The Singing Tree in Grapevine

The Traveling to Oklahoma Saga, Episode Five: Coming Home

We slept in our lovely hotel suite Tuesday night.  I downloaded a white noise app on my mom’s iPad that helped me sleep.  :)  James did okay though he did go to bed quite late and wake up more than usual through the night.  He was up for the day at about 6:30, but so was my mom, and she let me sleep until 7:30!  Hallelujah!!

We had a very yummy hotel breakfast, which my dad joined us for, then we pretty much packed up and headed out.  It was another uneventful journey home, which is so good!

The people who work at the OKC airport are sooooo friendly!  I wore James in the airport and through security in the Moby wrap.  Security is fine with that, but they test your hands for explosive stuff before they clear you.  Okay.

James wasn’t quite as much fun on the flight home, but he sure wasn’t awful either.  It wasn’t nap time, so he had to be entertained (thankfully it was only an hour!).  I was SO nauseous on the flight, which is pretty rare for me.  It was unpleasant though; I just wanted to sleep!

Back in Houston we snagged a trolley to haul James and our stuff from terminal A where we flew in to terminal B where we parked.  Good times.

The first thing Joanna says to me when I walk through the front door?  “Where’s Gran?”

Natalie was really happy to see me when she woke up from her nap.  I don’t think she could quite verbalize what she felt, but I’m pretty sure that girl missed me A LOT.

We were both glad to be home I think.  I was SO BUSHED (and still am!) from the trip.  Crazy how one little night out of town with the baby can exhaust me.  I guess I’m getting old.  :)

Singing at the TX State Capitol

Sola Gratia had the opportunity to sing in the Rotunda in Austin on Saturday.  Even though James is so little, I still really wanted to be a part of it, especially since I’d learned all the Christmas music.  Some wonderful friends and family were able to watch the girls so Matt, James, and I could go to Austin.  Mamma and Pop came over early early (6am!) so we could leave and they could get the girls ready.  Then about 11:00, Lisa came and got them to play at her house.  She also took Anna and Joanna to see the Nutcracker while the little girls stayed home with Tony and took naps.  I’m excited to see the pictures she took of their day! 

We had a pretty uneventful drive there, and Matt’s Mom and Dad let us use their GPS!  I think I may be addicted.  I LOVE it.  :)  James slept some, looked around some, and ate some when we stopped.

We all arrived around 11:00 and rehearsed outside the visitor’s center.  Matt took this picture:

 

Most of the rest of the pictures were taken by my friend Kim.  She used to sing in the group when she lived here, but she now lives in Austin.  We’re so glad she was able to come watch us sing then go eat with us.  She just got a new camera, so these are some really great shots.  Thanks Kim!

The group in front of the capital building:

We sang in the middle of the beautiful building form 12:00-1:00.  It was so hot in there.  Later, you will see my hair gets put up.

 

We sang our program through twice.  It was pretty cool, but I sure would have enjoyed it better if I had felt some A/C on that 80 degree day in my lined black suit.  :)

Here are a couple of shots Kim took of the building:

Looking up, above where we were singing:

There were several levels you could go up and look down from.

I took these next two:

There was so much light in there, even my camera did okay.  Matt took a bunch of us while we were singing as well, but Kim’s just turned out so much better that I didn’t post ours.  :)

After singing we went to Ranch 616, a restaurant just a few blocks from the capital:

One of the group said that only in Austin would you see a picture of the Last Supper, a Longhorn, and a nude, all on the same wall.  :)

I ordered fish tacos.

Matt ordered Pork tenderloin.

But then we switched.  The tacos were uber-spicey!

Here’s me and my James!

The source of much of the spicey-ness – fried jalapenos.  They even made Matt sweat a bit and hiccup!

We had a great time in Austin and are so thankful for our friends and family who kept our girls safe and happy for us!

Sadly, James cried most of the three hour trip home, but I know he’d had enough of traveling for one day.  On a good (no, super-fantastic) note, he slept an EIGHT HOUR stretch last night.  It was pretty fantastic.  I figure it’s probably a fluke, but I’m hoping it’s a sign of things to come.  :)

Trip Home

For the trip back on Monday, the flights didn’t look as great as when I was going to OKC, but there were still a smattering of seats available all day.  I decided on Sunday to try and take the 8am flight because it looked like there were a couple of seats on it, and the 9:35 flight right after also had a couple of seats.  At that point it would have probably been the evening before an open flight came along.

Well it seems I should have checked the flights before we left the house at 6:15am because something had happened since the night before.  The 8am flight was now overbooked by 3 with 4 pass riders (me being #4).  So I sat around, knowing for sure I wasn’t going on that flight!  And sadly the 9:35 flight wasn’t looking that great either.  I had a couple of back up plans, one being the 6:15am flight the next morning (ick!) because it’s a big plane and looked pretty wide open.  My dad told me they only scheduled me for three dinners while I was there though.  :)  It also looked like the 6:30pm flight yesterday had quite a few open seats so I probably could have made it (but would have spent the whole day at the airport).  My other back up plan was to catch a ride with Kathryn, who is driving down this week.  She was planning to drive Tuesday, but agreed to bump it up a day to get me back by Tuesday morning. 

 

I think the trip with Kathryn would have been fun, but I really wasn’t looking forward to sitting in the car for 7 or so hours.  I would have preferred that to sitting at the airport though.  Might as well be moving!

The 9:35 flight was delayed until about 10am for whatever reason, and I kept stalking the numbers online.  There were 4 empty seats (with 3 being held, don’t know why), and 6 pass riders (#6 = me).  And pass riders had actually gotten on that 8am flight, even with it being overbooked.  I knew there was a chance.

When the gate agent called, “Pence,” I was very excited!  He actually said that he wasn’t sure I’d make it.  The flight had boarded and I think there were three seats left, but it was more a matter of cargo space.  I wasn’t a super easy passenger, I guess.  I had two checked bags that needed to go under the plane, one gate-check (the stroller), and a lap child.  Fortunately they let me go!  Whoo hoo!!

I think my sister was probably a little disappointed but she didn’t act it, which I appreciate. :)  I called her while they were deciding whether to let me on and told her if she didn’t hear from me then I made it.

I had enough time to call Matt when I got on the plane to tell him I made it and have him call my mom.  It was such a good feeling to be in that seat!  And I had an open one next to me again!

I really didn’t need the space because Natalie fell asleep on me right after take-off and slept THE WHOLE FLIGHT!  Now, it’s only like an hour, but still!  I was sure impressed.  And a little bored.  :)

You can probably tell from these pictures that Natalie LOVED wandering around the airport.  She pushed the stroller around in circles and ran around, listening to her jellies pitter patter.

Since Friday, she’s taken two naps everyday.  I’m going to try to get her back on her one nap schedule.  Her little body needs to make up it’s sleep by going to bed early and waking up late!

Reunited and it Feels so Good!

This is what they did, without prompting, the second Natalie got in the car.  You can see she’s not even buckled up yet.

 

Friday

We all woke up bright and early to leave for the airport at 6am! Mom took us and we were all able to walk through security and to the gate.

We made it through security very easily, but I was thankful to have my mom with me!
At the gate -- Natalie is snacking on a biscuit.

Natalie was a dream on the flight! We ended up with two seats to ourselves. Even though she wouldn't sit in the other seat, it was nice to have the elbow room. She just sat on my lap and was so sweet and so good.

It didn't take but about 5 minutes for her to fall asleep once she got in Auntie Kathryn's car, though.

She was a gem the rest of the afternoon at Nana and Popo's house and even took another nap for me.

She discovered a little stash of empty glass bottles (vitamins, vanilla, etc.) and loves carrying one or two around with her.

She just loves wandering around and has even made good friends with Missy the dog. She's having such a good visit!

Still to come: Friday night graduation, Saturday fun and photo shoots

Will post more later on!