Arizona!
We visited family in Arizona near the end of May and were able to celebrate some birthdays and a graduation while we were there. Josh and I traveled with Josh's sister Rachel and her two children, Scout (2 years old) and Rhuey (2 1/2 months old). I wasn't sure how the airport and plane ride would go, but all the kids did really well overall.
We stayed with Josh's aunt and uncle, they have a pool and Scout thought it was the greatest thing ever! While we were driving to their house from the airport it was already bedtime, but Scout kept asking about the pool and wanted to go swimming; thankfully he was somehow satisfied with just looking at it that evening, with promises to swim the next day. Eli wasn't so sure about the swimming thing. He doesn't like getting water in his face even in the bathtub, but he loves baths. When he first got in the pool he just acted like he wasn't really sure about this... and was just starting to be more comfortable with it, when he got water in his face and cried until we let him out! It took some persuading, but finally he was okay with sitting in the inner tube with Scout while Uncle Bill pushed them around.
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| Sour face! |
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| This isn't so bad |
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| He likes being out of the water better! |
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| Playing with Daddy |
Last year (7 months old)
This year! (19 months old)
Playing with cousins... (sorry, most of my inside pictures didn't come out well!)
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| Rhuey sleeping away with a guard dog close by. |
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| Eli finally asleep on the plane ride home. |
I would say Eli likes Rhuey, but doesn't really know what to do with her. He would sometimes come up to her and try to 'pat' her, but inevitably end up whacking her instead. Rhuey would just close her eyes and cringe, Rachel says she's kind of used to it with Scout around. :)
So, about the plane ride home... for those of you who don't know, it was more exciting that usual. Here is a picture I pulled from a news report about it. Scout was not a fan of the happenings, saying over and over, "I don't like airplanes." Eli really didn't seem to care one way or another, other than wanting to get down and play. I'm sure neither Scout or Eli will remember jumping from an airplane when they are older, so I wrote a letter to Eli for him to read when he's older and think how cool it was that he did that! Because I hope that is the most exciting planes will ever get for my family!
My Eli,
What adventures we
have together! A little over 24 hours ago, we when on the most exciting
airplane ride I hope we ever have, and I want to tell you about it.
We flew out to Arizona to visit family
for a few days, with your Aunt Rachel and Scout and Rhuey, for birthdays and
graduations; our flight back was Monday at 1:20. Let me tell you, it was no
small thing to get through the airport and security with three small children
and luggage. But we made it, finally we were in our seats on the plane; you and
Daddy and I were on the last row of the plane, and Aunt Rachel and Scout and
Rhuey were across the aisle from us. As we started to taxi to the runway, we
noticed the stewardesses anxious about something. Then we heard someone say
something about smoke, and your Daddy saw it first; smoke coming out of an
overhead compartment about halfway up the plane. Later, Aunt Rachel said as
soon as she heard about the smoke she unbuckled her and Scout and put things
back in her bag, thinking they would have us all get off and switch to another
plane.
Two of the flight attendants grabbed fire
extinguisher from the compartment above our heads and ran down to the smoke and
started spraying. As this was happening, we heard one of the flight attendants
yell to another, “call him!” One of them ran past us to the phone at the back
and quickly called the captain to tell him about the smoke. We felt the plane
jerk to a stop and then start back up and begin to turn. The captain yelled
over the speakers, “Flight attendants stand by! Stand by! Stand by!” This all
happened so fast, the flight attendants were still trying to stop the smoke
using the fire extinguishers, but then one of them told the captain it was
spreading…
Immediately, the
captain came on the speakers again, this time yelling, “Evacuate! Evacuate!
Evacuate!” Things kicked into high gear. Almost all at once people jumped from
their seats, someone opened the exit doors and the back door to the plane, the
flight attendants were yelling at everyone to get off… I shoved things back
into your backpack, grabbed it and then grabbed you from Daddy, then he took
Scout from Aunt Rachel and she had Rhuey snuggled in a sling. We all ran to the
back exit of the plane were the flight attendant was yelling, “Jump! Jump!
Jump!” Later, Daddy said she was like a marine drill sergeant. J
As I got closer to
the exit, I could hear her yelling, but all I could see was the open door… no
stairs. Just the door, open laying flat, and then… nothing. I was going to have
to jump all the way to the runway with you in my arms? How would I not hurt you
or me? But then Aunt Rachel jumped and I could see; a slide! We flew down the
inflatable slide to the ground where your daddy was waiting to catch you! Then
we all ran out away from the airplane as other people continued to get off.
When we were far enough away, I looked around and saw your daddy wasn’t with
us… he had gone back to the plane and was helping people off. Two of the exit
doors were over the wings, so people had to climb out onto the wing and then
jump all the way to the ground. Your daddy was so brave to go back and help.
So, there we were,
in the Arizona
desert, middle of the afternoon in the blazing sun, with three small children.
Thankfully, I happened to grab the best bag… the one with drinks and snacks! It
also had a small tube of sunscreen, so I put some on you and Scout. You didn’t
care in the least about the hot sun, you wanted down to explore! It was hard to
keep you occupied for a few minutes, but it wasn’t very long until Daddy came
back and held you. You love your daddy. Fire trucks, police cars, and several
ambulances came so fast. Soon, flight attendants and staff came around asking
if people were okay, and said shuttles were coming to get us and give us water.
Aunt Rachel and I tried to make a song with “the sun never bothered me anyway,”
but it wasn’t as good or convincing as the real song (your very favorite thing
to watch right now is ‘Frozen’). We were out in the sun for about 20 or 30
minutes, but it felt sooooo much longer, before we were able to get on the
third shuttle that took us back to the terminal.
We found a place to
sit, and we sat. And waited. We gave you boys a snack (pretzels!) and drinks,
entertaining you for a short time. At 2:15 they told us the news; they had to
bring our old plane over and unload our luggage, then they had to get a new
plane to take us to Wichita… our new ‘estimated’ departure time was 4:00. Aunt
Rachel and Daddy and I all looked at each other. Almost 2 hours of sitting…
with two energetic boys and very little distractions or toys. We prayed. Not
that we weren’t already, but we prayed more!
You and Scout ran,
and played, and ate snacks, and drank (you drank three or four cups of water!).
Rhuey slept almost the whole time, all through jumping off the plane, standing
in the hot sun and waiting in the terminal, only waking up about 30 or 40
minutes before we left. And when we finally sat down in our new seats on our
new plane, you were exhausted. We took off a little after 5:00 (Arizona time, 7:00 Kansas
time) and you were asleep shortly after.
Oh, what adventures
we have…
I love you,
Mommy
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