As most of you may already know, I was able to make it back to Texas for my sister's Pre Wedding Party. I didn't update my blog the whole time I was in Texas (too busy) so I have lots to write about now.
It was quite an adventure getting back to Austin. The military offers "Space Available" flights for military members and their families at no charge. The catch is that you have to have your bags packed and show up at the military airport terminal everyday until they have space available on a flight for you. It can be pretty tricky getting on a flight, especially during a peak travel time, like the summer. I didn't tell Hannah & Sam that I was trying to get us on a flight back to Texas because I didn't want them to be disappointed if we didn't make it on one. After about a week of daily trips to the airport, all the while hiding our luggage from the kids, we got on a flight! It was a flight to Oklahoma City (via Alaska). They told us at about 8:30am that we made it on the flight. That's when I told the kids about the trip. They were so excited!
The flight departed at about 9am. It was on an Air Force cargo plane. It was actually pretty cool. There was lots of space to spread out blankets and pillows for the kids to sleep on. It took about 6-6 1/2 hours to get to Alaska. When we landed in Alaska it was about 7pm local time. It was in the low 50s! We were freezing! We all had on tank tops and shorts and it was quite a change from the 78° in Hawaii when we left. It was beautiful in Alaska, though. I would love to go back and spend some time there (in the summer, of course). There's no way I could handle Winter there. Anyway, there was about a 3-4 hour layover. We got back on the plane and headed to Oklahoma City.
We arrived in Oklahoma at about 8:30am local time. Back to the humid heat of the South. It was already in the 90s that early in the morning! The Air Force offered a shuttle to the main airport in OK City for the people that had to catch a commercial flight or rent a car. We rented a car to drive to Austin. That turned out to be about an 8 hour drive. The kids were so good throughout the entire trip. We were traveling straight for more than 24 hours! I was dead tired when we arrived in Austin but kept awake (and alive) on pure excitement. I had missed my family sooo much.
We got to my mom and dad's at about 5pm. My sister, Claudia, was there as well to greet us. They were waiting outside for us. Can you imagine? In the over 100° heat! It was so good to see them all. My Aunt Yolanda and my cousin Gabriel came over to visit. We went out to eat and promptly after that my multiple Starbuck's espresso shots wore off and I crashed out.
What a trip! I have lots more to write about but I'm gonna have to do that later. Hannah has her first day of surfing camp today and I'm meeting with the caterer for my sister's wedding. We better get ready!
Aloha! I have tons of pictures to post so check back often for updates!
.jpg)
About Me
- ❀
- I am the Mexican Martha Stewart, or so I've been told, thus the name of my blog, "Marta Estewart," in case you were wondering.
5 comments:
Thank you for jumping through all of those hoops for us, Lauri. I love you so much and I can't wait to see you in Hawaii :)
M'ija, it was so good to see you. The Lord is sooo good. Everything was so perfect! We are so blessed. I can't wait 'til the wedding. We'll all be in beautiful Hawaii and not in 100 degrees weather. 22 more days!!! WOW! Unbelievable!!
I love you, m'ija.
Mija, it was such a joy to see you and the "babies" and I was so glad that you could come. I thank God. We had a blast and I can't wait to see all the pics. I love you.
It was so awesome to finally meet you and your two beautiful kiddos. Claudia is one lucky duck to have a sister like you!
Russell wanted to call Hannah on her birthday, but we didn't have a phone number and didn't know what time it would be in Hawaii. So, please tell her Russ & I were thinking about her on her birthday.
I'm glad we got to see ya'll.
Post a Comment