February 6, 2013
Happy New Year! You didn't all really expect I'd be able to keep a monthly blog with twins, did you? But since its the new year and we had such an exciting adventure, I knew I had to take the time to post. It only took me 2 months to recap this adventure, but better late than never. The title explains it all... we are a bunch of traveling fools!
Just as we did Ryder's 1st Christmas, we traveled to Pennsylvania to celebrate the twins first Christmas with my family. We knew that this trip would not be easy but also want our kids to be close to the Lenze side of the family. So, we packed up and headed East.
 |
| Luggage for 5... |
 |
| 6 am and ready to roll... PA here we come! |
I was pleasantly surprised that the 12 hour trip to PA went pretty flawlessly. We took 2 different planes and even managed a 3 hour layover in Houston without a single tear being shed. There was no "magic" medicine (aka Benadryl) used. The kids handled it beautifully. And for that, I am forever grateful and proud!
 |
| The girls sleeping in between flights |
 |
| The whole family en route |
 |
| Daddy & Ryder riding the train in Houston |
Upon arriving in PA, our first 3 days were jam packed with Christmas after Christmas celebration. We locked and loaded our kids and shuffled them, through the snow, all over the big city of St. Marys, PA to meet their extended family. They were the hit of every party as everyone "oooooooh-ed and ahhhhhhh-ed" over their cute twin-ness and Ryder's charm. Things were going perfect. Almost too perfect.
On December 26th, at 3am, Ryder came rushing into our room and woke Joe up saying, "Daddy, I'm choking!" Joe jumped up to find 5 puddles of vomit between our room and his. We knew the stomach bug was going around and lucky Ryder was the first of the Walsh's to be hit. While I managed the babies, Joe did his due diligence and cleaned up the vomit that now graced my big sister's bed, hall, and bathroom. We gave Ryder a bucket and tried to tell him that if he got sick, he needed to use the bucket. He was down and out for a full 24 hours with vomit and diarrhea.
2 days later, I was hit with the same bug. It was horrendous. The vomitting and diarrhea were never-ending. I was the 12th person in our family to come down with it. We would leave in 2 days and I was so afraid that the other 3 Walsh's would be joining me. After all, Joe and I, AND the girls shared a room. All four of us in a small room, upstairs-in the winter -makes for a very warm room. (Seriously, think being stuck in a sauna with two screaming babies!) It was freezing and snowing most of the trip and yet, we slept with the window open. We spent the rest of the trip hunkered down, trying to resume health, and hoping we could keep the rest of the crew healthy.
On December 29th, we put the girls to bed and for the first time the whole trip, they went to sleep with ease. Ryder, on the other hand, did not. He got up and down for hours. He thought it was quite funny to come out of "HIS" room and go into the girls room and try to wake them up. He's a sneaky, quiet, little thing. But I am smarter. I found a wreath of bells and hung it on his door. Now, if he tried to sneak out, the bells would jingle and I could intercept him before he woke the girls up. At 11pm, I finally won the battle and he went to bed. 30 minutes later, baby whack-a-mole (one twin gets up while the other sleeps, they switch off/on all night- whack-a-mole) began. I rolled over and told Joe he should go sleep downstairs. We would need to leave for Pittsburgh at 3am and one of use should be well rested for our journey home. I rocked the babies one at a time until 2am. My alarm went off at 2:30. I woke up and cried. I was exhausted. I was terrified of HOW I would function on the 12 hour journey home. I had hoped to sleep a little bit on the 3 hour drive to the Pittsburgh Airport. I reminded myself how AMAZING the girls were on the way out and convinced myself we could, we WOULD- have a repeat journey home.
 |
| Outsmarting Ryder and his shenanigans |
My Dad showed up at 3am. We loaded the kids up and headed out. We were hopeful that we would beat the snowstorm and make it there without any problems. We were using my brother's MDX. My Dad was driving and Joe was in the passenger seat. I was sandwiched in the 2nd row between the girls in their car eats. Ryder was in the 3rd row with all our luggage. It was definitely packed to the max. I dozed off a little bit in the car and woke up shortly to seeing nothing but white. We were smack dab in the middle of the storm. I was a little nervous about this but I reminded myself that my Dad has plowed roads for years, this is probably nothing for him. Looking for reassurance, I asked, "Dad, does this make you nervous?" With both hands firmly planted on the wheel and both eyes fixated on the road, he replied, "Yes. Yes it does." It really was NOT the answer I was looking for. I forgot about sleep and began to watch the road. We couldn't see any other car tracks in front of us. Just fresh snow everywhere. At one point, we passed an 18 wheeler that was tipped over onto its side on the side of the road. Its safe to say, I was nervous!
I looked at Joe and he did not look good. I asked if he was okay. He told me he wasn't feeling so good. He said he felt like maybe he had eaten something that didn't agree with him. My heart sunk. I knew the feeling. He was getting the stomach bug. He kept insisting he ate something bad, but having just gone through this, I knew better. I asked him to call the airport and check on our flight. It was only 6:30 am and we weren't making great time with the snow. "Let's see if our flight is on schedule." I said. He calls in to find that we have a 3.5 hour delay due to weather. Awesome. Again, Joe says he doesn't feel well. He closes his eyes to sleep. Nervous about the roads, I do the same. It's going to be a long day.
About 45 minutes later, I wake up and Joe is hurled over in the front seat telling my Dad he's definitely going to be sick. It's just a matter of when. My Dad and I start talking about what we should do during this delay. We both have had this stomach bug and there's no way we can take Joe to a restaurant, which was our initial thought. Do we really want to go to the airport and wait out the delay? I can't imagine having raging diarrhea and vomiting in the airport. My Dad suggests we get a hotel. We can wait it out there- My Dad and I will hang out with the kids and Joe can have a clean, private bathroom. We checked into the Marriott only 20 minutes from the hotel. We had a decent room- 2 queen beds, a refrigerator, a nice bathroom, a sofa, tv and coffee table. Joe spent most of his time running from bed to the bathroom. Ryder was trying to stay focused on a movie on the IPAD, while I fed the girls and tried to get them to nap. Ryder was bouncing off the walls making it impossible. My dad took him down to the lobby for breakfast. Thank God! This allowed me to get both girls fed and sleeping before they could come back. It wasn't long before they returned. Dad said he just wanted to come back. I tried to keep Ryder focused on some games on the iPad but he just wasn't having it. He was monkeying around on everything. Climbing on the bed, jumping on the sofa... just not listening and being a total little hellion. It's like he knew we were totally up to ears and struggling to get through each minute and he was going to MAKE SURE we didn't forget he was not happy either. Sure enough, he fell off the couch and hit his eye on the corner of the coffee table. Missed his eye ball by a hair. Its swollen, black & blue, and a little bloody. But it could have been much worse! His bloody murder scream woke both girls. They started screaming. So, now I am comforting my screaming 4 year old while trying to calm down one of the girls and my Dad is trying to console the other twin. In the background, I can hear Joe throwing up. I'm fighting back the tears and my mind is spinning. "What the HELL am I going to do? Is this REALLY happening?" I had to tell myself to keep it together, ONE of us has to keep it together.
After a few hours in the hotel, it was time to get to the airport. My Dad dropped us off and his eyes were filled with concern as he hugged me good bye. I knew he was worried. I was worried. Here we go. I pushed the stroller with one hand, pulled a piece of luggage with the other into the airport. Ryder cruised along pulling his roller bag while Joe doubled up with our 2 large suitcases. We made a B line for the check in counter and began to wait. There were 3 people in front of us. Joe was looking green and I was glad the lines were short. It turns out that a short line means absolutely nothing. We waited for 35 minutes before we made it to the ticket counter. When our turn FINALLY arrived, we realized immediately why it was taking so long. NEW GIRL! She tried to check us in but left the babies off the tickets. She had to rip those tickets up and start again. "Let me try this again." she said. She slowly re-types the info and hands us the tickets. We look and both Joe and I's tickets are listed with Bria as the lap child. No Nova. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I must have put in the same birthdate for both babies." I remind her, "They are twins. They HAVE the same birthday." She starts fumbling around on her computer, pecking at the keys like a preschool kid touching a keypad for the first time. It took everything I had not to jump over the counter and key in the information FOR her. It was PAINFULLY slow. She finally finishes up and looks at the tickets. Now, they both have Nova's name on them. We all sigh. This has been going on for about 20 minutes. I can feel the evil glares of the passengers behind us still waiting to move through the line. She finally calls for a manager to help. The manager arrives and our tickets are ready. We look at the clock and boarding begins in 15 minutes. We need to MOVE FAST! We look at the security line and there's no way we can get through that 20-30 minutes. We hear of an alternative security line that is shorter and decide to take that route. We run through the airport, across a parking lot, and find this alternative security checkpoint. We make it through security rather fast. We get to our gate just as boarding was set to begin. We pick a spot and start to change diapers. Just then, we hear the announcement, "Attention Passenger on Flight 806, due to a mechanical on the plane, this flight will be delayed 2.5 hours." I wanted to cry! This will now put us at 5.5 total hours delayed. I'm beginning to worry if we will be able to get a flight out of Texas to make it home. I check my backpack and start checking supplies to see if we have enough diapers and formula to make it home. It's close. It's going to be very close.
We spend the next 2.5 hours hanging out in the pittsburgh airport. Joe is a mess. He is in the bathroom throwing up almost the whole time. If he's not throwing up, he's laying down, hurled up in pain. Ryder is bouncing off the walls. Its painfully obvious how tired he is. I give him my boppy pillow and try to encourage him to lay down and rest. The girls are also not in a great mood, so I load them in the stroller and do mini circles so I can watch Ryder and try to keep the girls happy.
 |
| Ryder FINALLY passes out in the Pittsburgh airport |
 |
| Poor, SICK, Daddy... sleeping in the airport |
Shortly, after giving Ryder the pillow, he fell asleep. YAY! 2 Walsh's sleeping, 2 to go. I'm exhausted already. The girls are NOT happy in the stroller. I thought I could push them around and lull them to sleep but they had other plans. They do NOT want to be in that stroller. So, I lay a blanket on the floor near Ryder and get the girls out on the floor to sit and play. Instantly, they start crying. Nothing seems to make them happy. They had just eaten but I decided to try giving them another bottle anyways. The bottles seemed to do the trick and kept them happy for about 15 minutes. This was the best and calmest 15 minutes of our entire trip home. Both boys were sleeping and the girls are content. Sigh of relief. I try to relax. I know this will be a very long day.
 |
| Drinking our bottles in the airport |
After the long 2.5 hour wait, we are FINALLY ready to board the plane! YES! We are going home! One more stop in Texas, and this nightmare will be over. We board the plane and Joe and I are separated by about 4 rows of seats. I'm sitting with Ryder and I have Bria on my lap. Joe has Nova The lady sitting in the seat across the row from me is alone. So, we politely ask, "Ma'am, are you traveling alone?" She replies, "Yes, I am." "Great, could I ask you a favor? My husband is up 4 rows, we have twins and 4 year old and we are sharing diapers and formula. Would you mind swapping seats with him? He also has an aisle seat." She looks at me coldly and says, "No. I don't want to change seats. I'm happy where I am." My jaw hit the floor. My head was FILLED with profanities. I bite my tongue and look down at Ryder. I know he his watching me and waiting to see how his Mommy handles this. I managed to mumble some lame "Thanks anyways." Joe looks back at me and I toss death daggars his way as I shake my head NO, to tell him the offer had been declined. Knowing how sick he is, all I can think is, "You need to come touch this woman and give her your funk!"
 |
| The worst flight of our lives, right before it got crazy! |
The captain made the announcement that it was time for us to depart. My seat belt was buckled, Ryder was locked in, and Bria was wiggling away on my lap. Ryder is in semi-fit mode because he doesn't want to buckle his seat belt. He wants to sit on the floor. He wants Daddy to be close to us. He wants to watch a movie we don't have. You name it, he was upset about it. He cried, wined, and moaned the entire flight. I felt for the people sitting around us. Ryder was loud, obnoxious, and not very happy. Ryder even had moments where he threw himself on the floor and refused to get up. Not much you can do when you are holding a screaming baby and the toddler is falling a part. I tried redirecting him. I was able to get him focused on a letter game we could play together. But that lasted about 3 minutes before he found a new reason to be upset. And then of course, he has to poop. So, I bring Bria up to Joe's seat and I take Ryder to the bathroom. When we got back, he seemed like he was finally ready to calm down. But I was wrong. This was the longest flight ever for me. I had no help from Joe because we were so far apart and I had one baby crying who refused to sleep and an overtired toddler who was clearly just D.O.N.E.
 |
| Our first time at a restaurant |
When we landed, I was almost ecstatic. We were one step closer to home. We got off the plane and went straight to the boards to see what our flight status was. We missed the flight. The next flight would leave 7 hours later. You've got to be kidding me! 7 hours? How will we manage for 7 hours in the airport? At this point, we are starving. Ryder is a disaster. Both girls are screaming. And Joe is running to the bathroom to get sick again. I can feel tears welling up. I quickly wipe them away. There is no time for me to fall apart. I must move forward. I quickly decided that we need a real meal. I need a real meal. I wait for Joe and I tell him we are going to Chili's. This is the twins FIRST time eating at a restauraunt and the circumstances couldn't be more strenuous. From the time we walked into the restaurant the questions started, "OH MY GOD. Are they twins? Are they identical?" Joe had to go back to the bathroom immediately. I was trying to get the kids settled. After the first "twin heckler" left, the next one showed up. This was really hard since the kids were constantly on the verge of a meltdown or having a meltdown. I had to politely answer while encouraging them to move on. I've got both girls settled into high chairs and Ryder coloring quietly. I order a soda and an appetizer and ask that it be brought asap. As soon as Joe gets back, Ryder claims, "I have to poop soooo bad, right now!" Joe loads him up and goes. I realize I better order my meal, too, before the wheels come off this family's wagon. I order. Just then, the meltdowns begin. The girls start screaming! I give them toys, bottles, try holding them, rocking them. They don't want to be held. They don't want to sit. They don't want to eat. They are just MISERABLE! The people behind me are staring and talking. I can hear the man say, "OMG. Why doesn't she just leave? This is awful. We are NEVER having kids." I'm totally embarrassed and pissed. Its hard to manage both girls in a full blown fit solo. At this point, I look around the room and I realize that everyone is watching. Some with sympathetic eyes, but most are traveling and pissed. We are, afterall, ruining their dinners. I gave up on caring and focused back on the girls. I continued efforts at making them happy in hopes of eating a little bit. The server comes by and I ask him to box our food (yeah, our food that's not even out yet) and bring the bill. Joe comes back and I tell him, we are leaving. We start loading the girls up. I look at the people behind us and say, "if this isn't the BEST birth control ever, I don't know what is." He smiled and said, "We started out mad when your kids were crying, but after watching you for the last 15 minutes, we just feel bad, it looks exhausting. I hope your day gets better." And holy tear eyed! I wanted to hug them for being understanding. I could feel the hate around us and I wasn't letting it get to me. But to hear from ONE person that had some sympathy for the situation, felt great.
We left the restaurant and headed to semi quiet section of the airport. We gave Ryder the iPad and started a movie for him. Joe layed down next to him. The girls were still screaming. I needed to walk around the airport with them. On my walk, I called my Dad and cried. I told him we had a 7 hour delay in Texas. I told him we were struggling and that I had no idea how we'd make it home. I was exhausted. It was now going on 36 hours since I had last slept and I was the best off of our family. He encouraged me to just get through it. After about 30 minutes of walking and talking, the girls fell asleep. So I hung up the phone and returned to Joe and Ryder. Joe looked awful. He is still running to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes to get sick. I pulled out the food to eat. It was soggy and gross. I threw mine away. Ryder ate a little of his. and Joe still could not eat at all.
This layover was the longest one of my life. I truly never thought we'd get out of there. And even if we did, we still have a 3.5 hour flight ahead of us. I felt so defeated. I was losing my voice. I was congested. and I didn't have time to get sick now! There was a lot of crying during this wait. Crying from all of us at one point. This layover truly tested all of us, our patience, our attitudes, and even our bodies. I felt like we were failing. The crying, vomiting, and chaos went on for hours. Until finally, we boarded our last plane. I was praying this one would be better than the last. At least we were all near each other to be able to help. As soon as the plane took off, Ryder fell asleep. I looked at Joe and "his" baby was sleeping. I looked at the baby in my lap, and she was also asleep. I looked across the aisle at Joe. Our eyes met. We smiled. It wasn't an "I'm HAPPY smile". This smile was the kind that screamed "THANK GOD". It was a nervous smile. Nervous about how long this would last. He reached his hand across the aisle and held mine. I took a deep breath and felt a tear squeek out of the corner of my eye, despite my best efforts to hold them back. He said, "Your doing great, baby. We are almost home." And just like that, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
I must have been sleeping really deeply because when I woke up, Joe was standing over top of me shaking my shoulders. "Take the baby, take the baby" he shouted as he dropped another sleeping baby across my lap. I look down and both girls are still sleeping and Joe is gone. I look to my left and see Ryder sleeping peacefully. Joe returns and tells me he woke up and had to throw up again. He took a baby back. Thankfully, they both slept through that. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. Awhile later, I was awoken by Ryder SCREAMING. I mean this was a death scream. I thought he was having a bad dream, so I hand Joe the baby and pick up Ryder. I hold him in my arms and tell him to settle down. It's ok. Mommy is here. He's sobbing. He keeps saying his butt hurts. He wiggled and squirmed and fell back to sleep. I put him back in his seat and buckled him in. At this point, I'm completely congested, have absolutely NO VOICE, and need to get back to sleep. Joe hands me my baby back and I go back to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of the captain making announcements that its time to prepare for landing. I scan the kids and everyone is still sleeping. Again, my eyes lock with Joe's. We are both smiling. We are almost home. We made it. We just have to get through baggage claim. The rest should be easy. I look at Ryder and I know when he wakes up he's going to be pissed. I do my best to keep him sleeping until we are ready to get off the plane. He wakes up as the plane is being Taxii'd and as expected, he's not happy. Again, he's screaming. He threw himself on the floor. "I don't want to walk, Mommy! I CAN'T walk, Mommy! Mommy, carry me!!!" I tell Ryder I cannot and will not carry him. I have to carry one of his sisters and the luggage. He has to be a big boy and walk. I tell him we are almost home. "Ryder, you are doing so good. I'm so proud of you. I know its been a long day and we are almost home, buddy." He screamed and cried the entire way off the plane. When we get to the airport he says, "I POOPED MY PANTS!" BOOM! The icing on the cake! I tell Joe I have a change of underwear in his carryon but no pants. I give him the wipes and they go into the bathroom. I'm standing outside of the bathroom and all you can hear is Ryder screaming, "I don't know want to take my pants off. My butt hurts." And as everyone who was on the plane is walking by, I hear Joe very loudly say, "well, if you wouldn't have SHIT yourself, I wouldn't have to do this!" Everyone starts laughing and all I can do is shake my head. "Yep, that's my kid! And this is my life!" Joe and Ryder walk out of the bathroom. Ryder is wearing a pair of undies and has a blanket wrapped around him. He still had diarrhea from the sickness and it was a huge mess!
After all of that, we claim our luggage and our nanny arrives to pick us up. She has offered to stay the night and do the night shift with the girls so we can sleep. THANK GOD! It's been 42 hours since I have slept and I cannot even function correctly. My head hit the pillow and I was out. I woke up in the morning. Sicker than I'd ever been in my life. But I was home. And it was the happiest I could have been.
That trip ended up taking us 24 hours from the time we left my sisters house until we reached our front door. And what I have learned is simple: Don't travel with 6 month old twins and a toddler. It's just not worth it. Wait until they are older. We have a great story to tell and I'm glad we survived, but it was the longest day of my life.
