Our Travels

October 12, 2008

Back to Kyiv

Due to extreme jet lag on Keenan's part, and him taking me down with him by staying up all night long for the past few days I haven't updated the blog in a while.

Our trip to Montana went by quickly! It was so good to see my two new nephews and very fun to watch all the cousins play together. While I was sad to say my goodbye's to my family I was very ready to see my husband again although he didn't get back from his trip until last night. I was very sad that we were apart for our 2 year wedding anniversary but hopefully there will be many many more!

All six of the cousins together.

Keenan was really excited to see his Daddy and couldn't stop smiling and giggling whenever Eric would look at him. It was pretty cute!

Last Wednesday I loaded up all of me and Keenan's stuff and surprisingly even though I had already mailed two big boxes back to us not everything fit into our luggage. I didn't think that would even be an issue since I packed so lightly but I guess my credit card got more of a workout than I thought! So, it was one more trip to the post office.
Aside from toting a carseat, a carry-on full of toys and other things to keep Keenan happy and entertained, keeping track of passports ect... and Keenan, hands down the hardest part of traveling with a one year old solo is navigating the bathrooms. First since nobody is there to watch all the above mentioned you have to pack it all into the bathroom stall with you and the kid. Then while your trying to do your business you also have to try and keep the kid from touching anything in the stall. That's all just in the airport, the bathrooms in the planes are even trickier due to absolutely no space. Changing Keenan's diaper is also tricky since the changing table in the airplane bathroom is designed to hold a baby the size of a newborn so half of him hangs off the table.

The trip back went fairly smoothly. Keenan spent the first flight kicking the seat in front of him, God bless the lady as she claimed to have slept through most of it. Yes, I did try and stop him. Another lady in front of us gave Keenan a cute stuffed lion that he took one look at and tossed aside... one more thing to shove into our already overflowing carry-on bag.

I bought a kid leash to prevent me from trying to chase Keenan down in the airports while toting all of the above mentioned stuff. Apparently we should have taken an obediance class as he doesn't heel and spent most of the time on the leash straining to get away then falling down while crying very loudly. In Minniopolis I found a little arcade with a small spaceship ride which entertained my little man greatly while keeping him in one spot. Yup, I spent every single quarter in my purse on that ride.
The next flight from Minniopolis to Amsterdam was bliss. Keenan slept mostly and I even got to watch a movie and sleep a little too. When the plane landed a few people asked if I drugged my baby. No, I replied the travel gods were just smiling down on me today. They however were not smiling down on another solo mother flying with her two kids. I met her in the baby changing room in the Airport as she was trying to clean vomit chunks off her only shirt with her while both kids were howling. Then I discovered when I went to check in for my next flight that they didn't have a record of my reservation. WHAT?! I thought I took care of that the day before when I discovered an email telling me that my flight into Kyiv was cancelled, apparently something got lost along the way. How could there be no record of me when my bags were checked all the way to Kyiv?? Luckily the flight was not full and the very nice lady behind the desk was able to fit us in!

It has taken Keenan until last night to sleep good. Since we had gotten back he would wake up after a few hours and be ready to play. Sleep usually didn't find him until around 4 in the morning. That makes for one sleepy me! I don't think we hardly left the apartment the first few days we were here let alone get out of our pajamas. Here's Keenan in the middle of the night wanting to go outside. When I wouldn't open the door he just sat down and cried for a little while. Being at Gramma's and Grampa's he got real used to playing on their big lawn whenever he wanted too... now it's at least a 10-15 minute walk to find a park.

Sierra came back the same night we arrived. She was excited to see us but kept looking past me trying to find Eric. In the apartment she kept looking around for him and started whining. I realize Eric's been her man for 10 years while I've only been in her life for a few so no hard feeling. Friday we went to the Embassy to pick up the mail and get a few groceries, I took Sierra as it kills two birds with one stone... she gets a walk while I get my errands done. When she realized where we were going she got all excited and couldn't get through the security area fast enough. Oh, she was so dissapointed when Eric was not on the other side waiting for us as usual. Only a few more days Sierra!

Here's Keenan entertaining himself with the dog dish holder.

2 comments:

Laura Olson said...

Glad you got home okay and that you enjoyed your trip to Montana! I've loved seeing the pics of all the wee ones in your family. :)

mom said...

It sounds like you had fun in Montana, but the trip home sounds like hell. Keenan is beciming quite the travlers. So glad you two are safe. I bet you are glad to be back with Eric and Sierra Back to your normal routine. Take care Love Louise