The travel gods

Yes they have it out for us....those darn travel gods. Either that or someone has a travel voodoo curse out on us. I'm just sure of it.

If you're not convinced, here's a few to persuade you:

1. Bandit running away when we went to Europe (Summer 2004)

2. Bandit running away when we took him to Kentucky (Dec. 2004)

3. Running into ice on our first road trip to Kentucky...took 3 days instead of 2 and missed Christmas Eve with the family (Dec. 2004)

4. Missed our flight cut off time at the curb side check-in by 5 minutes and they wouldn't let us check in even though the flight hadn't left (and we waited over an hour) and stuck in the airport with a 15 mo. old (Nolan) for 12 hours (Dec. 2006)

5. Flight canceled coming back from Folly Beach, SC and had to stay an extra night and leave at 4 a.m. and missed a day of mandatory training for my work.

And, that's just a few...not all of them!  This year, we had the bags packed, ate a leisurely breakfast - it was wonderful! Campbell wouldn't touch his banana which he usually eats in .95 seconds on any other normal day. Then he wouldn't stop drinking his milk...I means two cups of milk. That should have been my first clue but I was just in my 'let's make sure we catch the plane' mode so I just gave him a huge bowl of blueberries. Our neighbor graciously drove us to the airport in our van so we wouldn't have to worry about parking, etc. We left three hours early (lesson learned from Christmas 2006). We're about 3/4 of the way there when Campbell spits up a little bit...weird since he's outgrown that stage, but no big deal. Well, moments later it's followed by a huge finale of breakfast...blueberries and all! We pull into the closest gas station and strip him in the parking lot.

Pop Quiz: Who are you feeling most sorry for now? 

A. Me as I'm the one cleaning down the screaming toddler in the filthy bathroom with no soap or paper towels after carrying him in the freezing cold to the bathroom in just his diaper.

B. Justin as he's the one trying to hose down the car seat in the gas station parking lot only to find out that the hose is frozen and has to walk down to a tire and lube station to use their hose while it splatters all over his shoes and pants.

C. Our neighbor who is completely second-guessing his choice to be neighborly and give us a "quick" ride to the airport?

D. All of the above

If you answered "D"...all of the above, you passed the quiz. Thank goodness we had a suitcase full of spare clothes and changed him in a jiffy. Since the car seat was soaked and had seen better days we had to get the airport fast but couldn't put him back in the drenched seat. So Justin drove super cautiously as I buckled both of us in...it's not like we carry a spare car seat! It was only about a 5-10 minute drive but a very nervous and windy one since the windows were down.

Thankfully that was the most eventful thing that happened. I think I might have prayed, "Please God don't let him throw up on the plane," at least 50 times before we boarded. Apparently, it worked! Every gurgle and cough made me a nervous wreck though. When we arrived, we definitely gave everyone a hug from a distance.

I feel just awful that our neighbor had to endure not only that but then DRIVE our car home! He was so nice and he's a marine and said that he's seen worse but I'm not so sure...