leaving on a jet plane

Thursday morning, Britton and I left Oklahoma to fly to Virginia to visit my family. I have had knots in my stomach for weeks about how she would handle the flight. It's not like I can just get up and leave if she gets fussy. So I took some precautions - bought her a ticket so we'd have enough room, booked direct flights, packed everything under the sun in the diaper bag, and copious amounts of motrin. Since we did "family boarding," by the time we got on the flight, there weren't any window seats left. Now, Southwest requires a car seat to go in the window seat so that in case of an emergency, people aren't tripping over a car seat in the middle of the row. Makes sense to me. But no one was willing to make eye contact with me, let alone give me their window seat. I even started telling no one in particular, "It's not my policy. It's the airline's. Where's a freaking flight attendant?!?!" So a nice lady offered me her seat, sent her husband across the aisle, and she helped me with Britton the entire flight.





And then we arrived in Baltimore, and Jessica picked us up and carted us off to King George. We picked up Garrett and Caroline from school and introduced them to Britton for the first time. It was love at first sight for all involved.








Jessica fed Britton in a unique style we learned on TLC's "Parenting Without Arms" special. Then, being rural, she introduced us to her goats. Now, these goats are almost as domesticated as dogs, but they still like to nibble on your jeans. So they freaked me out, but Britton loved them.






And Cammy surprised us with Sugar Plum cake! Sugar Plum bakery in Virginia Beach made my wedding cake, and their cakes are so incredibly delicious. We contemplated packing some up for me to take back to Oklahoma, then I decided that the path of least resistance was just to eat the entire thing.




We went out for seafood Friday night at a new place called Buster's. I know, the name is busted (pun intended), but the food was great. And it was so nice to get seafood that hadn't been frozen, and to get to eat with my whole family.


On Saturday, Jessica invited my aunt Jill, my cousin Stephanie, her kids Alexandria and Gavin, and my friends Jen and Rusty, their son Adam, and Traci and her daughter Olivia over for a get-together. To make sure that Jill didn't miss the house, Cammy thought it was a good idea to hang out near the street with an American flag to literally wave down Jill. It was funny for the first five minutes, then just got kind of weird. Especially when people started honking their horns, and we began marching around the driveway singing "You're a grand old flag, you're a high-flying flag..." Britton took the opportunity to bond with Sable.













And Jessica made a ton of food, including burgers and hot dogs, beans, pasta salad, peach cobbler, and Stephanie brought fruit and whipped dip, and then Jen showed up with cookies and cupcakes. Needless to say, we were wiped out when the party was over, and full. So we lounged around, and later, after the kids went to bed, had a rousing game of Scattergories. Poor Tim was introduced to the overly-competitive people Jessica and I become when board game glory is on the line.




This morning, we got up bright and early and had our good-byes. Jessica loaded me and Britton into the car to take us back to BWI to catch our flight home. Britton made goo-goo eyes at the security check-point people, which is the only explanation I can find as to why we weren't subjected to the ridiculously long security screening we endured at Will Rogers airport.




We had a great time! Thank you so much, first and foremost, to Jessica for orchestrating a fantastic visit, and to Tim, Garrett, Caroline, and Sable for opening your home, and Cammy for being you, and Jill, Stephanie, and Jen, for coming to visit and meeting my girl.