There's Snow on the Ground!!

Saturday morning, we got the kids out of bed at 4am and drove to the airport to try and get on a flight to Salt Lake. Akiko has the week off school and the kids have been begging for months for a trip to Utah. So off we went, to try to fly standby to get to Utah.

The first flight was just after 6am. We barely missed getting on. So, we tried for the next flight, which was about four hours later.

Me, alone with three kids, killing four hours at the airport. Yep, I'm crazy.

This is what Asher did, or tried to do, the entire time we waited.

I love this cute boy (even when he does cause me a lot of trouble).

I'm glad the airport was mostly empty while we waited, so it was easier to keep an eye on my brood.

Moses really loves posing for me lately.

Handsome sweetness. Love this boy!

Always the good helper, Akiko was diligent about keeping an eye on Asher for me.

We didn't make the next flight either, so I called Joseph and had him pick us up. I was not going to wait another six hours for the next flight.

We tried again the next morning, waking up at 3:30am, to drive to Oakland this time, for the 6am flight. The kids barely made that flight.

My kids are really good travelers. They're pretty seasoned, so they know what's expected of them. I always get compliments from the flight attendants and other travelers. It makes things a lot easier on me. Especially when they're sleep deprived. I'm really proud of my kids.

As we were flying over Nevada, the kids could see snow on the tops of the mountains and got really excited. I told them, "Oh, just wait till we get to Utah. It snowed there last night." They were bouncing in their seats. For the last twenty minutes of the flight, as were were making our descent, and everything on the ground was white, their excitement could barley be contained.

After we landed, we drove over to my sister-in-law's house to pick up her car that she's letting us borrow while we're here. I'm not sure if Akiko even popped in to say "Hi" to her cousins. She stayed outside playing in the snow the entire time we were at their house. I wish I'd gotten pictures, but I was too tired from traveling and I didn't have my camera with me.

I'm excited to take them up the canyon to go snowboarding later this week. My kids really, really love the snow.

So, after all the turmoil of last week, I have to say, I'm really proud of myself for being able to keep it together while we tried to travel. I mean, I knew it was unlikely that we'd make the Saturday flights, but felt it was worth it to try anyway. Throw in the sleep deprivation and things could have gone really bad. I made the decision, though, to keep myself calm and make this trip as memorably good as possible for my kids.

It also helps that I know what's wrong with me, and that there are things I can do to control it. There's a lot to learn, but I'm finding resources, online and personal, that I can turn to when I have questions.