We're in Texas!!!!

The Trettels are finally in Texas. Yesterday was one VERY long day. Nothing seemed to go right in the morning, but somehow we managed to finish packing and get everyone to the airport by 2pm for our 4:15. That was awesome! Anyone who knows us knows that's also a miracle. LOL The staff at Airtran in Richmond, VA are incredible! Everyone we met along the way of this trip was pretty great actually. We started off being greeted by Miss Hope at check in. She quickly identified our little Hopey. She also let the kids weigh themselves on the luggage scale. The good thing was our large suitcase that I had overpacked and said screw it at the last minute and planned to pay the over weight fee and be done with it, weighed in at 49.5 pounds!!! There's a 50 pound weight limit. Yikes! No suveniurs to be packed in that one for return! We then made our way through security with relatively little issues.... James got randomly pegged for a full body scan, Roman actually read all the little signs one of which apparently says to take off glasses, so they all did. Hope dropped her tray and when we came through security her glasses were not on the other side. They had bounced away from the rest of the stuff and she hadn't noticed. The guard found them for us, but not before they were stepped on. They are little bent, but fortunately no major damage was done! Katy's formula and bags went through with no issues and I was complimented by the guards on being an insanely great packer.... as in they couldn't believe how much stuff was crammed into that diaper bag and how much formula one person can squeeze into a standard lunch box! :) After we boarded we were informed of a 20 minute ground delay due to delays in Atlanta, but otherwise it was an uneventful flight. One of the stewardesses was a Katie and the kids have been on the look out for "Bethany".

Once in Atlanta we had a 3 hour layover, so went straight to dinner without checking our status. After blowing a good hour and a half we mosied over to our terminal only to find another plane there. Check the status board and we were at a different terminal and delayed till 10pm. We were suposed to fly out at 8:50. We took up camp on the floor and the kids kept busy playing video games and talking with other passengers. One girl in particular was a college student heading home for Easter in Houston and all 3 of the big kids took to her quickly and pretty much harrassed her all night! She was apparently the oldest of 6 and used to it so was very sweet and good with the kids. They got a little rambunctious here and there, but a walk for ice cream and multiple trips to the trash can and bathrooms also kept them busy. Overall I am so so so proud of my kids! They were FANTASTIC, never really complaining, no fighting, a little bickering maybe, but nothing serious. They were just awesome. We got so many compliments from the passengers. Especially about Katy who was a total trooper through it all. In the end our flight took off around 11pm EST. It is roughly a 2 hour flight so got us in Houston around midnight Texas time. The kids (and James) slept the entire way. Not a peep out of any of them!

Once in Houston Hobby the kids woke up quickly and were practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. They LOVED the airport there and were thrilled about everything little thing from the NASA photos on the wall to the new marble floors, just everything. It was too cute! We found our luggage quickly but also discovered that the Alamo desk at the airport was closed, so caught the first shuttle we could find and were driven to the offsite Alamo dealership. They got us through fairly quickly and painlessly and we were soon off in our new Caravan trying to find the hotel.

It was after 1 before we checked into the SpringHill Suites Marriott. James had fussed a bit over me going with a suite instead of a "regular" hotel until we walked through the doors and now I'm not sure I'll ever get him back into a plain old hotel or motel! LOL The man at the desk greeted us by name (well a butchered version of it, but close enough!) and had everything set to go. James was surprised at the space when we walked in and the kids loved it, except that they said it smelled like and old person's house. LOL Just a little musty and they got over that part pretty quickly once we turned up the air for better circulation. No cramming into beds or splitting girls and guys as we've done in the past. James and I had our own bed, the girls shared the other bed and Roman slept on a pull out couch while Katy spent her first night still sleeping in her carseat.... they're bringing a crib in for her tomorrow.

It is now roughly 2:30, the kids are starting to settle down, and we're all heading to bed after a VERY long day!