our travels.

many people have asked about our trip.
so i thought that i would describe a little bit about our experience traveling to d.c. with the kids.
just the highlights. 

the kids really did outstanding for both legs of the trip.  

each way, we took two flights.  one between waco and dallas, and one between dallas and d.c. 

obviously the real challenge was the 3 hour flight.
and the security line.

cole slept on both of those long flights, ptl.

one the flight home, there were several empty seats so we were able to bring one of the carseats on the plane with us.  the girls rotated being in the carseat.

clara added lots of fun to both trips by having major blowouts at the best possible times.

on the way there, she decided to take advantage of our extra 30 seconds at the gate before boarding.  literally the entire plane is boarding before our eyes while i have a naked girl on the floor of the airport covered in poop.  all while cole is literally running circles around us in a manic state (since this is of course in the middle of nap time).  

then, once clean, we have to collapse the stroller, which i am the only person who knows how (since all the stroller makers in the world gather together yearly to make sure that no 2 strollers can be opened or closed the same way, thus ensuring confusion and frustration by parents everywhere), put it, and the car seats, in their protective bags, gather the children and our other 23 items currently in our hands only to discover that not only are we the last ones to board the plane, we are in the very last row.  

mom had a baby and helped cole down the aisle.  i had a baby and the carry on suitcase.  

i walked down the aisle, the diaper bag and cole's backpack over my shoulders, hitting every.single.person. sitting in an aisle seat.  i kept apologizing an making funny, awkward comments to make up for pelting them with our large amount of carry on luggage but most people did not look amused.  

on the way home, brenner took clara out of the carseat in the middle of the flight so that i could feed her only to discover, that yes, she pooped all over herself again.  

like all over herself.

brenner looks at me and we give each other a staredown about who has to change her.

obviously, the airplane bathrooms are a tight squeeze and while it would have been funny to watch brenner change her in such a space, it made more since for me to do it.  

brenner was johnny on the spot though, standing outside the bathroom waiting for me with extra wipes and the dirty clothes bag (don't worry, the other 2 children were asleep). 

it was also quite an ordeal going through security in d.c.  at least when we flew out of waco, we were not rushed seeing as there are only 2 gates at the waco airport and my mom waited to be the last ones through.  

but in d.c., not only is security tighter, there were about 100 business people behind us.  i had tried to prepare brenner for what going through security would be like but i don't think that he quite believed me.  he told me to go on through with the kids once i had loaded my stuff onto the belt.  

while holding both the girls and cole holding onto my pants, we went through the detector only to then watch brenner try to make his way through for the next 7 minutes.  he couldn't figure out how to collapse the stroller (because he forgot to take stuff out of the bottom tray!) and the security guard 'helping' him was of no use.  brenner also forgot you had to turn the carseats upside down on the belt which caused issues.  

and cole's milk had to go through separately to be tested for explosives.  even though he had just been drinking it. apparently that is not proof enough these days that your milk is safe.

i am trying to yell at him  tell him these things from the land of safety that i was in, but at the same time, cole thought it was funny to kick everything around us which resulted in time out against the wall. 

 i actually left him in time out for the remainder of our time in the security line just so he wouldn't be running around.  

i know, mother of the year.  

(but the kid is so good in time out that he just sits there and waits for me to tell him to get up!) 

i am still holding the girls through all of this because the carseats are not through.
and everyone that comes near us, including the security people, are asking about the twins.
their weight, names, age, personality differences, how much sleep i'm getting, my pregnancy.
seriously people?
you really think i want to talk to you with this chaos circling around me, while barefooted in a security line at the airport about to board a small aircraft with 3 small children?
does this seem like a time to chat to you?

but we made it.
and while complicated, things overall went smoothly.
and just think, i get to do this again in july when we go to new york with my family for vacation.
and again in september when we go to st. louis for a family reunion.
and in october when we got to pennsylvania for my cousin's wedding.

apparently i am a glutton for punishment.