The Flight (a.k.a. Part 2)

Okay, so I know that it has been too long since I updated the blog, so I apologize, dearly. We are finally starting to get settled in. More on that later.

As for the flight out here (Part 2 of 2). Everything went very fast getting to the plane. We got to the airport and I dropped off Amy and Elijah with the luggage. Well, everything but Malachi's little Elmo rolling backpack. He wanted to keep it with him. We then returned the rental car and we rode the shuttle bus back to the terminal. As we were approaching the terminal, I received a text message from Amy asking how far away we were. She said Elijah was pushing all of the wrong buttons. Go figure. We were just getting started and he was getting into rare form.

Well, I got there and we checked in our bags. It was quite the site. We had four suitcases we were checking. We were also bringing aboard our laptop bags, Malachi's backpack, a diaper bag, Elijah's backpack, an umbrella stroller, and a small suitcase we put our electronics in. While checking our bags, Malachi decided to go behind the counter to see what was going on. I mean all the way around, not just peer around the corner. Surprisingly, the ticket agents were okay and just laughed. I expected a sneer or stink eye. Guess I was stereotyping the airline industry.

After checking our bags, we went and got some food at a Chili's in the baggage claim area. Somehow during this time we managed to convince Malachi to get into the stroller. I think we bribed him with a banana. This really helped out because lugging everything around and also trying to contain him had become an Olympic event. We then proceeded to security, which went surprisingly well. It certainly took a while with all of our stuff, but we made it through without any issues.

Once we got onto the plane, we settled in and it was actually pretty uneventful. A little jostling between the boys for the window, but we eventually convinced Malachi to sit in the middle between Amy and Elijah. The flight was uneventful (which is never a bad thing). We ate shortly after taking off, and it was not long before Malachi fell asleep, and then Elijah. I think M slept for a little more than 2 1/2 hours, which was great. He needed it. Elijah also slept for about an hour and a half. I think I nodded off too. We had the boys switch seats for the landing so Malachi could see out the window.

Interestingly, the arrival was good. We were able to gather all of our stuff off the plane without too much issue. We took our time, let a bunch of people behind us go first, but it worked. When we got to the baggage claim our bags were there. It was awesome! I was actually going to get the rental car and then come get Amy and Elijah (taking M with me), but they were there. It was quite the chore getting the bags on a cart and to the rental car pickup, dropping the suitcase of electronics along the way. We were able to get going pretty quickly and stopped at Portillos for the famous Chicago style hotdogs. I think we made it to the hotel by 10:00. Whew!! It was a long day, starting out in Roseville, CA at 6:30 in the morning, and ending in Crystal Lake, IL at 10:00 at night, 2012 miles away. Interesting day.