I have to apologize because we have been offline for a while, but I'll get to that. I'm starting with pictures from other things like the Vodka tasting and the Amandas' visit because this is mainly a rant and there are no pictures for the workings of my mind yet....
When John said that there was a
conference to attend for Ferris in
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| Don't know what I'm doing, but Oscar looks cute |
Feb, I said that me and Oscar would be there with bells on. Any chance to get to the Big Easy is one to be grabbed. I also thought that this would be a good dry run for the Europe trip and if I have bitten off more than I can chew in that endeavor. It’s been a while since John and I have been on a plane, we’ve been traveling by car since the Bean was born and I had to break out the ziplock bags, think about what would fit and pare down some of the crap that I was taking. And the days of packing the night before are surely out the window because even the evenings are taken up with Oscar
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| Amandas are not recognized in pictures now by Oscar |
needing care, so I had to factor in when I was working, when I could get done with paperwork, when things had to be ready to go, going to Grand Rapids the night before the flight to stay with friends so we didn’t have the drive in the morning on top of the usual “what’s the weather going to be where I’m going” stuff that you have to think about when you fly. The weekend before this
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| Ali wins the vodka tasting and salmon vodka is her prize |
trip is when I realized that I needed to check TSA to see if Oscar’s packets of food were going to be considered contraband….the day before we printed out boarding passes was when I first thought about the fact that we might have to bring the Bean’s passport because how were we going to prove he was ours at an airport….these are things that I’ve never had to think about before
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| White Nights party hit everyone harder than we thought |
and didn’t think about until the day before we’re leaving this time. Logistics are everything here and I’ve been going over them night and day since last Thursday and yet, I know things will still go wrong, that’s the way when you travel. I couldn’t have asked for two better days at work leading up to this because I didn’t have to take paperwork home either night. I got to finish packing Monday
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| Keeping it classy, mozzarella stick and bowtie |
night and head home at 4:30 Tuesday for the final packing of the car and drive to Grand Rapids. John and I have always had the verbal checklist: “do we have the boarding passes, meds, suitcases, passports….” This trip, we had to make two separate lists of things to do and check on before we went, and then everything we had to double check that we had in the car with us before we left. Oscar wasn’t on the list of things to take with us, but probably should have been. You get so caught up in the other stuff that you might
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| Oscar can eat a banana all by himself now |
forget the most important things that hide, like the suitcase that has sat out for a couple of days being filled up and has now become part of the visual landscape to your eye… When John looked at the itinerary again, he noticed that we leave GR at 5:30….AM!!!!!! What the hell were we thinking when we booked that flight? I know that it was the cheapest and we were trying to maximize the
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| he also is a zombie because he chewed up the brain mold |
time spent in New Orleans, but holy mother of Methuselah that is early. TSA had to be emailed to find out that they will let baby food on if it’s accompanied by, get this, a baby. They’re apparently going to look at you strangely and most likely look at you more carefully when you’re bringing baby food through without one….and apparently every airline can make their own decision
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| too much Walking Dead with daddy |
about what to require for a baby, TSA requires nothing, but Southwest required the original birth certificate. So, that got added to the list and when John was getting out the documentation, he got out the passports as well and pointed out that mine expires this year. So, all this grand planning about a Europe trip this summer is moot if we don’t fly home by June 6th, because I’ll be illegal after that. So, must take care of that soon too….And to top everything else off, Oscar had a fever when we got home Monday night…so calling the pediatrician in the morning went to the top of the to do list. It never spiked really
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| The mode of transport that we didn't bring on this trip |
high and he didn’t have any other symptoms except wanting to sleep a lot and cuddling, so we’re hoping teething and the pediatrician said not to worry unless it continues for 3 days at the low grade level, so the baby thermometer got added to the packing list also. I’m already learning that any travel with a child is going to involve being fluid and ready to roll with changes. I better get those skills down pat, because I can stress out a little when things don’t go my way.
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