I really enjoyed getting up and ready and to the airport all by myself. It was so simple and peaceful. I listened to Pink’s “The Truth About Love” on repeat all the way to the airport and then the whole time I was waiting to board. I had spinach sausage loaf I had frozen after my craft/alcohol potluck, so I really enjoyed that.
And I just sat on FB listening to my awesome music and eating my awesome food and collecting pictures to eventually add to my joy inventory. It was quite fun.
Also, I really like the Sacramento airport. It’s so clean and new and nice. Spacious. Even when a flight is waiting to board it doesn’t feel that crowded. The only negative is the loud news playing on the airport TVs, but since I wasn’t traveling with Clara I could just sit with my headphones in and ignore it, so that was fine too.
The flight was overbooked and entirely full. I decided if I saw anyone with a little child I’d sit next to them as a way of paying forward the times child-friendly passengers have sat next to Clara and me. Sure enough, I found a couple with a little girl about Clara’s age, so I sat with them. I told them I had a daughter I hadn’t seen in a week and was sort of going through withdrawal, and they were very friendly and I think it worked out for all of us. I took turns holding their daughter, Makayla, with them, and even cuddled her and read to her and gave her some random objects from my backpack to play with. It really was very pleasant and made me look forward that much more to seeing Clara soon.
That was another bright moment. I got off the plane and soon saw Everett, Jack, and Clara waiting in one of the empty top levels of Denver airport. Clara saw me as I walked up to them and she slowly got her look of super wide-mouthed excitement and tense excited arms, it was so so cute. I had to walk past her to get to the escalators to their level, and when I got up there she was still facing the glass looking for me. I came up behind her and said “Clara Lynn…” and she turned around and ran up to me smiling. It was awesome, only wish I’d gotten it on tape. At least Ev got a pic.
Dad, Julie, and Ellen arrived to pick us up. Clara and I drove back with Ellen. When we got to Dad’s house we saw an ostentatious old school car parked out front that looked kind of familiar. Turns out it was The Crummy, which Dad had apparently kept all these years and finally finished remodeling. I took a ride in it with him to go pick up Neil downtown, and it was so bizarre. I still remember it from childhood.
Sometime after we got the house an unloaded, Jack decided to take a nap, and most of the rest of us took a walk to the park. On the way we stopped at Safeway so Ellen could get a snack, I could get a Frappuccino, and Rocket could get a treat (cake pop).
Clara fell asleep in her stroller as we were crossing the large grassy area to the playground. The siblings all sat around a picnic table eating chips and chatting and Sola, Zoey, and Rocket went a short ways away to see a bunch of puppies that were being offered for adoption. Eventually we all joined them and took a bunch of cutesy photos.
That evening we came back and watched Zootopia with everyone. It was very well done, both thoughtful and laugh-out-loud funny.
Eventually Jack, Clara, and I crossed the street to our Air B’n’b. This is one of the major highlights of the trip: we stayed at a place literally across the street and one house down from Dad’s. It was so convenient. Much better than waiting for rides at the hotel. It was a very cute, quiet, peaceful place to stay. The owners had basically redone their basement to rent out, and it was a bedroom, kitchen/living room area, and bathroom.
It was nice having multiple rooms because we could put Clara to sleep in the pack and play in the kitchen/living room area and still be up in the bedroom without it keeping her from passing out. And the owners weren’t even in town the first half of our trip, so it was completely quiet. Really a nice place to wind down after the inevitable chaos of home base (Dad’s house).
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