Up, Up and Away

We are on our way to Walt Disney World, finally boarding the plane on Monday night. Ashlyn has been so excited about flying. I think she was just as excited about this part of the trip as she was going to Disney. We stopped at the cockpit and Ashlyn and Trey got their pictures made with the pilots. Obviously, things have loosened up a bit since 9/11. I sat with Ashlyn two rows ahead of my mom and Trey. She could not understand why Emma could not have her own seat. We sat with a lady who reminded me so much of my dad's step-mom. She was friendly with a smokers cough. It did not take long to taxi onto the runway and as we sped up for takeoff Ashlyn says, "I don't know about this..."

On any flight to Disney be prepared to be on a plane with a bunch of kids. There was a puppet show going on in the seats in front of us as they tried to keep 18 month old Stephen entertained. There was constant movement in the aisle as kids and parents headed to the bathroom. (Of course Ashlyn did not decide she needed to go until the seat belt light came back on to prepare for landing.) You could hear excitement in everyone's voices as we were on this journey to a magical place. But even two and a half hours gets long for young kids and the parents trying to keep them satisfied.

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Ashlyn and Trey both looked forward to finding the barf bags. Ashlyn thought that chewing gum would keep you from getting sick so she wanted me to make sure the lady on my left had some, too. As the flight attendants walked up to the front with their cart, Ashlyn wanted to know if they were offering stuff. She wanted her Hannah Montana journal but I had put it in the overhead bin. Her reaction was, "mighty me". As our altitude got higher we could see clouds all around us. Ashlyn must have been convinced that we were in Heaven or at least pretty close because she wanted to know if we would see Granny up here. Trey and mom were pretty quiet, they were playing a blackjack game. As we landed, Ashlyn told the lady on my left that she almost needed her sack. She laughed. Mom and Trey enjoyed me telling them all the things that Ashlyn said.

Four days later we are back at the airport, only this time we are exhausted and glad to be heading home. It is very early in the morning but the Cinnabon place was a welcome breakfast. As Ashlyn said, "this is a good smell in my nose". We ate and waited for boarding.

I sat with Trey and my mom and Ashlyn sat right in front of us. She slept almost the entire trip back. Trey and my mom played blackjack and deuces wild, which they had no idea what they were doing. I dozed on and off. It was easier to doze when the biggo loudmouth lady behind me wasn't talking or kicking my seat. She said something profound as we were nearing the ground, "of course we're in Texas, I see big trucks" and her husband said something back that ended with the word yeehaw.

Back in Dallas, ready for home. Tired, sore legs, nothing but rest...