I’m writing this from my own bed at 6:30am - we made it home safely and everyone seems to have slept through the night - yay and yay!
We were awake almost 24 hours yesterday, made even longer for me … that dinner Thursday night that I said wasn’t good? Well, even worse, it gave me food poisoning. We discovered Thursday that the girls beds had trundles, so Lauren slept there and Abby slept in the twin above her and I slept in their room for the last night - got me out of the bed I disliked - ha! I woke up at 12, 1, 2 and thought I was just nervous about missing my 4am alarm, but then at 3 I woke up with terrible diarrhea. GI issues are never fun, but on a travel day?! Thank goodness Jeff travels with Imodium ever since his GI issues when we were in Costa Rica years ago, so I took some and got ready. I will spare any more details because I think I have coworkers reading this blog - hahaha - but it was a harrowing travel day for me.
So, Jeff is usually our Sherpa - he had a big backpack and our two rolling duffel bags and he just hauls everything like it’s no big deal. Yesterday in addition to all that, he wore my backpack on his front so all I had to carry was my little day bag and hold the girls’ hands. So … 5:05 we headed out. It was so interesting to see Venice in the dark and with NO people! We saw a few workers out early getting deliveries from boats, but that was it. And a giant rat (we had seen a super cute baby one our the day before, but seeing a big one run past us at 5am was less cute!).
We had about a 5 min walk to a dock for our taxi. It was a beautiful boat! We all got inside with our luggage and he took off - down the grand canal for a while and then a smaller side one. And then we were in the lagoon. I wish we could have seen more - we were tucked in the back of the boat and it was very dark. Abby and I both did surprisingly well on the boat and we got to the airport in about 25 min. We passed the runways well before we docked, which was evidenced by how far we had to walk to get to the check in counters! Definitely the coolest way I’ve ever arrived at an airport.
The airport itself was nice and clean - easily the cleanest we’ve been in in 2 weeks. We got there so early the British Airways desk wasn’t open yet, but it was good timing because we were about 8th in line and by the time they did open the line was 40 deep. And they moved slow and we’re grumpy.
Anyway, got checked in and too our gate. First flight was uneventful - about 2 hours and on a normal size plane. I sat with both girls and Jeff was across the isle. Girls did their tablets and I finished a book.
When we got to Heathrow we had to take a bus to a different terminal and then walk through a massive duty free shop and sit in a giant waiting area until our gate was announced. Jeff ran around trying to find food for everyone - he got yogurt, chips, and fruit for the girls - they were thrilled. I think he had a sandwich. He tried everywhere but could not find a banana for me. I asked to apple juice and plain Pringles - got the juice in me which gave me a little energy. I even went so far as to walk over to a guy near us eating a banana and ask him where he got it, but it was from his hotel.
The girls did great waiting when the had food and tablets, but when we moved to the gate area they got crazy. Lauren said “I’m bored” so much that the guy sitting behind us jokingly offered us Benedryl. We got on the plane and ended up with and extra seat - Lauren had a window and Jeff sat on the aisle, Abby and I were in the middle w another lady. We were going to claim 3 window side seats ahead of Jeff, but right before we moved a single lady jumped in them. Oh well.
The girls did well on the flight - and it was long, over 8 hours. Halfway through when Lauren got up to use the bathroom we shuffled seats because Abby was trying to lay down to nap by kept putting her feet on the lady next to us. I envisioned leaning up against the window and letting her sleep on me so we could both rest! But Lauren wanted to sit by me so I kept my seat with her and Jeff took Abby. She was crying for me for about 5 min (which feels a lot longer in a plane!) and he just snuggled her and got her to sleep (the lady behind me commented on it when we were debarking - that Jeff did a good job and the girls did great).
They served so much food on this flight! I didn’t eat anything but half a bag of mini pretzels and about 3 Pringles. And a Coke. But they did drinks/pretzels, then came around with lunch (chicken with rice, which Jeff said was really tender, or pasta- I got a tray without an entree for Abby and she ate salad, crackers, and the roll), then about 3 hours before we landed they brought ice cream (even Abby woke up from her nap for that! Lauren ate mine and hers!) that was hard as a rock - curious about their freezer situation on board! And then a couple hours before landing they did drinks and wraps - Jeff said the bbq chicken was pretty good and they also had a tomato/pesto one.
We taxied so long at O’Hare for so long that both Lauren and I fell asleep. We walked forever to get to passport control, but the girls did great - there were people movers/moving sidewalks which they love and we’re just generally happy to be moving, I think. When we got queued up (notably no family line like we found everywhere in Europe) they asked for chocolate (they seriously need a sugar detox) and that kept them happy - I think we only waited about 10 min. Our bags came quickly, we took the train to a different terminal where we parked, and we were off!
When we got to Ohare two weeks ago, all the far lots were full, so they gave us a coupon to park in the structure connected to the airport for the same rate … so we got to park super close and the coupon saved us $360!!! Anyway, $200 for two weeks of parking was a good deal.
Didn’t take too long to get on 90 and head west - it was drizzling but traffic moved ok. We stopped at an oasis and Jeff and Abby got McDonalds. Poor Lauren was a puddle and luckily slept most of the way home. I had put pull-ups on the girls when we got in the car in case anyone fell asleep and it worked out great because when we got home I carried Abby in (so she wouldn’t run around and get wound up) and threw her in a nightgown and then into bed. I didn’t really expect that she’d stay in while we unloaded the car but she did! Lauren was sobbing in the car that she wanted Culvers and she was so hungry - I carried her in and left her in bed in a tshirt and brought her a glass of OJ and some Kix (thanks, Target pick up order on the way home!) and left her while I brushed my teeth and came back and she was ready to sleep too. It’s now after 7 and I don’t hear anyone, so hopefully this helps us transition back to our time zone in the next couple of days … am I being too hopeful?! We fall back to standard time tonight and not sure how that’ll play in as well.
The only thing we have this weekend (besides laundry and decompressing) is swimming at 9 if people are awake. And a trip to Culvers for Lauren 😊
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