Tuesday, December 1, 2020

We took a chance... and got on a plane.

 ** Now before you come at me with me blatantly ignoring travel warnings, know that 1. I booked non-refundable things well before that but I thought they WERE refundable and it turns out I'm not a great reader after all. Well some things were but others weren't and I don't have the kind of money to just flush down the toilet. 2. We had other reasons for going on this trip that I'm not going to share, so there. **

We've had a rough year. Actually, the entire planet has had a rough year. In the last few months it feels like everything that was a low boil was starting to boil over the pot, basically. A lot of things have been happening behind the scenes, I'm struggling, the kids are struggling, it is just to the point where I had to either take a chance and leave home for a bit or watch everyone bubble over. 

I fully understand that any one, or all, of us could get sick and it could go to hell. If anyone understands that, it is me. I also know that we have other things going on and frankly, I can't save the world, all I can do is try to make one decision at a time. 

So we went to Florida for a few days. We saw my parents and I didn't realize how much I needed that until we were there. I really, REALLY needed to unplug and check out for a few days. The kids needed to see their grandparents, and we needed to come together as a family without life constantly reminding us what we need to be doing. 

Penelope and Lucy had never flown on a plane before and honestly, I was so worried. I did a lot of research and we went with Delta for all of our flights, which made it a LONG day on the way there. Like three planes to get there and we were so exhausted. 
The great news- Delta does an AMAZING job at keeping things clean and people spaced as much as they can. We all sat in our own row and for most of our flights there and back we weren't around a ton of people, so that was really nice. I was cleaning things like crazy anyways but still, it's nice to know they did, too. 
Penelope and Lucy did great. I didn't realize they had video monitors for each person (I haven't flown in awhile, give me a break) and they hand out earbuds, but if you have little kids I suggest bringing headphones. Thankfully Pep and Lu went with the flow and didn't make a peep on any flight. I was so grateful for it too because there were a lot of kids on most of our flights and we heard some REAL colorful language coming from a boy that couldn't have been older than Penelope, and she's five. 

My kids are really great travelers and it is so nice. I cannot say it enough that traveling with your kids is a huge life skill in flexibility and patience. 
Side note: airports were SO CLEAN and basically empty. It was actually really eerie to walk through an airport at 8 a.m. and feel like you're trespassing because there is nobody around. Just saying. Also, I think it is weird that they had to make it clear that you cannot put your baby in here. 

WHO PUTS THEIR BABY IN THERE?!
Anyways. Florida was nice. My parents' new home is really nice, the kids loved it. Olivia was determined to catch a lizard, and she did, but it also bit her and I hear that hurts quite a bit. Needless to say, the novelty of lizards was short lived and Penelope is now terrified of them. 
One day we went to Zoo Tampa for the day, and that was nice. It wasn't crowded at all and everyone was masked, the entire zoo was impeccably clean, and everyone basically stayed away from everyone else, so it was really nice. Lucy got to see her beloved penguins. 
They measured themselves and frankly, if I ran into a penguin the size of Penelope, I would be terrified. I'm just saying, I feel like a penguin could, and would, kick my ass and I'm not OK with it. 

Penelope was greatly disappointed there were no unicorns and she was not impressed when I tried to pass off a rhino as a chunky one. 
The day was long and the day was hot. This ended up being the only group photo I got of the kids and honestly, it sums up the day. By the time we got home we were all really exhausted. We did learn a lot about animals though, so it kind of made up for missing a day of school, so there was that. 

Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of our trip to Disney. It was the ONE thing we planned ahead of time and I knew if I tried to reschedule I couldn't guarantee we'd be able to come back to Florida in that time period, and the girls would have been totally upset. So we ended up going, and it was great, but I'll tell you  more tomorrow. 

2 comments:

Why Girls Are Weird said...

Ugh what a bummer about the tickets not being refundable. We had to make a choice about our February cruise and lost out of $250. I'm still steaming about it but just couldn't take the gamble. You have to do what you have to do.

It looks like you all had fun and I'm happy to hear that the airports were nice and clean. Maybe they can keep it that way once things get back to "normal"? I feel like I'm spoiled by MSP, other airports are so GROSS in comparison (I'm looking at YOU O'hare).

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Honestly, people should not be coming at you. Worry about your own families and selves. I know you're super cautious and that this was obviously a trip that needed to happen on many levels. There are so many people across the country who do pretty much NOTHING to help the situation, so yeah...you're no the problem. haha

I'm so glad that the airports and Delta were clean and made you feel more comfortable. I have heard planes are safer than sitting inside a restaurant because of recycled air and all that jazz. The zoo sounds fun - though hot! I'm with Lucy - I love penguins. :) I can't wait to hear about Disney!!!

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net