#theMinefeetravellingcircus2k14 [day 1]

Our travel day started SO incredibly early when the alarm went off at 3:30am. I can easily wake up in the middle of the night, feed and rock a baby, then crawl back into bed. The pshycology of knowing I can't crawl back into bed and then have to tackle a stressful day made me just want to curl up even more. But I knew we were working with time, so up I went! 

Meemaw and Papaw arrived at our house about 4:20 and Charley was so excited about riding an airplane and going to California that I hardly even saw her until she was strapped in her carseat and in the pickup. 

Our Midland stretch went excellent. Char was excited and kept saying "we going high" and "I have fun" while in the airplane. Thank goodness for Meemaw as she sat next to Charley and kept her happily entertained. Liza did well too! She took a short snooze and was mostly smiles. 

We had a short layover in Denver, enough to get breakfast with the now fussy kids. It was hard to get mad at them because, bless their little hearts, they had been up since 3:30am too! Charley threw a mild fit at breakfast and Liza had a major meltdown while waiting for me to prep her oatmeal. Nothing a little coffee couldn't handle :)

The next leg went smooth too! Both girls took about 45 minute naps and I even got a snooze snuck in. Charley really loves the window seat and talks non stop about everything she sees or hears! It's rather amusing. And just like everyone else on the plane, once we land, she says, "get me out of here"! Haha! 

In San Francisco we had about a four hour layover to which was filled with tending to a feverish baby (poor Liza!) and helping wear Charley out. She kept wanting to "ride" the walking sidewalk things, so that's what we did. The SFO airport also had a little play area (super lame, but good effort guys), that she enjoyed for about fifteen minutes. We had lunch on the floor, ran around, pottied a million times, colored, and watched movies. Charley took the long stretch wonderfully, again, on little sleep. Liza had a rough go, as she wasn't feeling well and desperately needed a good long nap. Meemaw got her to sleep while Papaw kept her rocking away in the stroller. 

^^^so strange. At SFO you have to go outside and walk up ramps and stairs to board your flight. I was blinded by the sun so much so that once we got on the plane my eyes were watering like I'd just watched The Notebook! 

The last leg of the flight was the shortest although to me it felt like the longest. Liza was beyond tired by now (about her home bedtime now too) and still battling her fever. Charley was just on the verge of major meltdown mode, with lots of whining and "get me out". Not to mention the sassy flight attendant who about jumped down my throat when Jojo tried to hold Liza for me so I could get settled and prepped to feed. Apparently you can only have a lap child on the right side of the aisle... Alas, maybe she has had a long day as well ;)

We are about to land in Santa Barbara where we will rent a suburban and drive the hour and a half to SLO. I'm ready to get in the car where I don't have to worry about any mean glares and can just relax with my peeps! 

Just a few short hours and I get to meet my precious niece!!!! Eeeek! 

Stay tuned...

(Later that day....)

The girlies both slept the whole way to SLO and we easily found our rental house. It's sooo cool. The owners built it and it is custom down to the driveway. It's so my style and me and Jojo agree that our dream home would be this house, but with a bathtub and pantry. I'll post pics later. 

Sadly, none of us were going to hold or touch Holland. I'm 99% sure Liza has hand, foot, mouth, and that's not something I want to share with a six week old. 

Still...she's beautiful and I'm over the moon to share the same space as her, even if we an only look and not fluff her precious hair.