The Eagle has Landed - Day 8

Thought I would fill you all in on the last 48 hours of travel madness. On Sunday AM I got up and finished up my massive to-do list before the taxi service came. We piled everything in the van and headed to the airport. Poor Shiloh was a nervous wreck, panting and drooling all over me. LSP did not nap as I had hoped on the way down, though she did shove a raisin up her nose, a fact I did not discover until this morning.

When we got there it was a comedy of errors getting inside. The taxi driver helped me, of course. We had 2 carts - one with luggage and one with the crate. I had LSP in the stroller and Shiloh on the leash. The airport has these extra large revolving doors that spin automatically, and here is an important fact to know. They do NOT stop it they hit something. Like a luggage cart with a dog crate. That gets inside the door without a person along. No, they don't stop, they just push the cart until it gets lodged and stops the door because it is stuck. Then some random stranger has to help you got everything out. Regular automatic doors would be SO much easier. It was a totally insane comedy of errors trying to get the blasted cart out of the door, get the other cart in, and get the stroller and the dog through without anyone or anything else getting stuck.

We had to go the bulky luggage counter where they checked me in, then I had to go to ANOTHER counter in a different spot to pay for the dog, then BACK to the bulky luggage counter to fill out the paperwork for Shiloh. Then they told me to come back in a half an hour, so we wandered around outside for awhile. There is a fancy expensive hotel at the airport. Well, Shiloh took a big CRAP on their front lawn. So I got to pick that up. Then she had poop stuck to her butt, so I go to pull poop on a dog's butt in front of the expensive hotel. With a baby in a stroller watching. I felt very classy.

Anyway, we came back to the bulky luggage counter and an airline official came down to check out the dog crate and asked, "No blanket for the dog?" Other times we have flown with a dog they have told us no blankets or toys in the crate. I told her that and she gave me a sour look and said, "Who told you that? It is not so nice for the dog." Then just started at me. I thought, holy moley, they are not going to take her! So I ran into a gift shop to look for a blanket. They had no blankets or towels or anything. The biggest thing they had was a tablecloth. A handmade Austrian tablecloth. "Highest quality," the clerk assured me. So Shiloh got to fly with a $40 tablecloth in her crate as a liner. Only the best for our dog!

We got through security (never a small feat with a toddler). LSP 's stuffed Curious George got randomly selected for an explosives residue test. They wiped it with a special cloth then you have to wait 2 minutes for the results. The world will be relived to know that Curious George is NOT a terrorist. We made it to the gate and LSP ran around a bit. Then they started boarding the plane with NO pre-boarding for kids! So it was total chaos. I had to ask them to let me into the elevator to get down to the plane and I asked them whey they did not do pre-boarding and the woman claimed they did. Well, I was sitting right there and I didn't hear it, I told her. She assured me they did. Well, not only did I not hear it, the woman next to me with a 3-year-old and a 5-year old didn't hear you either. Nor did the guy in the wheelchair stuck in the massive line. I call liar.

We got in and got settled, We were seated in the middle of a large group of high school students returning from Turkey. They were no problem during the flight, though. It was the two people in front of me (NOT the students) who reclined their seats ALL THE WAY about 30 seconds after take off (I am not kidding. The landing gear wasn't even up yet) that were the big problem. Seriously, LSP and I were squashed the whole flight. Why do I always get the inconsiderate jerks in front of me? In retaliation I was not super-vigilant about keeping her from kicking the tray table. Hey dude you don't like it, sit up and get your head out of my kid's lap. LSP did pretty well on the flight. There was lots of George watching and a good amount of running up and down the aisles. It was one of those planes with downstairs bathroom, so she went up and down the stairs a zillion times. She had a couple of fits, one huge one when I wouldn't let her pour water all over the place. Mean mommy.

About an hour before the flight was over she fell asleep, so when we got off I had to wake her up and she was NOT happy about that. We got our luggage and Shiloh, here they had a skycap to help us, thank goodness. The skycap was impressed with how good Shiloh was, she didn't make a peep. We piled into 2 cars and on the way to my parents' house LSP fell asleep again. The Shiloh-Sarah meeting went well, lots of sniffing and tail wagging all around. LSP woke up when I got her out of the car so she played for awhile. My parents got her a small play kitchen for her birthday and she LOVES it. Went right to and and has been playing with it like crazy. After and hour or so we both passed out and she slept until about quarter of 5 this morning. Not bad for jet lagged baby. She also took a nap this afternoon.

This morning I asked her if she wanted to go downstairs and she said, "OK!" then "Wake Nana?" Then "Grampy's house!" Very cute. She has had a blast today. She has played outside with Grampy three times today - on the swings, in the sandbox, exploring the yard like crazy. Grampy also wanted to take her out for ice cream so we took her to DQ where she scarfed down an entire kiddie sized vanilla and asked for more. Shiloh was all out of sorts this morning but is settling in well, My parents are spoiling her almost as much and LSP. She's had an entire chewy bone and a huge pig's ear so far today. And she ate her breakfast. And Sarah's. She is in doggie heaven. Pictures to follow.