Phew. What a day for the Days. Make that days for the Days. We left Green Pond at 9 AM yesterday, ran errands, drove to Plattsburgh (they slept for that part), took the ferry across the lake--a source of predictable fascination for Ava, had lunch at the little restaurant on the VT side of the Lake Champlain Ferry Co., and drove to downtown Burlington. Carter was not a big fan of that last leg of the trip, but once we were at the Echo Aquarium he was very happy. It is amazing what a few fish and some bubbles can do. Ava ran around the aquarium, absolutely thrilled. We tried to watch a movie about a sea turtle, but she could not sit still, nor could she remember her 'quiet voice' -- "MOM, WHY IS IT DARK IN HERE? I CAN'T SEE!" and so on. She settled in for about 5 minutes, and then announced "Mom, I'm all done." So we left. We made one more trip to the starfish, and then left for the hotel, where Carter was thrilled to be let loose on the rug to roll around. We ordered Domino's Pizza and ate it on the bed, prompting an expression of utter disbelief and wonder from Ava. Between the picnic on the bed and all of the little items that come in a wrapper in your standard hotel room, she was so excited. Then we settled in and fell asleep, only to wake up at 1 AM. I am not sure what woke her up, but she and I were awake. Nor could we fall back asleep. I am not sure why she could not, but I know I could not because I knew I was getting up at 4 AM, and with every minute that passed, I was just increasing my misery the following day. I think we drifted off at 2:30. 4 AM arrived with an explosion of hip hop from the alarm clock, jolting us all awake. We were all surprisingly cheery, and I managed to get us out of there in 35 minutes flat. Carrying 2 kids and 4 bags downstairs is not easy. We drove to the airport, parked, grabbed the shuttle, and checked in. So far so good. Security was relatively seamless, and off we went to the gate. (An important aside: I had put our coats in our checked bag at the last minute, after we were safely inside the airport, within visual contact of the lady checking us in). They called us for boarding, and God bless Continental, they allowed us to pre-board, a rare luxury these days. And through the first door we went, only to be confronted with a wide open door, out onto the tarmac. Neither kid had a jacket, gloves or a hat. Carter had a hood on his sweater, thank god. It was 5 degrees out. I stood there, looking at the open door, and looking at the Emergency ONLY door, and just could not bring myself to go through either one. Finally a woman in a very warm outfit motioned for me to come out. I said "nice of them to mention we would be going outside" and she was shocked that they had not done so. She was extremely nice and carried Ava up onto the plane while I got Carter out of the backpack that had to be checked. Amazingly, Ava went with her and then to the flight attendant who got her seated. She never looked back! I guess the excitement of getting on the plane completely masked any stranger danger she normally would experience. The first flight was unremarkable-Carter slept and Ava was a bundle of excitement. The only issue was that the plane was a sauna, and within 5 minutes I was drenched in sweat. Having forgotten to pack deoderant (duh), this was a little embarassing. We landed in Cleveland and found out that we did not have to leave our gate, as we would reboard the same plane. Fortunate, since it was a little jet, and Ava could actually see out the window. I completely rendered the point of staying at the same gate useless though by walking about 5 miles through the airport in search of Starbucks, carrying Carter plus, oh, 30 pounds of carryon stuff. It was good for Ava though, as she got to stretch her legs. We found the Starbucks, had an exchange with the world's least helpful person, and walked back. For the second leg of our flight we were in the very last row, oddly comforting--it was nice to know that there were only 4 people that we could really irritate--the guy next to us and the row in front, vs. having a whole row of people behind us. Carter slept for the first 40 minutes, was awake for an hour, and then started to really fuss. Ava had not yet slept. 4 AM and still going strong. She was so antsy that I thought she would just implode, and so I stood up, said "lie down and go to sleep" -- I had to repeat that for about 10 minutes, rather forcefully, while Carter cried, and then she suddenly crashed. Along with Carter. They slept the rest of the way and I bacame the smelliest human to ever fly Continental. We met up with Grandma, drove home and I immediately washed up, changed clothes, and drank a pot of coffee. Ava was beside herself with excitement. We had lunch while the piano tuner tuned the piano, very interesting, and then I put Carter down while Ava and Grandma made whipped cream and strawberries. Finally, we went for a walk, to the park, played for a bit, came home for tubbies, dinner and bed. It is 7:21, and I am headed in to join them. I cannot believe that I made it through the day. Tomorrow we hit Old Navy to buy some short sleeve shirts and shorts for Ava, as she does not fit into anything from last summer.

I am sure we will go back to the park too--Ava is much improved on the playground equipment--she really has become a little girl, and I am not as fearful of her on the stuff as last summer.