June 21, 2006

Hello Everyone! We finally made it!
Yesterday at 8:00 am we found out we were flying out at 3:54pm that day. So, we got everything ready, and headed to the airport, with kids and baggage in tow. Which included: 4 boxes size 22x22x18, 6 suitcases, and 7 carry on bags. We did curbside checking which costs us $25.00 - well worth it - then headed off for security. Lucky us...we were ALL selected for an extra security check! Thanks to IM Flash for purchasing our tickets last minute! We then headed to the gate and had just enough time to take the kids to the bathroom before we got on the plane. The second the planes wheels lifted off the ground, Jake and Kristin were asleep. They both slept the entire 4 hours to Chicago. A flight attendant came up and told us our kids were wonderful. Troy told her it was just cause they slept the whole time, she said, "oh, no, I saw them when they got on, it's excellent parenting". Troy and I laughed our butts off. Little does she know... The Chicago airport was a crazy madhouse. The lines for the restroom were at least 10 people long. And, in the restrooms, they have these crazy toilets I've never seen before that have plastic covering the toilet seat, and you push a button and it automatically changes to a clean plastic thing...wierd...nice and clean though. The 1 hour and 40 minute flight to DC was painless. The kids watched a movie. We arrived and got our luggage - ALL of it, had no idea what to do with it, since we got a mid-size rental car. We asked a United agent if we could leave it at the airport until we got our rental car, he told us no. I had to be with Troy to get the rental car so that I could be an authorized driver. There was this crazy man - literally, I don't know that we understood half of what he said due to his grammar and lisp - that the United guy said we might want to have watch our stuff (not the kids though) while we got the rental car. We really had no other choice...so we hoped our stuff would be there when we got back. We didn't really think he could take it all somewhere, we just hoped he wouldn't go through it all - even though we didn't leave wallets/cameras/expensive stuff. So, off to the rental car. At this time it was 12:30 am eastern time. On the Hertz bus to get the car, I almost puked my guts out. Luckily we got to the Hertz building just in time. Once at the rental car place, we had no choice but to rent and extra car - a minivan - just to get our stuff from the airport. So, I drove the mini van back to baggage claim, and lucky us, there was our crazy man! We gave him a $15 tip, told him thanks for being honest, and headed to the hotel. The mini van cost us $92 for one day. So, after the curbside checking $25.00, the crazy man's tip $15.00, just getting our luggage to the hotel cost us $132.00. Needless to say, Troy was probably cursing my business. Oh well...Anyways, we made it to the hotel at 2:00am eastern time. Lucky us, since we were the last people to check-in, they gave us a smoking room. AUGHH!!! Of course, I immediately called, and they're suppossed to change us into a non-smoking one for the next 2 nights. Our kids only slept until 8:30. Not so good for Troy and me. We ate breakfast, and then I saw this handy dandy computer in the corner. Thought I'd keep you all posted. We're happy to finally be here, we'll be extatic on Friday night when we can actually unpack into our home for the next 5 months! Anyways...we miss you all! Come to Virginia! We'll pick you up from the airport! :) LOVE YA!!!