Repeating History

Buddy called me around noon yesterday. I told him that I once again arrived at the airport too late for my flight. He didn't believe me. Who is dumb enough to make the same mistake two days in a row? Me. Unfortunately it was true. I talked to Buddy Wednesday afternoon. He hates Dulles even more than I do and convinced me to just buy tickets and then I could fly from Baltimore. I agreed to it. I wanted to leave at 6:45 for the 8:34 flight. The airport is about 15 minutes away and the terminal is easily navigable. I woke up plenty early and leisurely took my time getting ready. I looked at at the clock and realized I needed to start moving fast. Both the kids were still asleep. I woke Bohdin up as I was dressing him. I loaded up the car and came back for a sleeping Nyla. She didn't wake up until we were outside. We left a little bit later than I wanted. When we arrived at the parking lot we saw a bus pass by. That was okay since they run every 10 minutes. We could just catch the next one. I took my time getting Nyla dressed and saw the next bus pass by less than two minutes after the first one. If we had hurried we might have caught the second bus but I didn't know they were running behind each other instead of staggered like they were supposed to. We had to wait a long long time for the next bus. The next bus arrived and it took forever. I wasn't the only one waiting forever for a bus. It was packed. I saw the other bus directly behind us. It took us nearly 45 minutes to get from the parking lot to the terminal. We were late as a result. I walked into the terminal cut in front of everybody at the ticket counter and explained the situation. "Sorry. The flight is closed. Here is a standby ticket for the next flight." The flight was scheduled to leave in about 30 minutes. I decided to try and hurry anyway. Maybe they would let us on. We made our way around the corner to security and saw a long line. My hopes were dashed. I was carrying two carseats, Nyla, a backpack, and I was lugging a rolling suitcase. An employee took pity on my pathetic state and pulled me out of line to go to the fast special line. She also gave me a cart. It was awesome. A guy in a wheelchair cut in line in front of us and that slowed us way down. His companion must not have ever flown before because he didn't realize he would have to empty his pockets and take off metal. We had to wait what felt like an eternity for them to get through the line. We made it through finally with no problems but then had to wait for the wheelchair guy to clear the aisle so we could get around him. We finally did and walked as fast as we could to the gate. Bohdin had his suitcase and Nyla's suitcase. The plane had already finished boarding when we arrived at the gate. I explained the situation and asked if we could get on. I promised that we would board as fast as humanly possible. They agreed. I had to check both car seats and my suitcase but at least we made it on the plane. Bohdin boarded and put his seat belt on. I shoved our stuff under the seat and put my seatbelt on. We took hardly any time. I'm so glad we made the flight. I highly recommend AirTran for their wonderful service.

We landed in Boston about 90 minutes later. I was so glad we made it. Now we just had to get our rental car. The adrenalin rush I had earlier was over and I realized just how much weight I had to carry out of the airport. I had a 25 pound baby on my back. A heavy backpack on my front. A 22 pound car seat in one hand and a 16 pound car seat in the other. I don't remember the recommendation for the most weight you should carry when pregnant but I know I was way over. My body was telling me that this was not good so I started dragging Bohdin's car seat which was in a bag. I'm sure it wasn't great for the car seat but baby comes first. I put holes in the bag from the dragging. Once I picked up the suitcase I was able to put Nyla's seat on that but I was done by that point. I had help getting on and off the shuttle bus which was much appreciated. I took so long getting to the shuttle bus that some adults were wondering about Bohdin who was boarding the shuttle bus by himself with the two small suitcases. They finally turned far enough around to see me following him. He was so helpful throughout the airport.

We picked up the car and made our way out of Boston. Nyla ended up falling asleep. Bohdin was getting tired of being in the car so we looked for a beach. It was unseasonably warm in Maine and a perfect beach day. When we arrived at the beach Nyla woke up. We spent maybe two hours there. It was nice. Nyla didn't like the sand or the water. Bohdin didn't like the sea plants that had washed up. There were kids putting their feet in the water and I told Bohdin to try it. He did and said it was cold. I decided I couldn't come all the way to Maine and not try it for myself so I did. It was refreshing cold not ice cold. Nyla wanted to try the water also but her clothes got wet so I had to take them off. We went to go dig in the sand but then Nyla got sand on her and didn't like that. I wouldn't take her diaper off though. A few times I asked her if she wanted to leave when she came crying to me about being sandy but she always decided to go play again. The funniest moment came when Bohdin kicked a small orange ball that we had. He started chasing it but the wind just kept rolling it further. He ran all the way across the beach to get that ball. He eventually gave up when he came upon a large collection of sea plants. I had to carry Nyla all the way across to get that ball. It was off limits after that. There was a playground next to the beach and they played there for a few minutes before leaving. I pushed some older girls on the tire swing while Bohdin and Nyla watched. Then they wanted a turn. I wish I still had the camera at that point because they were laughing going in circles with the ocean behind them.

We had to drive a little further to get to Portland. We stopped at the Children's museum while we waited for Buddy to finish working. It was a nice museum. We spent about an hour there. We picked up Buddy at the hotel and went to eat at a restuarant called duckfat. I decided to eat like a local and ordered the fries with cheese curds and duck gravy. It was interesting and filling. I had to bring some back to the hotel. Buddy and I had the same view of Maine. It's so nice and relaxing. People are friendly and polite too. It's such a nice change. We don't belong in Maryland.

I'm sore today but the kids are ready to go do something. Today is the last day of really warm weather so we may try out another beach.

Bohdin trying out the water
 

Looking for seashells
 

Digging in the sand
 

Sad that she has sand on her