TRIP OUT

So, let's start back at the beginning. We left last Tuesday morning, all very excited about the trips, me very excited about the airplane. Driving to the airport I sort of clammed up and everyone kept asking me how am I doing, what's wrong, why don't you eat your bagel? I stayed pretty weird and quiet all the way there, through the parking loop de loops and into the terminal. We said good-bye to Daddy and got in our long snakey security line. Mama was busy rustling through my diaper bag when she looked at Grandpoop who was speechlessly pointing at my stroller, backing up, pale and frightened. I had puked. All over myself, all over the floor, all into my little stroller cup holders. Here is where things got nutty. Mama went into overdrive, taking off all my clothes and throwing them into the trashcan, sopping up my stuff with diapers, cleaning the floor with babywipes. The line of people just stopped and no one behind us would move except Grandpoop was still moving along in the line, in some sort of coma or daze. We got out of line and the lady took us to an express line where we saw Daddy way back in his line and he shouted, hey where are Gus' clothes? And Mama's shouting back that I got sick and should she get on the plane or go back home? She really didn't know what to do cuz I've only ever thrown up once before in my whole life. She called Amy Lou and said what should I do, and Amy said just go for it. So, we're running now to make our flight, Grandpoop races into a gift shop to get my a new shirt, Mama loses our boarding passes, and I'm still assuring her that I am happy, not sick, and I want to go on the plane. And, obviously, we did go for it. I was still pretty woozy but I didn't tell anyone. No way was I gonna go back home. All was okay for the first hour of our flight and my mom was real grateful that she wasn't on her way back to the island instead of on her way to New York City to see her dear friends when uh-oh it happened again. Mama caught most of it in the barf bag and in her cupped hands but my clothes were pukey wet once again. Back to just my diaper, she wrapped me up in a blanket and I passed out on her lap. They hung all my rinsed out clothes on the back of the airpland seats and Grandpoop said we were just like the Joads and maybe he should take out his teeth. Poor Mama was so nervous and scared to start her trip with a sick kid, but thanks to the miracle of the heavens above, when I woke up I was totally back to my normal fun self. This is the crazy and risky world of travelling with children.


But we got there all right and then the fun could finally begin. Mama and Amy Lou were so very happy in their hearts to sit around with each other and everytime Addie and I would play I would catch them looking at us with smiling eyes of bittersweetness. This was the dream for them. And I saw the world of Red Hook Brooklyn that is about as far away from my world of Bainbridge Island Washington that you can get. The noises outside were so loud! Big trucks zooming by that make the whole house shake and giant dumpsters going boom and neurotic New York women yelling at their boyfriends on the telephone and young brooklyn youths shouting to come out and see what they have in their pockets. We went to the park to meet Katrina and her son Arlo and the playground kind of looked like the ones at home but theirs have black kids fighting and going to jail and ours don't. We had a great first day of vacation though...






Day Two coming up...