A delicate balancing act: Part 2

So at home I thought carefully about trying to get myself and 2 kids, our luggage and 2 car seats through the airport, away from baggage claim, and onto a shuttle to the car rental location. Knowing that I'd arrive at 6 am Boston time, even with folks usually being ever so helpful to a mom traveling with kids, I decided it best to be self sufficient and able to haul everything w/o help if needed. This turned out to be a very good choice as by the time all of our luggage arrived (car seats a distant last), everyone had already gone, and all that was left were the other families traveling with kids (who were all gone by the time I attached the car seats).

It might have been a pain to haul the 3 wheeled stroller through the airport, but with the help of a couple of bungee cords, both car seats are suspended off the sides (look past deserted baggage claim area and the slightly haggard tired looking children and note that the car seats are not touching the ground).

It worked like a charm and I managed to haul through the terminal to the rental car shuttle while the kids rode.

Everything else went pretty smoothly. No traffic leaving the city, found a Starbucks right off. MMMM, Starbucks... Life is good.

3 hours of shitty plane sleep

So other than waiting just a little too long and missing the cheap ticket window by just enough to have to choose between double priced tickets or an overnight leg, I chose the overnight and even convinced myself that it would be a good idea as that way I'd not have to entertain two children for 6 hours straight while trying to confine then to their seats (by myself). What I did not think through is how it would be to try and actually sleep with two children on top of me, each adjusting and twitching and half waking up when they couldn't spin freely, or being startled in by an alien noise, of attempting to sleep sitting up and jerking awake every time my head sagged.

The photo is courtesy of the flight attendant and taken at 11:30 or so (the flight took off at 9 and the children finally collapsed at 11pm). This arrangement of two apples on top "worked" (if you want to call it that) for about 45 minutes before I gave it up. My bountiful pillow and blankets supply went to make a little bed for Kiwi on the floor, and I put Kieran mostly on top of me, where we twitched and shifted for the next 2 hours. Flight was 9pm-3am (WHAT WAS I THINKING). Kiwi woke up at 2am, and didn't go down again until the car ride home. Kieran snoozed until we landed, and both kids walked of the plane with 3+ hours of sleep (can't believe I was jealous of 3 hours of sleep).

Now off to get our luggage and the car.