Day 18 - One Of Those Days
Inevitably when you travel, especially when you travel for an extended amount of time, you have one of those days. One of those days when you wish you were home. When it's just plain hard. Today was one of those days.
Last night was a pretty brutal night's sleep. Our hotel room was tiny and cramped. Jeff and I were on the hide-a-bed couch and our room was right off the elevator and lobby. The kids coughs were like a symphony in the other room, I had a bar in my back on the lumpy bed, the hotel pillow was huge and my neck was cranked at a 45 degree angle, and the noise from the lobby and the constant beeping of the elevator were enough to drive me batty! After about an hour I decided it was useless to try and sleep so I went to the little hotel store and bought a pair of earplugs in my PJ's. I learned at Girls Camp that ear plugs were like magic! Within a few minutes I was asleep. It was a bit of a fitful sleep but at least I was able to get a few hours during the night.
We had a great (free) breakfast at the hotel and loaded back up in the car but just getting our luggage down to the car started out frustrating. The elevators weren't working and we spent 15 minutes just trying to get down to the lobby. The car was too small so the kids had luggage on their laps. The airport and security weren't too bad. Our flight was a few minutes late but our flight to Atlanta from Miami was pretty easy. Unfortunately our next flight from Atlanta to Norfolk, VA was delayed 2 hours so we spent over 3 hours in the Atlanta airport. Not easy with 5 kids. They went between playing cards and "caves" under the airport seating to running off and Mikey taking a swing at his brothers and sisters with his cast. They fought a ton yesterday too. I guess not even so much fighting as they were just wild and then someone would get hurt and cry. We felt like a circus!
We finally made it to Virginia and then it turned out that they forgot one of our bags. So we spent an extra hour talking to Delta and waiting for the next flight coming from Atlanta to have our bag. And the rental car company that we'd reserved a minivan with did not have any vans. We ended up having to switch companies and they gave us an SUV for the same price but it took some time. The kids were restless, climbing on the baggage carrousel, chasing each other, climbing on the car rental counter, etc., whining about being hungry or wanting candy. At home, I probably would have lost it. I was definitely frustrated but I think because I am the one who planned this trip I feel obligated to make it work. Plus when you are traveling, you are constantly in public and with such a large family, you are always being watched. So I mostly rolled with it and tried to parent nicely even when I wanted to pull my hair out a little.
To be fair, I have to say the kids were actually really good on the plane. They were just tough in the car and in the airport. And they still even had good moments in the airport. We were just in airports today for 6+ hours so there was plenty of time for good and bad moments. :)
We still had an hour drive to the hotel and hadn't fed the kids dinner and it was 7:30pm. Isaac was starving and that is never a good thing for him. He gets super cranky! We stopped by a Firehouse Subs and got sandwiches. Everyone ate except for Isaac. He was the one who was so hungry but when we wouldn't let him get a brownie he decided to boycott dinner and pout on the bench behind us. We just let him. Eventually he gave in but there was very little sandwich left. He had a few bites but I'm sure he'll be starving in the morning!
We ended the day with a swim in the hotel pool. That was the highlight of the day. And it was fun. Isaac was hilarious. He got into this little fitness kick and between swimming laps he would jump out of the pool and do push ups and sit-ups and then race over to Jeff and I and flex and have us feel his muscles to see if they'd gotten bigger. It was pretty cute!
So I've learned that travel days are just hard. Usually we can do a little something at the beginning or the end of the day to make it okay but today that didn't work out. The hard thing about long travel days is that the kids don't get to expend any energy and they are expected to sit still most of the day. So they just get restless and bored and start getting wild and teasing or fighting. And you're in public all day! These younger kids just don't do that well in public. Lots of bumping into other people, barging through packed crowds, crowding personal space, making messes, being loud, touching things in stores, etc. I don't love that. But now we're here and Virginia is beautiful so I am excited to spend time here.
Last night was a pretty brutal night's sleep. Our hotel room was tiny and cramped. Jeff and I were on the hide-a-bed couch and our room was right off the elevator and lobby. The kids coughs were like a symphony in the other room, I had a bar in my back on the lumpy bed, the hotel pillow was huge and my neck was cranked at a 45 degree angle, and the noise from the lobby and the constant beeping of the elevator were enough to drive me batty! After about an hour I decided it was useless to try and sleep so I went to the little hotel store and bought a pair of earplugs in my PJ's. I learned at Girls Camp that ear plugs were like magic! Within a few minutes I was asleep. It was a bit of a fitful sleep but at least I was able to get a few hours during the night.
We had a great (free) breakfast at the hotel and loaded back up in the car but just getting our luggage down to the car started out frustrating. The elevators weren't working and we spent 15 minutes just trying to get down to the lobby. The car was too small so the kids had luggage on their laps. The airport and security weren't too bad. Our flight was a few minutes late but our flight to Atlanta from Miami was pretty easy. Unfortunately our next flight from Atlanta to Norfolk, VA was delayed 2 hours so we spent over 3 hours in the Atlanta airport. Not easy with 5 kids. They went between playing cards and "caves" under the airport seating to running off and Mikey taking a swing at his brothers and sisters with his cast. They fought a ton yesterday too. I guess not even so much fighting as they were just wild and then someone would get hurt and cry. We felt like a circus!
We finally made it to Virginia and then it turned out that they forgot one of our bags. So we spent an extra hour talking to Delta and waiting for the next flight coming from Atlanta to have our bag. And the rental car company that we'd reserved a minivan with did not have any vans. We ended up having to switch companies and they gave us an SUV for the same price but it took some time. The kids were restless, climbing on the baggage carrousel, chasing each other, climbing on the car rental counter, etc., whining about being hungry or wanting candy. At home, I probably would have lost it. I was definitely frustrated but I think because I am the one who planned this trip I feel obligated to make it work. Plus when you are traveling, you are constantly in public and with such a large family, you are always being watched. So I mostly rolled with it and tried to parent nicely even when I wanted to pull my hair out a little.
To be fair, I have to say the kids were actually really good on the plane. They were just tough in the car and in the airport. And they still even had good moments in the airport. We were just in airports today for 6+ hours so there was plenty of time for good and bad moments. :)
We still had an hour drive to the hotel and hadn't fed the kids dinner and it was 7:30pm. Isaac was starving and that is never a good thing for him. He gets super cranky! We stopped by a Firehouse Subs and got sandwiches. Everyone ate except for Isaac. He was the one who was so hungry but when we wouldn't let him get a brownie he decided to boycott dinner and pout on the bench behind us. We just let him. Eventually he gave in but there was very little sandwich left. He had a few bites but I'm sure he'll be starving in the morning!
We ended the day with a swim in the hotel pool. That was the highlight of the day. And it was fun. Isaac was hilarious. He got into this little fitness kick and between swimming laps he would jump out of the pool and do push ups and sit-ups and then race over to Jeff and I and flex and have us feel his muscles to see if they'd gotten bigger. It was pretty cute!
So I've learned that travel days are just hard. Usually we can do a little something at the beginning or the end of the day to make it okay but today that didn't work out. The hard thing about long travel days is that the kids don't get to expend any energy and they are expected to sit still most of the day. So they just get restless and bored and start getting wild and teasing or fighting. And you're in public all day! These younger kids just don't do that well in public. Lots of bumping into other people, barging through packed crowds, crowding personal space, making messes, being loud, touching things in stores, etc. I don't love that. But now we're here and Virginia is beautiful so I am excited to spend time here.
Calvin after he swallowed his cough medicine.
A "good" moment in the Atlanta airport.
"Virginia is for Lovers."
Waiting for our lost bag.
Driving UNDER the Chesapeake River through the tunnel.
Dinner at Firehouse Subs in Williamsburg. The weather here is beautiful. The perfect temperature and the perfect humidity!
Where the Wild Things Are! The kids getting some energy out after we checked into the hotel.
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