Long trip!

So the boys were great on the long trip back from Italy. Fortunately, after the last time I have a pretty good idea about what to expect and when there are likely to be breakdowns. Just like last year really, we had a long early morning drive before the first flight. Jamie had wanted to sleep and been very uncomfortable last time so this year I had them all set with pillows so they could be comfy. It helped that we had a bigger car too, so he could not touch Connor, which, when he's trying to sleep, invariably infuriates him. So they both sacked out for most of the 3-hour drive to the airport in Rome.

Getting on the plane was a bit of an adventure, because you have to stand in 20 lines. Once I finally got our boarding passes I realized we weren't sitting together. I think here my bit of Italian worked well. I was as nice and charming as I could be in talking to the agent at the desk in Italian and she smiled, ripped our passes and gave us three seats on the bulkhead so we had loads of room. The boys were great for the 10-hour plane ride. Connor is a little tougher because he doesn't quite have the patience to watch movies a lot and he got fidgety for a while, but in the end we made it, and, as always, when we were getting off they were complemented on what good travelers they were.

We had to fly through Charlotte, so we got the bags, rechecked, got some food and headed to the gate. I put Connor's sweatshirt on the ground and made a cozy area for him to sleep. He promptly sacked out, face down, on his stomach for an hour. He was NOT pleased when I had to wake him up to get on the plane, but then fell asleep as soon as we were in the air. Being smart now, I positioned myself in the middle seat of the three so Jamie could put his head on me without touching Connor, so he actually slept most of the time. Later Connor admitted that he had no memory of the second plane whatsoever.

Our friend picked us up in Houston and brought us home. I suspect that if the pool had been open they would have asked to go to the pool, but there one request was some time snuggly with the guinea pigs, whom they had missed terribly. I didn't have the wherewithal to get a picture then, but here is a similar scene the next day.