The weather this summer has killed me. Really. We dubbed this summer the summer that wasn't. And for 2 of the great weeks in July, first I was sick for a week with a fever (virus, sore throat, etc) and then the boys both got sick for a week. How do we get sick during 2 of the best 4-6 weeks of the year? Just Murphy's Law, I suppose!
I took matters into my own hands and was a willing party to a measure of insanity: I travelled alone with both boys to warmer weather! We made a 5 day trek to Colorado on a direct flight to see the grandparents and to let my bones thaw before fall hits. You know the weather is bad when you are a willing party to this kind of travel!
We allowed a sufficient time to depart, but a 45 minute wait to check the bag made me plead for mercy with a customer service rep to check my bag (the kiosk denied me because I was within an hour of the departure time.) Tears, tears. This man was standing between me and some heat, for crying out loud! The man took my bag and put it through, but told me I would not make it to the gate in time. Those who have known me my whole life know this: You wanna make a bet? I'll take that challenge. Just take my bag and I'll worry about the rest. Game on!
We took off running (literally) through the terminal and I went to the Gold member/pilot check-in and begged for mercy. The kind agent let me through and then I begged at two other security check points to cut in line. Gracious others held Luke while I got situated after going through security and then I took off on a mad dash with an 11 month old and a 4 year old to catch an elevator, a train, and an escalator all before my stinkin' United flight closed the doors. Whew! We made it on board with 3 minutes to spare and about 8-10 people in line behind me. take that, Mr. Customer Service Guy!
OK, so that kind of stress was not my idea of fun, so anything that happened on the flight was a breeze. And it was.
Ahhhh, heat, sweet heat! I had arrived to the paradise of my in-laws house (the backyard really is paradise, as you will see later in the pictures).
The rain somehow followed us our first day, but it was a warmer rain and only lasted a day. We then enjoyed a visit to the Butterflies and a Carnivore Animal Preserve called Wild Animal Sanctuary. I was shocked to learn that there are more tigers in captivity in the state of Texas (people with them in garages, basements, etc.) than there are in the wild in the whole world. Sad, so sad. The tigers were all so hot the day we were there that they were a bit lethargic, but it was good to see them.
We enjoyed lots of Grandma and PaPa time and also helped Uncle Dave celebrate a belated happy birthday. Lots of fun!
On the return flight, I flew Alaska (Amen!) and sailed through check-in, security, etc. Thank goodness, because the flight back was....well, it was bad. Screaming child # 2 was such a hard one to contain, and the lady next to me was none to happy about drawing the short straw and was certain to let me know it! And to top things off, I was so frazzled at the end of the flight that I left Colin's beloved Pooh bear in the overhead bin. I submitted the obligatory online claim the next day but we will never see dear ole' pooh again.
Travel aside, the actual visit was so fun, ESPECIALLY for Colin, so I will share a more upbeat post next with lots of pictures.
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