The Adventures of Taking an Adventure

We recently took a family trip out to Pennsylvania. Joey's brother got married out in Pittsburgh. Andy and Jennifer are perfect for each other and we are so excited to have Jennifer as part of our family.

We were able to do a lot during the seven days we were gone. I have so many little stories and a zillion pictures. We might need to separate them into a few different posts :)

This post is going to be about our adventure of just getting to our destination, Pittsburgh. I'll start at the beginning, San Diego Airport awaiting our very first flight of a very exciting, fun filled adventure.

Elijah was very excited about flying inside of an airplane! He was standing against the glass, starring at all the airplanes landing and taking off. He would yell "Ae-pane, Ae-pane". He also does this thing where, if he spots any guy that is some what around Joey's age, height, or hair color he yells out "Daddy!" Even if Joey's right next to him. So of course there were a few guys outside the widow that fit that criteria.

             Here he is twirling in circles with excitement.

Our little Elijah is anything but shy. So of course while walking onto the airplane he makes sure to say hello to every flight attendant working on our plane. He also thanks everyone for doing anything. He is very polite in that way.

 Of course we all know when you load onto a plane, take off is not instantaneous. You have to sit patiently while the air is not turned on yet and every single passengers stench is sitting in the stale air, very ripe, impossible to ignore. This bothered me much more than it did the boys. I just thought I would share my annoyance with you.

 Eli knew we would be flying up in the sky soon, he was very happy, anxious and excited! Which was what was most important. Meanwhile I'm kind of stressing, hoping I've brought enough snacks, crafts, toys and movies to keep the boy occupied during the flight.

Well this was taken minutes after we took off........................

And these, soon after.

Being airsick was some what of a damper to his first flying experience. Soooo pitiful :(

We made it to Houston! Filling up his Houston bag of rocks. These were apparently very important decisions to make. It took a while......

I think we've all had to live through the stress of wondering if you're going to land in time to catch a connecting flight. Joey and I have cut it close a few times now. We're use to the good ole' Home Alone "Run Run Rudolph" dash through the airport. 

Unfortunately our flight from Houston to Chicago was just too much of a delay and we completely missed our flight. We were stuck in Chicago for the night.

Obviously this delay was a bummer. The airline did not cover our hotel stay that night, and we lost one whole night to spend with family.

Some good came out of the three of us missing our flight. Joey and I had some good Chicago pizza and hot wings delivered to our room! 

Most importantly, after Eli getting airsick, having a fever, and being exhausted he was able to get a great night sleep. In his very own BIG bed :)

In the shuttle, for our 2nd attempt to get out of Chicago.

                                   

                  We made it! Rex greeted us as the airport,
                               a great surprise for Eli.

The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children's children.  It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone.  It is in us that their history becomes a future.  ~Charles and Ann M

 

     Marilyn Anderson 1935-2011     

  

Chalmers Richard Smith 1925-2011

Grocery Store Blunder

Well it didn't take long for a story to present itself. It happened yesterday. I was completely embarrassed, it was a "wanna get away?" moment for sure. *Warning- This story contains poop*

This story took place in a grocery store. To tell it properly I will begin at home, before we took off for the store. Eli and I were having a normal day. He was playing with ALL of his toys and had them sprawled out across the whole downstairs of the house. He was spending a lot of his time in his Toy Story tent; he had a lot of his toys in there with him and kept telling me that he was "hiding". He can play and keep himself entertained for quite a while. I thought nothing of it. He came walking up to me after "hiding" for a while and said "stinky". Now let me just say this child of mine would be very happy to sit in his own filth all day long, he does not care when he has a mess in his pants, and would be happy if I never changed his underwear again. (He wears pull-ups we call them underwear). I guess it’s also important to tell you that we're in the midst of potty training. He has "peepee on the potty" pretty much mastered, but of course "poopoo on the potty" has thus far been..... a nightmare.

So need less to say I was very surprised that he came and told me that he was "stinky". I got closer, and the stench hit me like a slap in the face. It was horrid. It was beyond horrid it was unbearable. So unbearable that not even Eli wanted to be around it. 

I wont go into to details, but my kid had the runs. It was a mess. Joey got home a few hours after this. We both decided we were canceling all plans of going to bible study and running any errands that night. We didn't want to take the chance of a "blow out" while we weren't home.
Unfortunately we did have to go to the grocery store. One of those days you realize you have no milk, nothing to fix for dinner and I also had promised my parents I would do the grocery shopping. Either one of us or all three of us had to go. We hesitantly decided for all 3 of us to go, we wouldn't be gone long and we wanted to spend the time together.

While at the grocery store I would keep asking Joey, does he smell, is he stinky? Joey would tell me he didn't smell anything and we would move on to the next aisle. Towards the end of our shopping, while our cart was full, Eli suddenly said "POTTY!" At this point I was so paranoid that he was going to explode everywhere that I was maybe, slightly panicked. We had put the diaper bag in the cart when we had arrived to the store (when I say we, sometimes I just mean me, but I like to blame Joey also, so this is why I say we). So by this time we had piled all of our groceries on top of the bag. I could barely see it under all the yogurts, ice cream, pull-ups, frozen dinners and etc. we had thrown on top of it. Joey had gotten Eli out of the cart; he was standing there holding on to his pants waiting for us to get our act together. Joey was hurrying to pull all of the groceries away so I could get to the diaper bag, I could see it, I could now get to the diaper bag! I quickly pulled the diaper bag up, Joey is still pushing everything to the side, Eli is still standing there watching us panic (and when I say us, I mean me), and out comes the diaper bag.... but not just the diaper bag, the cran-raspberry juice (it was buy one get one free by the way) came with it. As fast as I had pulled the diaper bag out, the juice came just as fast, and even faster to the ground.

Next thing I know, the juice top has broken off, juice has shot across the floor, and not only on the floor but a wave of it came straight for Eli, soaking his pants and shoes. I hurry to pick the juice jug up so it would stop spilling; Joey is running to tell the guy that puts all the fruit out that we've (I've) made a mess. I look at Eli he's still standing in the same spot, starring at me, still holding on to his pants, just starring at me (covered in juice). I'm not sure if it was a look of shock or amazement or horror but he's just looking at me with a blank stare. I look over at Joey and he's standing next to the fruit guy, pointing at me from across the store. Fruit guy yells "Larry, clean up in the meat department. Larry cleanup."

A lady shopper walks buy us and says "Wow". I look down at Eli; he is over the shock and is now starting to jump in the puddle of juice. I pick him up, get the diaper bag and start for the bathroom. And has anyone ever noticed that grocery store bathrooms are always the hardest to find?

Eli and I finally get to the bathroom. I get a new pair of underwear out, I get a bunch of wipes ready, and I look in his pants. No poop. I looked at Eli and said to him, "I thought you said you went poop." And he said "potty", and points to the toilet. All he needed to do was go pee, no explosion, no emergency, no cause for a catastrophe in the grocery, we (I) freaked out for nothing.

P.s- Joey called me while we were in the bathroom, and informed me he was hiding in the frozen food section and would meet us there when we were done.