Chapter 1: Airport and Wedding

Well we made it! We all survived our first trip as a family. I had been calling it a vacation, but have since learned that traveling with children does not qualify as a vacation, but a trip. All in all, it was a great trip though. We were all a bit worn out upon arriving home, but it was a good worn out. We had a ton of fun and made a lot of great memories.

So much happened and I have so many pictures to post that I thought this would be best to do in a few installments. So we'll begin with the first 3 days.

After lots of planning, a ton of lists and way too much packing, we have everything ready for the trip.

(This is how I looked/felt after making sure I had everything we needed to bring...and then some.)

Friday morning we finish the last few things that have to be done and got ready to take off. We load up the kids and the car and head for the airport. When we get to the airport my mom helps unload the kids and Todd and I grab the bags. Right when we are about to say bye togrammy and go check our bags I turn to Todd and ask "Do you have Makenna's backpack?" (mind you, this backpack has ALL of the entertainment and bribes I have packed for Makennain order to survive the 4 hour flight). He turns to me and says "No" I say "You put it in the car, right?" He looks at me..."No". I try my best to not panic at that moment and my mom, the saint that she is, rushes back home to grab the backpack and get it back to us before our flight takes off. So we spend the next 40 minutes pacing the airport, let Makenna burn some energy and pray she makes it in time...which she does. So we let out a big sigh of relief and learn a valuable lesson...count all the bags to make sure you have everything before leaving. But this moment sort of sets the stage for the rest of the day....
Our flight out is about 20 minutes delayed, which is a bit frustrating since we are standing in a crowded terminal that is under construction. Take that and add an anxious, excited, energetic 2 1/2 year bouncing around wanting to get on the plane and a very loud 8 1/2 month old yelling and squawking every time someone makes an announcement over the speakers and it all equals one hectic, stressful moment. However, we make it on the plane and the flight goes very well...better than I could have hoped for. Makenna loved it and was such a good girl! It was fairly easy to keep her entertained and when we landed she was sad and announced that she wanted us to go back up in the air way up high. Kellen did a good job as well. He was his usual happy, loud self and only got fussy for a bit. He eventually slept for awhile which was a relief to us all.

Our excited, first time fliers!

Todd being a trooper and taking Makenna up and down the escalator to keep her entertained. He did such an amazing job at keeping his cool and staying calm during all the madness!

When we get in to Chicago it is about 10pm Chicago time. The kids are tired, Todd and I are worn out and hungry (they didn't feed us dinner on the flight) and we still need to get our bags, our rental car and drive the 40 minutes to the hotel.

So we head down to the baggage area and Todd loads up our 5 suitcases on a cart while I keep the kids in line. He then leaves the baggage with me while he stands in line to check in for our rental car. While waiting with the luggage Makenna announces she has to go potty. So I yell over to Todd that I am running to the bathroom for a moment and leave the luggage there. We rush over to the potty, take care of business and rush out, since I am nervous to have our baggage unattended. After that we head to the parking garage to get the rental car. After a little more hassle our mini van finally pulls up. Todd gets the car seats installed while I continue to try and keep the kids happy and entertained and out of the parking lot. Finally, we are ready to load the car and get underway. We load everything and everyone up and are about to get in ourselves when I look over at Todd and say "Have you seen my purse?" (Sound a bit familiar?) He says "No. Where did you put it?" I thought I had set it in the car, so Todd unloads all the baggage again to check and see if it is there...and it's not. We look under seats, under the car, everywhere around the area. Todd runs downstairs and retraces our steps through baggage claim....nothing. No sign of the purse at all. By now it is after 11:00 and the kids (and parents) are getting quite tired and cranky. We decide it would be wise to cancel the credit cards, since at this point we believe the purse was stolen. Todd takes care of that while I keep the ranks in line. Once that is done Todd decides we should file a police report, just in case. A very kind retired Chicago police officer says he has some contacts he could call for us. While he is on the phone Todd's cell starts to ring. He looks at it and, to his shock and surprise, the caller is Amanda McKamey. He answers and a man named Ozzy is on the other end. His wife had found a purse in the bathroom at the Chicago airport. (Whoopsie). They had figured out that Todd was my husband since his name was on my checks with me, so they called and gave us directions to a place we could meet them to pick up the purse. So we drive about 15-20 minutes to a marina in downtown Chicago and wonderful, amazing Ozzy and his wife show up with the purse. Todd gives the woman a hug and thanks them profusely.

Not many people are as lucky and blessed as we were to run into such kind people through this crazy adventure. It was truly an answer to silent prayers!!

So finally, at about 12:45 we start heading to the hotel. We hit some traffic due to an overturned semi on the freeway, enjoy a pop tart and some candy for dinner, and make it to the hotel at about 2 am. When we get there the kids wake up in their car seats exhausted and confused. They both scream their heads off the entire way up to the room and cry as we struggle to get our luggage unloaded and the beds set up for them. But eventually around 2:30 am they both pass out.

At this point I think both Todd and I are so exhausted and worn out physically, emotionally and mentally that we are just numb. I figure at that point that this is either foreshadowing as to how the entire trip is going to be, or we are getting all the bad stuff out of the way and the rest of the trip will be a breeze. Stay tuned to fine out...

Hotels with kids...aahhhh...

On Sunday we were able to attend Todd's younger brothers wedding. Bob and April were a gorgeous bride and groom and the ceremony and reception were great and a ton of fun. Todd was a groomsman and Makenna was the flower girl. I made April no promises as to how well Makenna could do...she is an unpredictable little toddler. She looked absolutely adorable in her dress and with her basket of flowers. I didn't want to make anything a big deal to her because I was afraid it would put too much pressure on her and make her get nervous and shy. So we just told her that she would walk up after Daddy did and would walk to mommy and sit by her. I was going to be on an isle seat in the second row. However, when I went in to take my seat Right before the ceremony began, there was no isle seat available. Everyone began walking up. It wasMakenna's turn. I told Grandpa McKamey to wave to her and coax her our way. But I think she didn't see him since she was supposed to be looking for me. So when she was about 1/4 of the way there she burst into tears. She kept going and got about half way and then turned around and started running away yelling "Mama, mama!" I jumped up and everyone pointed her my way and she turned around and ran, crying, up the isle to me. At least she made it all the way up the isle, right? I felt a bit bad for Makenna, but thought it was all quite cute and funny. Hopefully the bride agreed :)

The handsome groomsman

My little flower girl in her princess dress.

My bald little stud muffin!

The wedding party.

Grandma and Grandpa with the big boy

Makenna tore up the dance floor! The girl is a dancing fool!

Gotta love those special Daddy/Daughter moments!

All in all it was a crazy, but fun time in Chicago! And this was only the first 2 days! Thankfully, the rest was not quite as eventful...in a very good way. It was certainly a trip to remember.