Since Memorial Day Weekend fell early again this year, we were able to hang out at home for the holiday and pack a suitcase for a little trip to North Carolina the following weekend. My mom's birthday is May 30th which means it often coincides with the holiday weekend making travel and planning extra hectic. But this year, we followed the same pattern as last and enjoyed a restful weekend at home before flying down to NC on the day of her birthday. With Elisa's absences at school still something I don't want to exploit, I was cautious to only pull her for half a day. Nacho was working that morning and would land about an hour before our flight. If we timed it perfectly, I could hop in a taxi and take the girls to the airport, while meeting up with him to board. And it almost worked. The taxi I snagged was a pleasant older man who chatted easily about his own kids, and seemed more than happy to make a detour to Elisa's school to pick her up. Once I had signed her out and explained to Ms. Z that no, we were not "going to Spain for a wedding" that same day, we were off. We checked in, made it through security and had Pat La Frieda burgers ordered by the time I got a text from Nacho that he was on his way to meet us. It was all working out so well. Until we missed making it on the flight.
That's the thing about traveling standby. As much as we prepped and looked at flight schedules and loads, it didn't matter. There was a mechanical delay on another RDU-bound flight which made all those people jump ship and fill up our otherwise empty 2:30 flight. And so it goes. We opted to pull our bags, which almost worked until we found out that the booster seat didn't make it off. Oh well. Our chance of going to Greensboro instead of Raleigh just vanished, but the silver lining was jumping over to the delayed RDU flight which took off about an hour later and was completely empty because all the defectors had crowded on our original flight. So the girls got little goodie bags from the first class flight attendant and we were happy to make it to NC by late afternoon. The day was going to work out just fine. After landing we swung into McDonald's to grab dinner on the road and Elisa was delighted to see how the arm rest folded down in the rental car making it like a real restaurant. She said I was the best mom ever for knowing it did that. It's the little things, I guess. Anyway, we drove and drove for almost 3 hours and made it to mom and dad's by about 9:30 p.m. Not exactly how I wanted her birthday dinner to go, but what can you do? We made it, finally. And there were smoked ribs and steak, potatoes and corn and we let the girls unwind and play while we dined. Getting to bed close to midnight was just the beginning of a weekend of letting things slide.
my little water Buddha showing me her lotus pose
Grandma was a bubble making machine
Meanwhile, Grandpa delighted in splashing the girls though Carolina was determined to pay him back
Grandma's pet frog...goes for a swim with the girls
All in all, the weekend flew by too fast. After our late night arriving, I was worried the girls would be up at the crack of dawn. And they almost were. Waking a little after 6 a.m., Elisa came out and tapped me on the shoulder whispering "Good morning." Uh, no. Get back in that bed! I thought. I settled for her taking my spot on the pullout sofa while I jumped into the bed with Carolina offering her milk in exchange for a few more hours of shut eye. And to my surprise it totally worked. We slept in til just after 10 a.m. A true traveling miracle. I seriously, can't remember the last time one of these kids slept so late in their own time zone. So we lounged around home all day Saturday, letting the girls ride their bike/scooter on the driveway, follow Grandma around the yard checking out the garden and the plants, and splashing away in the kiddie pool. It was restful and relaxing even if the girls never actually napped. I put them in the guest room for over an hour and listened to them giggle and talk and play. I finally decided to give up and they still managed to make it up til close to 10 p.m. We ordered Mexican food for Grandma's delayed birthday dinner, and the girls enjoyed at least 3 ice cream treats in one day. It was good to be back. And although we had to skip out early on Sunday morning, we managed to make it to Raleigh in time to share a quick lunch with Stacey and the kids at Burger Fi. It softened the blow of leaving and we promised to get back down to visit after school is out and we're back from our trip to Spain. Crazy that we're talking about July already! But the summer always goes too fast. Here's to seeing them again soon.
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