Plane Ride

We left SF on Sunday the 4th of December and arrived in Aukland, NZ airport at 5am on Tuesday the 21st having lost a day in travel to the time difference. We had three hours in the airport before leaving for Adelaide,  AU at 8:30 am local time. We arrived in Adelaide at 10:30 local time where we went through customs and met Garrett when we were done. There he was with a full beard and beaming smile. We were all so excited to see him and I watched the kids all light up when their eyes set upon him. It makes me smile even now to think of each of them as they saw him for the first time. Enoch abandoned the stroller and walked reservedly forward smiling but unsure. Ezra ran to him and threw himself on him and wouldn't let go. Ethne squirmed in the stroller trying to be set free until I went and saved her :) Garrett got to Enoch last since the other two were so forward with their attention and he was too shy and reserved to advance on his own.  He was so happy though to have Garrett's arms around him and to hug him. It was really a sweet reunion and one that I look back on with fondness already.  Garrett brought lunch for us but no one was really hungry since air NZ had fed us so often.  We had dinner on the plane then breakfast. Then hours later we had another breakfast on the next flight and then little tiny sandwiches for morning tea before we got off. Although truth be told the kids sandwiches were actually larger than the adults but they were yucky so none of my kids would eat them. 

On Sunday night the 4th we waited in a long long line to check in. The kids were mostly good but towards the end Ezra was getting restless and wild and Enoch was getting contrary as he had been on the drive to the airport. Ethne was wanting out of the stroller and I was fighting to stay calm and not be frazzled. It is hard for me to be the kind of parent I am when alone with my kids when there are others watching my every move. People in line had been watching us for a long time and that makes me so uncomfortable and stresses me out further than the naughty kids and makes me a worse mother. On this occasion I was blessed to be able to manage the stress of being stared at and not make matters worse by being short with my children.  We made it through the line and then I took them to the bathroom and filled up water bottles before taking the elevator downstairs to our gate. When we were there I double checked everything to make sure all passports boarding passes etc ... We're in their proper places and all was ready for boarding the plane.   

I gave the kids a granola bar to help them make it until the late dinner on the plane and that helped contain Miss Congeniality from sitting by all of her new "friends" she was making at the airport. I wanted to keep her safe and close.
I was supposed to have help to get from the check in to boarding the plane but I forgot to ask in the stress of the moment so I asked for some help to board the plane with three kids a heavy carry on three personal items, a stroller to fold up and a large heavy carseat to bring on the plane for Ethne to sit in.  They assured me there'd would be help but no one helped until I got on the plane and a stewardess saw my plight and took the carseat and boarding passes and led us to our seats. That was really what I needed anyway so it worked out well.

The kids were hounding me immediately for movies and opening the kids packs from the plane and scattering things everywhere, but before too long I got everything and everyone settled in, pajamas on, and movies on for each child on their own seat-backs before we ever took off. Not bad for one person with three kids. I helped them with their dinners and then gave them their meds to help them sleep a little while later. They didn't fall asleep very quickly though and I was wishing I had given them to them earlier.  I finally fell asleep after midnight and can I just say thank heavens for ear plugs. They sure make the overnight flights more pleasant. 

I was woken up four hours later and saw that my kids were all sleeping and Enoch and Ezra had their trays down with their breakfast in front of them. Ethne was out for a long long time. She woke up barely in enough time for me to feed her before they needed to throw away her tray.  It was a semi-stressful flight but not too bad considering.  I was a little concerned about the lady across from us hacking up a lung all night. She was really sick and I was worried about all the germs but the ear plugs helped a lot for being able to sleep through her noise poor thing.

At the airport we were all tired and grouchy and we all had a hard time. The kids were melty and I was crabby and easily annoyed with them. Before the kids got super bad I bought them each an angry bird back pack clip to play with (because I wanted them to be happy and they wanted these so I said yes). It didn't help though. They were still badly behaved. Let me re-phrase that. Ethne was happy and quite good- the boys were the hard ones.  Ethne cried about not getting candy and about a few other things but mostly she was happy.  

When we were dragging our tired bodies onto the last flight one of the pilots looked at me and said "how many do you have? Three? Where is the person responsible for this and why did he leave you on your own to do the dirty work?" it sounds nasty but was said good humoredly and made me laugh. That was the question I had been asking in my head earlier lol JK.

The kids were really good on the flight but then once again melted when anything was asked of them when we got off of the plane. They didn't want to carry or pull anything, they didn't want to push Ethne's stroller etc... But we made it through customs and made it to Garrett in the end.  All in all it worked out with very little trauma, and yet we are very glad it is all over. But you know as hard as it was I did it and now I know I CAN DO IT! And that is empowering.