Trip to Utah, Part One

Owen and I went on a trip to visit friends and family in Utah at the end of March.  We had a great trip, but it got off to a bit of a rocky start.  Unfortunately, the day we left was one of those days when EVERYTHING is going wrong!  Owen had begun teething just before, and he had kept me up the day before and all night, so I was completely exhausted and hadn't packed. In my exhaustion and panic, I pretty much just threw a bunch of clothes in my suitcases, and totally overpacked. As usual!

So I had to lug my two huge suitcases down from the second floor, out to the car, and into the trunk. This probably would have been easier if they weighed less than 60 lbs, or if I had any upper body strength at all. But I don't. So, as I tried to lift the bag into my trunk, I dropped it on my toe (which was bare- I was wearing flip flops). Ow! Seriously, hurt so bad. It broke off part of the nail, bled like crazy, and left me with one of those giant black blood blisters.

The toe fiasco and my general anxiety over being late to meet Dave (I was picking him up from work and then he was dropping me at the airport) distracted me, and I ended up taking a wrong turn on the way to SFU (a route which I drive, oh I don't know, EVERY day?) and making me even more late. Ugh.

Anyway, we finally got to the airport and got checked in without too much trouble. At least, until we got to security. Now, keep in mind I am wearing Owen in the Baby Bjorn, carrying a heavy diaper bag, purse, and sweater, and limping because of my injured toe. So I get to the security line and start separating my liquids from everything else in the bag, yadda yadda yadda. I took Owen out of the Baby Bjorn and removed it while still holding him (no easy feat!) and took off his shoes and jacket. Then I bent down to remove my own shoes, and RRRIP! My pants split right down the seam of the butt, no joke. I squatted there in panic for a moment, trying to discreetly feel the rip and see if it was as bad as I feared. It was worse! My whole butt was exposed to the Vancouver Airport. So, in an effort to retain whatever modesty I might still have, I grabbed my sweater from the security bin and tried to tie it around my waist while holding a screaming Owen. I thought it was all under control until I approached the metal-detector and the security agent asked me to remove my sweater. I explained the situation to her quietly, hoping she'd grant me an exception and I'd be able to slip through discreetly. However, she didn't catch my discretion, instead yelling across the line to another agent, "Hey, can we let this girl in with a sweater on if she ripped open her pants?" Gee, thanks lady.

After I got through security, I made a beeline for the first gift shop I could find. I was in search of a pair of pants I could wear. The first store sold all Native American (Native Canadian?) collectibles but did have a pair of 2XL men's pajama pants in a loud, tacky print. For $48.  I thought that walking around in gigantic, ugly pants and being out $50 might just be worse than walking around with my butt hanging out. Close call though!  I kept looking and found a Roots store. Roots has really nice sweatpants- $92 sweatpants, in fact. I debated whether or not I could spend $92 on a pair of sweats for a few minutes before coming across the clearance rack. Cha-ching! I found a pair of grey pajama bottoms for $25. Good enough!  Only problem was I didn't want to put the baby down on the filthy floor while I changed...so in a moment of genius, I emptied out the diaper bag and put him inside of it while I changed my pants.

Eventually, we did get to our gate, have a nice snack, and board the airplane. I was apprehensive for Owen's first flight, as everyone knows travellers hate loud babies on planes and I didn't want to be glared at the whole flight. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when Owen was totally fine. I gave him a bottle during the take-off to ease any ear pain he might have, and then we played throughout the flight. He was giggling and making smiles at the flight attendants and was quite a hit. When we hit turbulence and it got a little bumpy, his eyes got wide and he started to laugh. More than one person commented, "There was a baby on this flight?" on the way out, which I took as a good sign! 

It's a good thing Owen turned out to be a good traveler, as we have many trips lined up. This past weekend we drove to Portland, OR and visited with Dave's Aunt Janet and Uncle Ron. In June, Owen, my mom, and I are flying to Pennsylvania to see my grandparents and to celebrate my cousin Katelyn's high school graduation. In July, Dave, Owen, Indiana and I are driving to Utah for Dylan's wedding, and will drive to Las Vegas to see Andy in O while we are there. And in November, we are hoping to go to Costa Rica!!

New Youtube Channel

I have created a youtube channel with a few videos of Owen. I will add a few more over the next couple days. I recommend "Roly Poly" for your viewing pleasure!

You can view the videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/elisebrantley