That Thing with the Polar Vortex

We just got back from a two and a half week vacation to see my family in Rhode Island. It was only suppose to be two weeks, but then, the thing with the polar vortex happened, and we found ourselves extending our vacation for another three days due to air traffic problems.

It was really great to be with my family, and honestly, I could have just stayed around indefinitely: eating lunch with my brothers, giving armchair renovation advice, going on dates with Fritz, running childless errands, plucking my eyebrows, all while the kids were lovingly cared for by Grandma and Grandpa. But Fritz was LIVID about the delay and ready to get back to Colorado. We flew JetBlue; between their smallish size, the extreme cold, and our large traveling party (4 + a lap infant), it looked like it was going to take FIVE extra days to get home. (Fritz: "Inconceivable in the modern world!" and "This is not reputable airline!" and "The primary job of an airline is to get you from one location to another in a timely manner. Regardless of how good the service is or much leg room there is.")

Watching the jetway

I spent hours on the phone with JetBlue trying to get us back to Denver earlier, finally moving my family, in small groups, onto the same (earlier) flight. I'd watch the JetBlue website, see a new seat open up on a flight, and call JetBlue to move someone. I moved us to an earlier flight for Mattias, even though Fritz was the more whiny vocal critic. Mattias was terribly homesick. His homesickness manifested itself as crazy mood swings. One minute he would be sobbing over a stuffed animal he had left at home, the next minute he would be cheering to spend three more days at Grandma and Grandpa's. Well, three-year-olds are like that anyway, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say the mood swings were particularly bad.

It was nice to be away. It's also nice to be home. Now 8 months old, the changes in Trixie over the 2.5 weeks we were gone are significant. She discovered her (loud) voice just in time for the return flight.  She started waving, clapping, and CRAWLING while we were gone. With both the boys, I seemed to baby-proof as they grew. Between Trixie's age and the length of time we were gone, I'm behind on baby proofing. That became very obvious and urgent as soon as we got home.

There's laundry to do and furniture (!) to be removed from crates. I'm looking forward to Monday, when the boys return to their regularly scheduled programs (because 2.5 weeks, even on vacation, is a lot of togetherness).