Long and probably boring post for those who didn't experience the trip. I left out a lot of details, because of the whole anonymity thing, but I think I got across how pleased I was at how well the trip went. Three little girls can be overwhelming, but on this trip, things went well and they weren't!
Our trip...
You may recall that I created a problem for myself. The meeting still occurred. It went VERY WELL. I "fixed" the problem by having MWH take K (3) and N (5) on the original flight, and I got another flight for myself and T. (Thank you MWH for being so understanding!) Since T (21 months) was a lap baby, this fix did cost money, but was the cheapest solution to the problem.
K did GREAT for MWH. N had a meltdown, but I never would have guessed! N is a daddy's girl, so who would have thought she wouldn't have been absolutely wonderful. T was a handful for me, but that's 'cause she wanted her own seat, and didn't want to be buckled. I didn't want her to sit by herself without being buckled. She screamed and squirmed a lot because of this.
T and I flew on S*out*hwest Airlines. We were on almost a full flight, but because she looked like such a troublemaker, we had a row of seats with only one other person who was brave enough to sit with the toddler that is T! I couldn't believe no one would sit with us, and though I felt a little rejected, I got over it because we had extra room!
We flew back Sunday night instead of Monday to avoid the craziness of the last day of a holiday weekend, and it worked. The airport wasn't crowded at all. We even had 6 seats for the 5 of us (not on S*W). Yippee! (That is a word T learned over the weekend, by the way. More on that soon.)
Sleeping arrangements
We all were in a very large guest room together... All. 5. of. us. T did not stay in that room the last night. Every hour she woke up saying "Nole me now, Mama." When we moved her to her own room, we all slept better. Note to self.... Make sure T has her own space for sleeping!
The family
MWH's family really is great. His Mom worries about interferring and is perhaps the best Mother-in-law because of that. I know she has opinions, but she rarely expresses them. Maybe if we were around more, she'd do so. When we left, I told MWH's Mother there was a plane ticket with her name on it anytime she wanted to come down and visit.
MWH's Mother just retired, and now she's a little bored. I hope she takes me/us up on visiting. Both MWH and I expressed to her how we just wanted HER to visit. His Dad is, um, um, different. He's very opinionated and he's always right. That's probably the nicest way to put it. I'll leave it there.
MWH's brother and his wife are just wonderful. We stayed with MWH's parents instead of his brother this time. MWH and his brother just talk and talk and talk and talk when they get together. Many people think of MWH as a quiet guy. All I have to say is that they've never seen MWH with his brother. MWH says I talk with his brother's wife as much as he talks with his brother. It's probably true, but I talk a lot with everyone. Heh.
His wife took me and all 3 little girls to visit a friend of mine from graduate school.* It was so amazing that it worked out for this to happen. I had been meaning to call my friend, but life is so crazy that I never managed to get it done. She has 3 boys (each about 4 years older than my girls--could we have a perfect match for the future?). We had all 6 kids together at my friend's house. It was insanely noisy!**
We also got to see MWH's sister. She's a fabulous cook and dessert-maker. She's also really smart and has an interesting career. She and her husband have a great DINK lifestyle.... (He had kids from a previous marriage.) They go to Hawaii all the time, have a fabulous house, and work insane amounts.
Activities
Not a lot.... We hung out... We played a lot with the little girls. I saw my friend! MWH's brother chased and entertained the little girls a lot. I am eternally in his debt--I am not exhausted. He had fun and the girls loved him! They miss their Uncle _____! N has talked about him many times and said how much she misses him.
Summary
The flight to see MWH's family is pretty short and it was a lovely trip. MWH was/is very busy at work, so it wasn't the best time for us to go, but it NEVER is. I was so stressed before the trip, and the night before the trip I looked at MWH and said something like, "Want to cancel?" Neither MWH or I like to travel, but now that it's over, I am very glad we went and amazed at how good it was.
I'll have to see if I can get MWH to weigh in on this post... It's so weird doing the documentation for the family... I can't wait until the girls are older and participate and help me remember. I don't like it all from my perspective.
*She knows my friend because I introduced MWH's niece to my friend. MWH's niece babysits for the 3 little boys. I didn't realize that the connection had really worked, but it had. I am thrilled!
**Note that MWH did not go with us ... He can handle a lot, but he couldn't have handled 6 kids in one house! Heh.
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