Again, my wife went to work early. Our guests, Rebecca, and I all woke up later, but in plenty of time to eat (only Rebecca actually ate breakfast), clean up, and get our guests bags packed.
By 9:30 a.m., we’d made sure they’d left nothing behind and had Rebecca’s room cleared out. After diaper changes and loading the car, we were off by 10 a.m. The ride to Austin’s airport was smooth sailing all the way — I LOVE how empty that toll road (130/45) is, even on weekdays. Rebecca and Vicky both stayed awake the entire car ride, watching Olivia (cartoon) on DVD. They talked a couple of times and argued about something we’ll never understand. We got into the airport on time and Val and Vicky checked their luggage.
We said our goodbyes at the security gate — I felt bad that my wife couldn’t be there to send her friend off. Vicky seemed ready to go; I think Val was too — vacations are nice, but it’s always nice to be heading back home.
Rebecca seemed like she didn’t quite get it, but she said “bye-bye” (and she has a thick southern accent when saying that word). She watched silently as they drew further away through the security line and eventually disappeared. Then she started crying, and reaching for them. She shouted “Vee!” which is what she’d been calling Vicky the last couple of days.
I talked her through it, and she calmed down after a few minutes. I realized it was her first tearful goodbye.
Rebecca loved the escalator, so we rode that a couple of times, and then I got a Dr. Pepper from a vending machine. I realized Rebecca had probably never seen a vending machine before. She loved that too, so we played with it for a few minutes.
Back in the car, she had a graham cracker and some milk and then watched Shrek as we drove away. She stayed awake longer than I’d hoped, but got about 35 minutes of sleep on the way home. At home, after a monster poopie (hers, not mine), I managed to get her back down to finish her nap.
In the afternoon, she inspected her room carefully. At first, she seemed a little lost that her new friends were gone, but that feeling was replaced by joy as she realized she had her room back. She danced and sang while my wife and I cleaned house a little, did laundry, deflated the air mattress, and re-made all the beds.
She had a hard time going to sleep tonight, but I have no doubt she’ll get back into her pattern soon.
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“a monster poopie (hers, not mine)” Funny stuff!! I know you give lots of details of your day on here, but I’m glad you haven’t gone as far as to describe your poops. hahaha
That was sweet of you to take her for a ride on the escalator and play with the vending machine. Most dads would be ready to just get the heck out of there, instead of taking time to calm their child and do something fun with them. I’m glad her sadness didn’t last too long.
Rebecca is growing up so fast. I enjoyed the pool pictures. She is a natural. Thank you for this little piece of insight into your family life.
Thanks, both, for the comments.