Frequent Flyers

I'm going to do my best to bang out at least a tiny bit of a blog entry...

We made it on Friday night safe and sound! Rhea, again, was an amazing traveler. And Jet Blue, as always, was an amazing airline. As soon as we got on the plane the flight attendant asked the passenger in the middle seat if he would be willing to move to give us more room. So we ended up with two seats and a very nice engineer (for a toy company no less) sitting in the window seat beside us. Rhea was her usual sweet self...we spent much of the flight standing at the back of the plane which allowed us to make fast friends with everyone who came down the aisle to stretch their legs or use the bathroom. We swapped birth stories, discussed developmental milestones, played peekaboo, and kept our fellow passengers spirits lifted with general oohing, aahing, and sweet baby talk. Our plane was supposed to arrive an hour EARLY (????) but in the end we had our course diverted by some bad weather and ended up getting in only 15 minutes early (still a treat). Honestly the time really did fly by (no super silly pun intended).

Once we touched down in Logan and after a bit of cell phone wrangling (I managed to lose my phone...which I didn't know until Nola tried to call it and the state police answered..still have to figure out how to get it back) We met up with John T. and embarked upon the second leg of our journey...the seemingly endless drive to Athol. The ride was fairly comical as the heat was intense (close to 100 degrees in Boston) and John's air conditioning was not working...so we drove along in a wind tunnel down the highway shouting over the din to catch up with all the local gossip. Until a MAJOR thunderstorm hit and began pelting us with rain...which meant we had to put the windows most of the way up...and then shout over the pelting rain sound! Rhea took it all in while her hair alternately blew around in the wind or stuck to her forehead with the heat. But we made it home to her anxiously waiting grandparents all in one piece.

Rhea and I have been adjusting to the time change and all the commotion fairly well. Henry (my parents papillon) is just in love with Rhea and she with him. Every time she wakes up, whether it be from a nap or in the morning, he runs circles around her barking and trying to lick her face clean off! She just eats it up and will yell and flap her arms around which only increases the barking and licking. It is really something to watch. The cats here are unphased by her...and smart enough to stay out of her way...so she has kept her manhandling to a minimum.

I have the chance to write this now because Rhea just went out for a walk in the stroller with her Grammy and Grandpa and Henry. She was very excited...more of the arm flapping and excited vocalization when she hit the stroller. She must think she has died and gone to heaven...friendly animals, constant attention, and grandparents chomping at the bit to make sure she has everything she needs. It's a good life.