day 2: houston, we have a problem.

before we left the airport for the hotel, i bought myself a new shirt to wear because my old one was so thoroughly puke-stained.

it made me smile and i bought it in hopes it would make me smile the next day.
i guess it helped. a little.

i didn't sleep well. i was worried i would wake up late and miss the shuttle and then our flight and, you know, be stranded again. i spent half the night snuggling one girl and half the night snuggling the other. then i woke up early, got as cleaned up as i could and put the girls in their pajamas for the day.

they had told me that shuttles left on the hour and they filled up quick, so i figured i would get on the 7:00 shuttle for our 9:30 flight, since it took twenty minutes to get to the airport and half an hour (at least) taking two kids through security alone. then there was the trek to our gate, etc, so i wanted to get there early.

getting there went so smoothly. security was a breeze. we arrived at our gate around 7:45, ready to get some breakfast with our food vouchers and then hopefully hop on a flight.
but it was not to be.

the moment we got to the gate i knew something was wrong. the flight info said it was a10:45 departure. sigh. delayed again.

we went next door, bought some astronaut ice cream and a nasa shirt then checked again.
delayed until 12:30. something about pittsburg weather, i think. but we got $20 more for food (totaling $60, if you're keeping track, and we couldn't spend them anywhere but restaurants).

so there i was, stuck with two little kids in a giant airport for another FOUR HOURS at least.
tears. almost. i couldn't let them smell my fear or they definitely would have gone to find another leader.
i was so ready to leave houston and never come back. i couldn't even remember why we were in houston. i just knew we had to get out. 

i spent a good hour trying to keep them from eating old gummies off of the airport carpet and testing out every single moving walkway we could find. then another hour at subway where i bought all sorts of random menu items trying to get my voucher's worth. we took our time eating and made a huge mess.

then we watched planes land and take off and cheered (literally) when ours showed up. the nicest people made the nicest small talk with us while we waited. one mom told me i was doing great (and if you've ever been a mom in a terrible situation like mine, it means everything). a dad swapped stories with me about his two daughters at home. when we got on the plane and got settled, a few people moved around to give us the only extra seat so that we could have three seats to ourselves. the lady behind us said it was because she hoped someone would do the same for her if she needed it. to be honest, the guy who was supposed to sit next to us probably got an even better deal: not being kicked for the entire flight.

then my girls magically slept for hours as we sailed through the clouds, wrapped in airline blankets and whistling a little through their noses.

during the descent, they both woke up. turbulence again.
ellie loved it. poppy vomited her subway all over me.
but! this time i was ready. as soon as poppy woke up moaning and rubbing her ears, i draped us both in the blanket from the chin down. i caught all the puke and when we made it to the ground i wadded it up and threw it away.
piece of cake. regurgitated cake.

i almost cried again when we got off the plane in salt lake city and saw a family bathroom right across the way. oh, heaven. we cleaned ourselves up and headed slowly on our way.

of course we took a right instead of a left and went to the wrong baggage claim area, so it took about fifteen extra minutes to find grandma and grandpa and uncle noah. in that amount of time ellie tried to ride on the baggage carousel, ran away from me twice, and spun in circles until she fell and got a bloody lip.

that is how they found us, at my wit's end and ellie with tears on her cheeks and a wet cloth in her mouth. they rescued us and our baggage (which miraculously made it) and we headed home to pizza and hugs and a nice warm bed.

oh, also an adorable cousin and endless toys!

we've almost forgotten our traumatic ordeal.
however, we have a stop in houston on the way home and i'm pretty sure i'm going to cry when we land. at least daddy will be there to help us get home. i hope.