I'm going to start with a couple of key points for me. I climbed all those stairs a zillion times Monday thru Thursday and I have no knee pain. No leg pain. I cannot remember a time that I have visited my sister's home, both homes had many stairs and I always lived in a ranch, that I did not come home achy from climbing up and down. This a big thing for me.
My Dad made the drive from Chicago to Iowa to join us on our visit. It was delightful to be able to spend time with him also. Delightful for him to spend time with his Great Grandchildren and they with him.
We flew out of DFW on Monday afternoon. Security was awesome in Texas. I took charge of Nick and Maggie, their booster seats for the car and their backpacks, along with my one carry on that I was able to tuck my small purse in. We were all in slip on Crocs so it was pretty easy to line it all up on the conveyor and head through the detector. I sent the kids through first and then I told security about my knee and I went through, setting off the machine, of course. I was taken straight forward into a glassed off area with a door at the other end. The wonderful people immediately guided Nick and Maggie to chairs at the other end and started getting out stuff off the conveyor as it came through so it was all kept together on a table behind the kids. Once that was done they brought me out of my glass enclosure to check me over. Nick and Maggie looked concerned and asked me what was wrong. I talked to them while I was checked over....reminding them of the knee surgery last year...telling them it is metal...having them listen when the wand went off around my knee. The person doing the check was also very sweet to the kids, explaining this procedure along with me, so the kids fears were laid to rest. By the time I was done Becky and Chris were coming through with Emily and all their stuff. Buggy, carseat, diaper bag, and carry on with two laptops. The wonderful people were just as kind, patient and HELPFUL with them as they were with me. It all went smoother then I could ever have expected. We had TOO much time to sit and wait to board. We boarded last so we were not in anyone's way while we settled in the kids, buckled them up and all the other stuff we needed to do. It was a small plane. Only 3 seats across. Because there was a few empty seats AA brought Emily's carseat on the plane and she sat next to Becky in her carseat. Emily was antsy on the plane so the 3 of us stood on our heads to keep her happy but she did OK. Thank goodness there were no delays for weather and the flight was quick and uneventful. We stayed on the plane while it emptied..again to be out of the way...but it was quick on such a small plane.
We needed two cars for transport all the time, but everyone came to the airport to greet us. We all piled the luggage and paraphenalia into the cars and headed home.
The first thing that happened was our greeting from the dogs. Peg has a new pup. Klink is a 9 month old long haired dachsund. No one knew how Klink would react to or behave with Emily so Em was sat in a chair and Klink was controlled. However....Klink barked and growled...happy bark and growled...like crazy and Emily absolutely cracked up. Never ever have we heard Emily do deep down, out of control, belly laughs but Klink had her going for about 15 minutes. We were all laughing so hard we were in tears. Klink never did leave Emily alone. He thought we brought him a puppy to play with and each time she was on the floor he would nip at her toes and under her chin and just basically try to roll around and puppy play with her. It was cute but we could not leave them alone for a second. Peg's house is so big though, we could take Em to other areas to crawl around and play without Klink bugging her. Maddy, Peg's old dog, wanted Emily to stay because Klink did not bother her at all the whole time we were there. Between Nick, Maggie and Emily poor Klick was dead tired half the time.
Peggy and Dan have a delightful big house on a good size property. They also have a pool in a beautiful backyard. A wonderful place for company. The weather was good. Plenty of sunshine with a few rain showers so the kids did a lot of swimming. In the evening we would sit outside and enjoy the cooler weather. We do not get fireflys here in Texas so the kids had a great time catching fireflys and putting them in a jar. The company was great. The weather was great. The kids were great. Emily slept all night, every night in the playpen. Took all her naps according to her schedule. Was in a great mood when up, laughing with the dog.
Maggie slept with me and slept great. Nick was on the floor in an area with my nephew Tommy and the boys stayed up chatting when everyone else was falling asleep. Chelsea and Tom are twins and will be sophomores in college this fall. Chelsea came home from school were she is taking summer classes and working, to spend time with all of us. We are so so glad she did. Paige is 15. My nieces and nephew are a perfect age to enjoy and entertain my grandchildren and that they did. As I said, it was a wonderful visit with everyone.
Maggie, Emily and Nick at DFW airport, all decked out in red, white and blue. They looked so cute.
My Dad made the drive from Chicago to Iowa to join us on our visit. It was delightful to be able to spend time with him also. Delightful for him to spend time with his Great Grandchildren and they with him.
We flew out of DFW on Monday afternoon. Security was awesome in Texas. I took charge of Nick and Maggie, their booster seats for the car and their backpacks, along with my one carry on that I was able to tuck my small purse in. We were all in slip on Crocs so it was pretty easy to line it all up on the conveyor and head through the detector. I sent the kids through first and then I told security about my knee and I went through, setting off the machine, of course. I was taken straight forward into a glassed off area with a door at the other end. The wonderful people immediately guided Nick and Maggie to chairs at the other end and started getting out stuff off the conveyor as it came through so it was all kept together on a table behind the kids. Once that was done they brought me out of my glass enclosure to check me over. Nick and Maggie looked concerned and asked me what was wrong. I talked to them while I was checked over....reminding them of the knee surgery last year...telling them it is metal...having them listen when the wand went off around my knee. The person doing the check was also very sweet to the kids, explaining this procedure along with me, so the kids fears were laid to rest. By the time I was done Becky and Chris were coming through with Emily and all their stuff. Buggy, carseat, diaper bag, and carry on with two laptops. The wonderful people were just as kind, patient and HELPFUL with them as they were with me. It all went smoother then I could ever have expected. We had TOO much time to sit and wait to board. We boarded last so we were not in anyone's way while we settled in the kids, buckled them up and all the other stuff we needed to do. It was a small plane. Only 3 seats across. Because there was a few empty seats AA brought Emily's carseat on the plane and she sat next to Becky in her carseat. Emily was antsy on the plane so the 3 of us stood on our heads to keep her happy but she did OK. Thank goodness there were no delays for weather and the flight was quick and uneventful. We stayed on the plane while it emptied..again to be out of the way...but it was quick on such a small plane.
We needed two cars for transport all the time, but everyone came to the airport to greet us. We all piled the luggage and paraphenalia into the cars and headed home.
The first thing that happened was our greeting from the dogs. Peg has a new pup. Klink is a 9 month old long haired dachsund. No one knew how Klink would react to or behave with Emily so Em was sat in a chair and Klink was controlled. However....Klink barked and growled...happy bark and growled...like crazy and Emily absolutely cracked up. Never ever have we heard Emily do deep down, out of control, belly laughs but Klink had her going for about 15 minutes. We were all laughing so hard we were in tears. Klink never did leave Emily alone. He thought we brought him a puppy to play with and each time she was on the floor he would nip at her toes and under her chin and just basically try to roll around and puppy play with her. It was cute but we could not leave them alone for a second. Peg's house is so big though, we could take Em to other areas to crawl around and play without Klink bugging her. Maddy, Peg's old dog, wanted Emily to stay because Klink did not bother her at all the whole time we were there. Between Nick, Maggie and Emily poor Klick was dead tired half the time.
Peggy and Dan have a delightful big house on a good size property. They also have a pool in a beautiful backyard. A wonderful place for company. The weather was good. Plenty of sunshine with a few rain showers so the kids did a lot of swimming. In the evening we would sit outside and enjoy the cooler weather. We do not get fireflys here in Texas so the kids had a great time catching fireflys and putting them in a jar. The company was great. The weather was great. The kids were great. Emily slept all night, every night in the playpen. Took all her naps according to her schedule. Was in a great mood when up, laughing with the dog.
Maggie slept with me and slept great. Nick was on the floor in an area with my nephew Tommy and the boys stayed up chatting when everyone else was falling asleep. Chelsea and Tom are twins and will be sophomores in college this fall. Chelsea came home from school were she is taking summer classes and working, to spend time with all of us. We are so so glad she did. Paige is 15. My nieces and nephew are a perfect age to enjoy and entertain my grandchildren and that they did. As I said, it was a wonderful visit with everyone.
Maggie, Emily and Nick at DFW airport, all decked out in red, white and blue. They looked so cute.
That dog is so funny!!!!
A rare happening but laughing at the dog and playing with all the people plum tuckered Emily out.
Maggie, Paige (sitting on the ground) Chelsea (gray dress) Danny, Nicholas, My Dad, back of Peggy's head.
Peggy, Chelsea holding Maggie, Danny, Dad.
Paige, Chelsea and Maggie, Peggy and Dan, Nicholas and Dad.
The twins, Tom and Chelsea. Tom is working for a landscaping company this summer. Forgive his dirty, grubbing appearance.
Time for smores!! Danny built a fire and we all made smores the last night we were there. Maggie and Nick have never had real smores and believe it or not this non camper hasn't either. Maggie is giving me a taste. Such a treat us unheard of for Maggie and I was so glad all that sugar did not keep her up that night.
Nick and his smore.
Chelsea and Maggie. My Maggie is a major cuddler and loved having all the people to hold her on their lap.
Danny just had to give Maggie a little more sugar. LOL. I told him if she did not go to sleep I was sending her up the him to sleep with. The good news is she was out like a light after brushing her teeth and did not wake up until 9:30 AM.
Return trip. Iowa security...not as nice. I again took the two big kids and followed the same procedure. This time I was taken into the glass enclosure but not a soul paid any attention to the fact I had two young children with me. Nick and Maggie were left walking aimlessly through not knowing what to do. I am in this glass wall enclosure yelling to them to keep walking to the end of it and stand facing me. There was no woman around to do my check over so we waited. No one is getting our stuff off the belt and the kids finally started to do it with me in a loud voice telling them where to put it and NOT to come in the enclosed area near me since someone had already yelled at them for that. It was awful and Iowa's people were no help at all. My kids were GREAT though. I thought for sure Becky and Chris would be done but NO. Iowa had to be a pain with them also. Their time to get through was about 20 minutes of so because of one unopened can of formula. Yes, it was in a plastic bag and taken out of the diaper bag. All of their stuff was taken to a side area and every carry on was unpacked and each item was completely checked over for explosives. It was ridiculous. Even unopened boxes of baby cookies had to be opened. Then, of course, it all had to be repacked. It's a good thing we were early again. I just do not understand the inconsistency between airports. Another thing we noticed was the latest thing with shoes. Some airports no longer want shoes in the bins. In our case John had told us that DFW wanted them out so we were prepared. When we went through in IA we asked them and they also want them out of the bins. All in all though...it worked out fine.
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