Okay, so Grandpa, Jackson and I get up on Thursday morning and head toward NYC. Ryan (my brother in law) works in Connecticut, just outside of NYC, so we all met there. We met up with Mindy and Lily, ate some lunch, went to a little beach, got ice cream and had dinner. Then Grandpa went back home and Jackson and I went back to Queens with Mindy, Ryan and Lily. We got all settled in and put the kids to bed. The grown ups followed suit shortly thereafter. Friday morning we woke up and were supposed to have a play date with Mindy's "friend". (I use that term loosely) This friend of hers was on American Idol back in season 2, maybe? To protect her identity, I'll call her Crazy Girl that Rides a Scooter. Well, Crazy Girl that Rides a Scooter has since grown up, (in age, not maturity) and has kids of her own. We were supposed to meet her at a park for a play date and so Mindy could return something of hers she borrowed. We were running late for the play date and Crazy Girl that Rides a Scooter called my sister and essentially bitched her out. Not cool. So instead we went to a much closer park and went to Dunkin Donuts for lunch. That night Mindy and I decided to take Lily and Jackson to Times Square. The subway ride was interesting, to say the least. 2 babies, 2 strollers, 2 mommies, lots of steps, no elevators. We made it though. Jackson even got initiated into the New York subway system with a mariachi band performance. He put a dollar in the guy's hat! Jackson loved Times Square. There was lots of looking up and asking "whassssat?" We ate New York pizza and street vendor nuts, and went to Central Park and M&M world. By the time we got home, it was very late and the kids crashed. The next morning was Saturday and Jackson and I were going home. We hung out, played outside and packed. This was going to be the longest flight of this trip, from New York to Denver. About 4 hours. Of course it was a packed flight and no extra seats for Jackson's car seat. We got to our gate and I tried my hardest to wear him out. He was running around and thoroughly entertaining the other passengers. Everyone thought he was so cute......NOT FOR LONG, SUCKERS! We got on the plane and he was pretty good at first, until the seat belt sign never went off. The pilot blamed it on a storm system in the Ohio Valley.....stupid Ohio weather! Have you ever tried to force an almost 2 year old to sit on your lap? It doesn't work! Especially THIS almost 2 year old. He was screaming and trying to get down. Every time I'd put him down, a flight attendant would come up to me and tell me that he MUST be on my lap. This wasn't working at all.....Jackson wasn't just a little whiny, he was screaming as loud as he could. Other passengers started yelling at me too. The lady in the seat beside me actually yelled "OH, MY, GOD!" louder than Jackson was yelling. The lady in front of me asked if she should try holding him. Yeah lady, cause a stranger holding him is going to make him feel better. Another lady came up to me and suggested I give him a pacifier or something to suck on. No shit lady! What the hell do you think I've been trying to do for the last hour?! After the last guy gave me a dirty look and the seat belt sign was still illuminated, I broke down. I'm not a big crier. Most of my friends and family have never seen my cry. I cry when I confront authority and I cry when I'm frustrated. I was frustrated. And crying. A lot. So I grabbed Jackson, took my seat belt off and marched up to the front of the plane. I went up to the flight attendants, bawling my eyes out, saying "I know I'm not supposed to be up here, but everybody's yelling at me! He just needs to walk around and the seat belt sign is still on!" The flight attendants were extremely nice to us, saying that other passengers have no right to yell at me, and they need to be understanding that he's a baby and can't help it. They even gave Jackson a cupcake! He stopped crying. The seat belt sign kept going on and off the rest of the trip and Jackson managed to stay fairly calm. When we were finally landing, the man sitting behind us started talking to Jackson. He told him this crazy, way too long and complicated for a toddler story about little gremlins that fly and they get on the airplane wings. He said that Jackson needed to watch the wings and make sure there were no gremlins. Believe it or not, Jackson was listening to every word and watching for these darn gremlins. He even went back and sat on this strangers lap for the entire landing. It was awesome! Come to find out, this man has 23 nieces and nephews, so I guess he knows a thing or two about entertaining little ones. We got off the plane and Eric met us at baggage claim. As soon as Jackson saw him he ran to him yelling "Dada!" It was really sweet! I loved our trip visiting family and friends. Thanks to everyone who lent us a bed, couch, pack and play or crib. For all of the rides to and from airports and home cooked meals! It was a great trip!
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