! I was so proud of my boys! We had a great time!
Boys, of course, slept great again. It helps to wear them ragged during the day. Then they will sleep all night. We needed to get up and leave in time to be able to make our flight to Atlanta. I was a little stressed about this because you can never predict the traffic to get through New York City nor how busy security will be at the airport in New York City.
We got up, ate breakfast and headed out. We ran into Pa and Grandma at breakfast and was able to say goodbye to them. Everyone else was at the other hotel (Besides Andy and Jennifer). Andy tried to organize a simple Church Service for everyone Sunday morning. I had to head out so I wasn't able to make it.
I got the DVD going and headed out. About 15 minutes into the ride the DVD went dead. O No something was wrong. Had it broke? I couldn't work on it while I was driving. I stopped and took a few minutes to look at it and couldn't get it going. I was thinking that this could be a problem on the plane. I had charged it up the night before and everything to make sure we were going to be alright.
When Jermey said he was going to get married in PA, I promised Michael and Josh we would see Toys R Us in Manhattan as well "the lady". When we stayed here on Wednesday night we did not have time to head down to battery park to see the lady. I really wanted to make sure I followed through with this promise. Michael was insistant that he wanted to see the Lady. I really didn't want to let him down, plus I knew we wouldn't be back up to New York for years with them since Jermey was moving. I figured the best thing to do was to go to the Statue of Libery Park on the Jersey side. It would be easier to get to and park to see "the Lady".
We stopped at the park. We didn't have much time. We had about 30 minutes to walk down to the water and look at the Lady.
Things were going great until we tried to get over to Manhattan over one of the bridges. I was planning to get gas when we got near the airport. I was stressed because now I was really low on gas. My gas light actually had come on. I couldn't run out of gas in Manhattan with 2 kids under 5. What was I going to do. I was still sitting in the traffic not sure how much longer I would sit there. I decided to start conserving electricity. I turned off the AC and rolled down the windows. It was sticky. I was low but I could make it to the airport. Traffic stopped! We moved very very slowly to get through Manhattan to LaGuardia. I was able to finally get into a gas station to fill up. I decided to go ahead and use this fill up as the official fill up before dropping the rental car off. Then a huge thunderstorm came. Heavy Heavy rain and wind while trying to drive through Manhantan. This was tough. We sat in the traffic for a long long time.
I was starting to get the stressful feeling that I was going to miss our flight. I dropped off the car about one hour and a half before our flight left. I didn't not feel comfortable. I felt we were going to miss our flight.
The boys and I walked into the terminal at LaGuardia. The line was for ever! I normally would have electronic tickets to try to speed up the process. I tried at the hotel, but I couldn't them to print. So I actually had checked all of us, but couldn't print the boarding tickets. Great this will make the check in process a bit more interesting. I should have pushed the envelope and got with the front desk to make sure to get the boarding passes printed but I didn't. Now I have to wait in this huge line with a 5 year old and 2 year old who are wiggly anyways. I waited and waited. It was obvious that I was probably going to miss my flight. The line was moving incredibly slow. Finally, someone from the airline noticed my struggle and came to help me out. He checked me in. It took forever to get checked in. During the check in they delayed the flight by 1 hour due to the thunderstorm so I had some time to get to the plane. The bell man was very helpful! I didn't have enough cash to give him the tip he deserved, but I gave him what I had. Not sure if he was happy about that. We both went on. I headed to security and to the gate. Arriving at the gate I noticed the plane was postponed a bit more.
I arrived at the gate and we were delayed even more. Obviously, now I am not worried about missing the flight (already at the gate). By the way, I would have actually missed the original flight if it would have left on time. They didn't know when the flight would leave New York.
I was within a terminal at LaGuardia delayed waiting on the plane to arrive. The gate at LaGuardia are not for children and families. The waiting area is small and compact. There is not much room to sit and wait on the flights. There are no windows to look out. There were people everywhere.
Another thunderstorm hit and the airport was closed until the storm was over. The boys didn't want to just sit and wait. They were hungry, bored and wanted to just get home. I walked them in the stroller back and forth within the gate. There was almost not enough room to move the stroller down the aisle. After about an hour of this they were tired of their toys. Both Josh and Michael were beginning to cry. Now we are in a very small gate at LaGuardia Airport, people everywhere, no one was having fun at this time, it was hot, we were all hungry, we were all tired. I stopped by the snack stand and began getting them some snacks to keep them busy. I got Michael an Airplane Magizine and Josh a Train magizine to look at the pictures of. This helped me out for about 30 more minutes. The plane was scheduled to leave at 3:30 and it was now 6:00 (dinner time). It was going to be a 3 hour flight back to Atlanta from New York. We needed to eat some more so they wouldn't get too hungry. There was no restruant within our gate just snack stands. We ate the food at snack stands for dinner.
I had packed enough diapers for Josh as if we were delayed about an hour. You can't fly into Atlanta without expecting some sort of delay. The hour was way up.
I started to smell something horrible. O No Josh has gone stinky. I need to change it up. I decided to just change it there, but shield it for others to see. Josh had eaten different things and this was now more evident. Both boys were pretty miserable at this time. I only had 1 more diaper left I needed to ration to get back.
We heard that the plane that we were going to get on was circling the city during the storm and had to leave to Philadelphia due to lack of fuel. Then we heard they loaded too much fuel into the plane and had to remove some fuel so they weight distribution in Philadelphia would be ok. This is taking for ever!!
It was now 7:00. We had been at the airport since around 2:00. 5 hours! That is a long time for a 5 year old and 2 year old. I was still walking back and forth within the gate. Not much room for a stroller, but to be honest, at this time I didn't really care.
I had some help from some mothers who I guess saw my distress signal. They let our kids play with their kids. But, soon Josh and Michael got borred with that. I decided my cut-off time was going to be 8:30. If we do not have a plane ready by then I would call it a day.
I set a drop dead date in which I would go and get a hotel and change my reservation. I decided if they plane had not arrived by 8:45 I would go get a hotel room.
At 8:30 they made an announcement that the plane had landed and they getting all the people off the plane. Good to hear, but it is getting late.
Finally, after 6 hours of waiting we boarded the plane. We were finally on our way. No hotel room was necessary since I would be home.
Our boys were tired. That was miserable wait! The kids were crying and it was cramp and dirty.
Our boys didn't need the DVD, but went straight to sleep. After about an hour into the flight I started to smell something really bad. Josh had exploded in his diaper! Not good timing! I had no diapers left. How miserable was that! I was able to get him to sleep after his explosion. The smell was getting stronger. What to do?
In flying down to Nashville the stewartist allowed me to hold Josh. I told her would scream if I put him in his seat (where he belonged). She allowed me to hold Josh since he was sleeping). When we arrived and got our luggage, Heather had a diaper with her. We changed Josh's diaper. He was miserable, it was sore and stained on his skin.
What a flight? We finally got home around 2:00 in the morning!
What a trip! We had a great time besides the 6 hour delay in New York. That can ruin some trips, but not ours. We fixed the problem eventually.
What a great trip and time with the family!
