Bear with me.... it is over a month since we got home, and I am finally posting about our last day. It started off good, with a swim for the crazies and finishing packing. We were able to check our bags right from our hotel, and I spend half an hour shipping the lovely red rifle from the concierge desk. We had some lunch there in the food court and decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours before our bus left. The park was absolutely crazy and full of people. We had to wait half an hour for Pirates, after we had ridden in a boat by ourselves just the night before. So, that was basically all we got accomplished. Dar and Abe rode an extra time, we got ice cream, and the boys got stuffed Pluto and Eeyore as souvenirs. Jack was super cute about hugging him in the store, so that won Daddy over immediately. He now sleeps with him every night. Abe loves his Pluto and still sleeps with him frequently, but he is pretty loyal about switching out stuffed animals.
The boys using our free arcade voucher before the bus ride. Imagine that. They chose a game with guns.
On the bus to the airport. Everybody happy so far.
The bus trip to the airport was uneventful. The plane ride from Orlando to Atlanta was fairly uneventful (other than Dar and I sweating to keep Jack occupied). Getting off the plane was uneventful (other than Jack flirting with all of the flight attendants and securing himself and his brother each a set of "wings" from on of the flight attendants; at which point I turned just in time to see Abe winking and pointing at the flight attendant). And then Dar came up the walkway with our very bent stroller. The double stroller we debated over for quite some time, but decided that it would be a worthy investment since Abe still likes to ride, and now Baby #3 is on the way. Yep, the worthy investment wouldn't even open because it was so bent. So, we got on the flight home with a sick feeling in our stomachs. And while it was a fairly peaceful ride (both boys were asleep before take-off), it was an extremely uncomfortable ride for me because I was trying to keep Jack asleep on top of my pregnant belly for nearly two hours. And then I realized I wasn't being grateful enough. Fog was thick over Bloomington, so we were diverted to Moline at 11 pm on a Saturday night. Oh my. I was in tears and overwhelmingly upset. Our boys, and me, were so unbelievably exhausted, and I just couldn't imagine what the night still held. So, we stumbled off the plane (seriously, I was carrying a sleeping Jack and Abe was basically sleep walking --- I felt so bad that I couldn't just carry him), Dar managed to bend the stroller enough to at least open it, and we headed down to gather all of our luggage. I don't know that I have felt so "out of control" before, but I remember thinking that I was freaked out and this was nothing compared to Moms who must feel this on a much greater level (during natural disasters, war, etc.). What a horrible feeling. My boys were so tired, and so tired of traveling, and I couldn't even find anywhere to buy Jack some milk. Our car was two hours away, and we just wanted to be home. The airline was amazing and had buses there within the half hour to take us all to Bloomington, but even that had me despairing. I couldn't imagine expecting the boys to tolerate a two-hour bus ride. So I prayed. Prayed hard. And they were amazing. It was horribly hectic, but we had seats together, we had found some SoBe juice for Jack, and they slept (albeit uncomfortably on us) for the ride to Bloomington. Dar dashed off to get our car in the zero degree temperatures, and I was left to unload the boys and carry-on bags. Would you believe that some kind soul had set up our double stroller at the bottom of the bus steps? And the bus driver stood there with the shell-shocked Jack while I went on to get our other sleeping boy and bags. A few minutes later, Dar pulled up in the Pilot, we loaded boys and bags and headed the 45 minutes back home in the freezing rain. I have NEVER been so happy to get home. Ever. It was a hectic and not so pleasant end to the trip, but it was a fantastic trip all the same. And now, a month out, I can see all the blessings God provided through the chaos. He always does.
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