hilton head

After depleting our bank account to move to the West coast last Saturday, we got on another plane two days later and flew to the East coast to spend Thanksgiving with J's family. We had a great time riding bikes on the beach (the sand was firm enough to support the bikes along the shore!), seeing dolphins swim in the ocean, watching beautiful sunsets, and eating lots of good food. It was a lot of fun.

What wasn't fun, however, was getting to South Carolina. I have never had such a stressful journey. Since this is a season of gratitude, however, I thought that I would focus on the positive aspects of the the trip back East. Therefore, I am grateful that:

- I have awesome in-laws who went to bought me some clothes when they heard that we forgot to put my suitcase in the car before we went to the airport. (J and I both thought that the other person had loaded the suitcase in the trunk. When we went out the door, I was too busy organizing Sam's processional of baby paraphernalia into the back seat to notice that I didn't have my own things.) Luckily, I have a very observant and tasteful mother-in-law who knew exactly what kinds of shirts I would like to wear.

- There was a washer and dryer in our condo, so I was able to wash my clothes and underwear every day. Phew. I'm glad I didn't have to stink all week long.

- We were able to make both connecting flights, albeit that we were the last ones on the plane both times.

- Although I have a low milk supply, I was able to nurse Sam on the plane since his bottles and formula were also left at home. Although he was still ravenously hungry, at least he didn't perish mid-air.

- The flight stewardess offered to carry my belongings to my seat, since I was having a difficult time cleaning up Sam's explosive diaper while cramped in the airplane's restroom. Really, she was just trying to get me to sit down so that we could take off (the whole airplane was waiting for me and my poopy baby), but it was still nice of her to carry the bag.

- I noticed that J grabbed the wrong boarding pass when he left the Chicago security gate to go and find formula. Since I didn't have my phone (yep, left it in Seattle too!), I couldn't reach him to let him know of the switchup. I'm glad that he saw me waving his boarding pass at the other end of the security gate when he returned with formula in tow, and I am also grateful that a security guard picked up the pass from me and brought it to J.

- We found a baby bottle in the Seattle airport and formula in the Chicago airport. Although it would have been nice to have gotten things before the final connecting flight to Savannah/Hilton Head, at least we got it. Poor Sam, he drank 12 ounces as soon as we offered him the bottle. He was so so hun-ga-ree.

- My in-laws offered to come and pick us up from the Savannah airport. Initially, we were going to wait an hour or so for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to arrive on a later flight. However, we were both so frazzled that it was really nice to just leave and not wait around the airport any longer.

- My mother-in-law does a good job of taking pictures at family vacations, so even though the camera was left at home, I know that I will be able to get copies of the pictures from her.

Despite the horrible onset to this trip, everything else went smoothly and carefree-ly. It was so nice to have a vacation inbetween the chaos of moving out and moving in. It was fun to see all of J's family too. This definitely will be a Thanksgiving to remember.