But, we made it to Flint with nary a tear, executed a near-seamless car seat extraction from Dad's jeep (note to self - Father's Day car detailing's a must), and shuttled over to the teeny, tiny, totally manageable terminal. Okay - so we did appear to be a family of 12 flying to Mumbai for three months, but - nobody could call me unprepared. Well, except for the Southwest employee who requested a copy of Maizey's birth certificate.
Now, I've flown with her twice before and never needed it (though had it). This time, I vaguely remembered reading that I needed it, but forgot it. Old Jacob was a dear and tried to pull some strings, but no dice. The options? Drive home and get it, which would mean missing our flight and possibly flying standby on the afternoon's over-booked flight, or hope that Childtime would open and fax Southwest Maizey's immunization record. We opted to try for both. I got back on the shuttle, tore outta long-term parking (after receiving an odd look from the attendant), and floored it south. Will began dialing day care.
Hallelujah - when I was exiting the expressway (but still had 20 minutes till Milford) he got through. Savior Wendy faxed over the docs and BAM, I executed a Fast and Furious 6-style u-turn.
Synopsis:
We made the flight. I was ashamed but relieved.
Maizey was covered in chocolate milk.
Maizey was covered in chocolate milk.
She was a decent passenger and liked window-gazing.
We did fold and try to distract her with some Lady and the Tramp. It worked. For about 20 minutes. But, she looked adorable in her tiger headphones which made me more receptive to having her invade my lap and demand 18 readings of Froggy Gets Dressed, despite the empty (free) seat we snagged for her enjoyment.
Car rental and personal car seat installation was a titch stressful.
(You know how you are always sure you can do it faster/better/more efficiently than the person actually performing the task? But they refuse to let you try? And then you argue about it? While sweating? And trying to keep a two-year-old from nose-diving out of a hatchback? Um, yeah.)
Then it was off to the Florida Aquarium - an uncrowded, kid-friendly intro to aquatic life.
Dinner?
Sting-ray tank touches...
(We ignored the two-finger rule.)
Cold water urchins.
It was fun and Maizey-recommended.
We barely made it back to our Zoom Zoom before lady passed out.
And started snotting.
She slumbered in the Embassy Suites parking lot while Dad got the porter's help to set up the pack and play.
But upon waking, did help haul her gear...
And then, we took on the parking lot pool. It was the beginning of a five day love affair with swimming.
After a bath, Maizey discovered what hotel living is really about.
And, reminded Will and I why hotel stays were so glorious as children... Cartoons watched from bed while eating snacks from paper cups. An important parental vacation take-away.
Up next? Busch Gardens with a fever-baby.
