June 1st through June 9th was our family vacation to Houston. We decided to go during that week since Alfred's little sister, Abby and my nephew, Nigel were both graduating from high school. Here's a day by day recap of our "vacation."
Saturday, June 1st
I'm going to try to make the telling of the events of this day as short as possible.
Our flight was at 9:10 am from Sky Harbor Airport. The airport has a new service that if you are driving yourself there that they can check your bags and print your boarding pass for you at a curb in the self park area so you don't have to drag your bags on to the sky tram and all around everywhere. Being the planner that I am, I did my research and found out that in order to use this service, you have to be at the self park no more than 90 minutes before your flight. No problem. It was going to be perfect since we had 6 bags, a stroller, a booster seat, 2 kids and a grandma (love you, mom). So, we got there at 7:40 almost on the dot. As soon as I opened my door, the guy who was checking the bags told me that they were running on a 2 hour window instead of a 90 minute window. WHAT THE MESS?!?! Okay, then on to Plan B: Alfred would have to drop all of us off with all of our baggage, kids, car seat, etc. at passenger drop off then go park the car and meet up with us later. Not very convenient, but we would make do. Or so we thought...
We got to the passenger drop off area and there was a lot of commotion and chaos outside. Reason? Let me give you a visual as to why there was so much commotion going on...
Now let me first say that I love Southwest Airlines and would prefer to fly them any possible time that I can. They have great customer service and the fact that they still allow 2 checked bags for free makes it a winner in my book. But this line was just out of this world. When we got to the curb and Alfred dropped us off it was approximately 7:50 am. And this line was projected to be a 2 hour wait. Without Alfred's help, I then had to man 5 luggages (he took his bag with him), 2 kids and a stroller (he also took the booster seat with him). Thank God Alec was in a good mood and proved to be a HUGE help and pushed Jolie in the stroller. Still, moving all that luggage in that horrid line wasn't an easy job. Especially when you have a million people around you who are not in the mood to wait for you to get yourself together. Luckily, at the first gap in the line from hell, a guy passed by who was collecting the luggage carts and the nice lady who was manning the line stopped him and asked him for one for me. That was a bit of a relief. So we waited. And waited. AND WAITED. Somewhere in the 3rd part of the line, Alfred caught up to us with his bag and Alec's booster seat. While standing in line, one of the Southwest employees was informing everyone that if you had your boarding pass already printed out that there was another, much shorter line to get in for you to check your bags. So Alfred went to a kiosk and printed out all of our boarding passes. YES!! We were on our way to the shorter line! When we got to the lady who was manning that line, she informed us that since Jolie was a lap baby and didn't have her own ticket and her DOB would need to be verified, we couldn't use the cooler, shorter line. NOOOOO!! So back in line we go. So close, yet so far. At this point, I start really freaking out. We were going to miss our flight! I started looking at the screens to determine when the next flight out to Houston would be and mentally started planning to take that one.
We finally got to the front of the line around 8:50 am. Our flight was going to take off in 20 minutes. The lady at the counter informed us that all of the flights are booked the whole day that our only option was to haul ass to the gate to try to make this flight as soon as we could. But she only informed us of this after giving me hell about not having something (birth certificate, shot records, etc.) to prove Jolie's DOB. Thank God she finally dropped it and gave me Jolie's boarding pass. By the time we were all done checking our bags and chit chatting with her, it was around 9:00 am. And we still had to go through security. So we ran to the escalator and ran to security where... get this... there wasn't a single soul. No one. By the grace of God, security was completely empty. But of course it couldn't be completely uneventful. Alec threw a total fit about the fact that his blankie (the famous blue and brown one) and his back pack had to go through the scanner. Grrr...!! Now that we were through security, we discovered that our gate, C-17, is the absolute last and furthest gate in the whole area. Again, luckily, there was a guy in one of those carts right outside of security that could take us to our gate. So we all jumped on and have him high tail it to C-17.
Like something out of a movie, we pulled in to our gate at around 9:11 am (remember our flight was suppose to take off at 9:10) and the gate agent was calling out to us "are you the Hernandez family? We've been calling your name and waiting for you!" As we handed our boarding passes over to him, he informed us that we will all have to sit apart except for Alfred and Alec (which they had to do some rearranging on the plane for them to be able to sit together). Then he also informed us that they GAVE MY MOM'S SEAT AWAY since her last name was different than ours and they didn't know she was traveling with us. But, our luck continued and the plane held 143 passengers and they had 142 on board. So my mom literally took the last seat. We were totally those people boarding the plane, all late, with our heads down and apologizing as we made the walk of shame to our seats. BUT WE MADE IT!! Thanks to us, and a long line of other planes in front of us, we didn't take off until around 9:25 am. WHAT A MORNING!!
The kids did well on the plane. Jolie was active and a little bit fussy at times due to limited space to run, jump and be loud. But nothing that was out of control or too crazy. But the real fun came when just around the time the pilot took off the seat belt sign that Jolie (my poor baby) over flooded her diaper and got pee all over the both of us. In the chaos of the morning, I hadn't had the chance to change her diaper since we left the house. So on my way back to the restroom, I passed Alfred's seat and and said hello. The guy that was sitting in the same row as him was a total saint and offered to change seats with me so that I could sit with Alfred and Alec for the remainder of the flight. Hallelujah!! So the rest of the flight nice and peaceful and we finally started to get really excited about going home.
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| Landing in Houston. |
So you would think that all would be good and dandy now that we are in Houston, but the there was one last bump in the road. Due to the late check in back in Phoenix, only 3 out of 6 of our luggage made it to Houston. The other 3 were on the next flight that was due to come in at 5:40 pm and it was only around 2 pm. And we were all the way over at Hobby airport. Alfred had a poker game with some buddies at 6 pm so he didn't have time to go back with me to the airport to pick up the bags. So I recruited my nephew, Nigel, for some help. Sooooo, Alfred's dad (who picked us all up) dropped off my mom and the kids at my sister Athena's house and then took me and Alfred to my dad's house. I said a quick hello then got back on the road to get to Hobby in time to get the bags. And on time we were. As soon as we approached the carousel, our bags came around in that same second. After dropping my mom's bag off at my sisters, scooping up my kids, I then headed to Kingwood to pick up the pack and play that my best friend Jennifer lent me for the week for Jolie to sleep in. Once I picked that up, I got back to my dad's around 8:30 pm, fed and bathed the kids and then locked them up in a closet for the rest of the night so I could get some rest. Just kidding. They ended up crashing shortly after baths and it was a good thing since Alfred was out with his friends and I was exhausted and all alone. Whew!! What a way to kick of a vacation. It has to get better from here, right?
Sunday, June 2nd
By the grace of God, the kids slept in until close to 10 am (Texas time, that is. In AZ, it was only 8 am). I think after the adventure that we had the day before, we all needed the rest. After we all got up and got dressed, we headed out to visit Alfred's family in Splendora and eat some of his daddy's delicious BBQ. This really was a great day surrounded by family and friends and some damn good Texas BBQ.
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| Father in law makes the BEST BBQ!! |
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Who told this chick she should stop by?!?!
Oh, yeah, that's right... I did. :) |
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| Grandma Sharon and Titi Abby. |
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| Cuddling with Grandpa Fred. |
But my absolute favorite part of this day was watching Alec and Jolie play with their cousin Gaidge. As soon as Alec jumped out of the car, him and Gaidge were hugging each other, which was completely unsolicited. They spent the whole day together, playing in the dirt and being boys.
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| So damn cute. |
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| A quick high 5 before running inside. |
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| Playing in the dirt isn't only for boys. |
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| Watch out, Jolie!! |
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| Thumbs up! |
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| Group Hug! |
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The aftermath.
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After baths for every one, we said our good byes (but not the last ones) and headed home around 9 pm. Great day was had by all and it made us sad to leave.
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| Notice the un-eaten corn dog that he said he wanted but was too tired to eat. |
Monday, June 3rd
Off to Freeport to visit Grandma Dolores we go!! And on our way there, we stopped by Buc-ee's so I could fill my craving for beef jerky and a cup of their ice. This shirt really does put it best...
Needless to say, my mother in law was ecstatic to see the kids and her son. We spent the day relaxing and playing with the kids in the backyard and hanging out with grandma. For dinner, Alfred's sister, Amanda and her kids, Caila and Caiden came over for some homemade lasagna and sweet corn bread. Mother in law then proceeded to bathe our kids for us and allowed us to leave for a night out together. We decided to shoot a little bit of pool before heading to a movie. It was a nice day.
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| Playing catch with daddy. |
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| Grandma Dolores and Grandpa Ronnie. |
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| Climbing trees with daddy. |
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| Jolie wants to get in the tree too! |
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| Girls can play catch too! |
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| Caiden hanging out with Uncle Fred and Cousin Alec. |
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| Caila Maria. |
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| Alec teaching Caiden a thing or two on the iPad. |
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| The girls. |
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| Bath time! |
Tuesday, June 4th
The morning started too early, considering Alfred and I didn't go to bed till around 2 am and we shared our bed with Alec and Jolie didn't sleep too soundly (probably due to her molars coming in). But it was a great morning to wake up to fresh tortillas, home made re-fried bean, churrizo, potato and eggs. Yuuuuuuuuummy!! It was also Ronnie's birthday so we sang happy birthday to him and enjoyed some cake. We took it easy most of the day until we went to visit Amanda, Caila and Caiden at their house for a little while.
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| Cousins. |
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| Bro and Sis with their offspring. |
After leaving Amanda's house, we went to one of Alfred's childhood best friend, Maria's house. They organized a small reunion of sorts for a bunch of old high school best friends to get together. It was really nice meeting them and all of our kids played really well together, for the most part. And it was especially nice to finally meet Maria's baby boy, Brandon, for the first time.
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| Good friends. |
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| Alfred and Jay. |
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| With Maria and baby Brandon. |
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| Alec making friends. |
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| All of the kids together. |
After Maria's house, we headed back to Houston to my dad's house. All in all, not a bad day. Just a long one.
During lunch with Deniece (which I'm upset I didn't get a single picture with her), Alfred sent me a text message asking if there was a thermometer in the house because Alec felt warm. So, of course, my mommy instinct kicked in and I started to get worried. When Deniece and I were done with lunch, we stopped by Walgreens to buy a thermometer and some suppository fever reducer since Alec does not take oral medicines.
Sure enough, I got home and Alec was running a 101.9 fever and wasn't acting like himself. I asked him what was hurting and he said his mouth. The first thing that ran through my mind? Strep. I took him to a Walgreens Well Clinic (since by this time it's after 5 pm and his old pediatrician is closed) and sure enough, he tested positive for strep. My poor buddy. I immediately ask for an antibiotic shot because giving this child any oral medicines is nothing short of impossible. Unfortunately, they didn't give shots there so I left with a liquid amoxicilin that was flavored with apple with hopes of hiding it in his juice. Needless to say, I had to cancel my dinner with Jennifer (totally upset about that) and I spent the night trying to regulate this damn fever and keep my poor baby boy comfortable. Good things was that he was still eating and drinking well. We had 3 failed attempts at hiding his medicine in his juice (he could taste it every time and refused to drink it). I was up all night wiping him down with cool wet rags and giving him a fever reducing suppository every 4 hours. No fun and not exactly how I wanted to or expected to spend my night. But that's the role of a mother, right?
Thursday, June 6th
Abby's graduation day!! Since Alec hadn't taken any of his medicine, and I knew he would continue to not take it, I made an appointment with his old pediatrician, Dr. Barnhart. I can't say I was too upset about that because I love Dr. Barnhart and it was great to see him again. Although he wasn't running a fever and was acting overall okay for the moment, he still tested positive again so they were able to give him the shot he need to start kicking it. Alec's way of saying he doesn't want a shot is "no band aid" (since they put a band aid on after the shot). My poor baby kept on saying it over an over while the nurse was in the room. It broke my heart to hold him down to get the shot but it's better than 10 days of 2 times a day of holding him down for oral meds. The shot definitely upset Alec and made me the bad person in the room for a while. Once we left the doctor, we took him to the mall for some ice cream and to get Alfred a hat he had been wanting for a long time.
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| In good spirits (and no this is not the hat we went to the store for). |
But the good mood and looking happy soon wore off and around the time we got back home, Alec had started feeling bad again. Early in the morning before we even went to the doctor, Alfred and I had decided it would be best for me to stay at home with Alec since he was running a fever the day before and strep is really contagious. We didn't want to risk getting any of the other kids sick. This decision really hurt and I was very sad that I wasn't going to be able to go to Abby's graduation. But boy am I glad I didn't go. Because sure enough as the night went on, Alec got worse. His fever came back with a vengeance and he developed a croupy cough. It was another rough night of trying to regulate his fever and control the cough.
Alfred did go Abby's graduation with Jolie though. Abby graduated in the top 10% of her class and was awarded for perfect attendance. A few weeks before her high school graduation, Abby graduated with and associates degree from Lone Star College since she participated in the dual credit program. She will be attending Texas State University in the fall.
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| Abby getting her diploma. |
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| Thanks to technology, Alfred's sister Ashly was there too! |
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| Proud parents. |
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| Abby and Olivia. |
We are so proud of her! Keep up the good work, Abby!
Friday, June 7th
I dedicated this day to spending time with my dad at his house with him and his wife, Millie. The only excursion I had planned was a brief visit to my old office to see co-workers. Since Alec was still sick and probably still contagious , I only took Jolie with me. I didn't get any pictures while I was there either but it was really good to see the people who were there for a little bit. I sure do miss all of them! In the morning, Alec woke up looking half way to okay and with no fever, but still a cough. So he decided to help grandpa in the yard for a little bit.
My sister, Athena and my niece, Ava, stopped by my dad's house for the afternoon and for dinner which was nice. Alec started feeling not so hot again so he was in bed or sleeping for the most part but at least they got to hang out with Jolie for a while. My dad cooked his famous spaghetti with sausage and I got to sit by the pool (not actually get in) for a little bit, which really hit the spot after a couple of rough days. I love my daddy. <3
Alec was consistently running a fever throughout the day and I had had enough of it. The suppositories we had been using were acetaminophen and didn't work nearly as good as Advil/ibuprofen does. Like clock work, his fever came back every 4 hours and sometimes it never even went down. So with the encouragement from Athena and the help of her and Alfred, we decided to hold Alec down and try to force him to take some ibuprofen. It definitely wasn't easy or nice of us to do, but after 2 attempts, we did it. And within 30 minutes, he was a brand new boy. Since it was Millie's birthday, we celebrated with some tres leches cake and sang happy birthday to her.
Alec still coughed over night but didn't really run too much of a fever so we all got some half decent rest.
Saturday, June 8th
Nigel's graduation day!! Alec was looking and acting better so we decided to all go witness my nephew, Nigel, graduate. Nigel is like a little brother to me. When he was a child, we were so close and spent so much time together. I knew I would be emotional on this day, and I was. Since we showed up a little later than others (thanks to a mattress in the middle of HWY 45) we sat on our own near the back of the arena. This poor seating for the ceremony actually turned out to be the perfect spot to catch him on the way out for some great pictures. Nigel graduated as as Texas Scholar and will be attending the University of Houston in the fall.
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| The graduate. |
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| I love this picture. :) |
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| She has been waiting for this day!! |
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| Nigel's girlfriend, Jackie. |
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| Proud titi here! |
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| Nigel with my sister, Athena and my niece, Yndia. |
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| On our way home from Nigel's graduation. |
We are all so proud of Nigel. Nigel lived with my mom from the age of 8 up until the time we left for Arizona so it was a big event for her to be there to witness him crossing that stage. It wasn't an easy road to get there, but it was worth it. The joy in my mother's eyes, masked by the tears of happiness, made it all worth while. After graduation and spending some time back at my sister's place, we went to drop off the car seat we borrowed from Heather (since Millie had an extra one in her car). We thought Alec would have been excited to be there and to hang out with Gaidge again, but I think the day's events took a toll on him and he wasn't feeling too hot again. We tried to give him ibuprofen again and failed miserably this time (I'll spare you details). So it ended up being another rough night with coughing (a lot of it) but not fever (thank God).
Sunday, June 9th
Since we were scarred by the events during our departure at the beginning of our vacation, we weren't' going to take any chances on the way back home. So even though our flight didn't' leave until 7:50 pm, we decided to be at the airport by 4. So the morning entailed packing up and cleaning up. Early afternoon, I headed to Jennifer's house to return the pack and play I borrowed (which was a life saver) and spent a couple of brief moments with her daughters Miana and Molly (who don't seem like me very much). I grabbed a slice of Brooklyn Pizzeria pizza, a.k.a. a slice of heaven, on the way back to my dad's and drove through some rain, which I miss terribly. We had some lunch at my dad's house before he took us to the airport. Now if you can think back to the beginning of my story and the lady who gave me a hard time at the airport for not having a proof of age for Jolie... well, while at Dr. Barnhart for Alec, I picked up a shot record for her to show on our trip home. Guess what? They didn't ask for it. AND the whole check in process, security included, only took about 45 minutes. Sheesh.
So there we were, at the airport, about 3 hours early. AND our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. But, I would rather be there relaxed and waiting than to have to go through what we did on our trip out. Alec still had a horrible cough, which actually got so rough at one point it caused him to be sick. But I put some Vick's Vapor Rub on his feet and it helped relieve it somewhat. Other than that, he was in good spirits and eating well. Jolie had a ball running around saying "hi" to everyone and looking at planes. I didn't mind that at all because I was hoping that it would make her nice and sleepy on the ride home.
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| Hanging out at the airport. |
My mom joined us a couple of hours later at the airport feeling rejuvenated and refreshed. Since she hadn't really seen the kids all week and she had a chance to relax and have an actual "vacation", she had a renewed sense of excitement for them. Thank goodness because Alfred and I were beat! The flight home was pretty good and the children behaved well. Of course though, they fell asleep within the last 30 minutes of the flight so Alec was cranky when we landed and Jolie was a log to carry around. But we all made it home safely an in one piece.
I never thought I would actually call Arizona "home" and it still feels foreign to me sometimes but I really think it is starting to grow on me. On all of us. Especially after visiting back in Houston and realizing that humidity there absolutely SUCKS! The whole entire time we were there Alfred and I were a pair of whiny babies about the heat and humidity. You would think that we didn't grow up there or something. In Arizona lately it has been 105+ degrees but I will take the dry heat here over the 92 degree heat with 80% humidity in Houston ANY DAY! I think if we have the opportunity to visit family and friends back home at least once a year or so, then it will be enough to fill us up and keep us going here. Thanks to technology and things like Facetime, it's easy to keep in contact and still be an active part in each other's lives. It sure does make living far away a lot easier.
Although it wasn't exactly what I would call a "vacation" (I didn't get in my dad's pool not once), it was still nice to see everyone that we did and spend some time in familiar surroundings. I already miss everyone and I can't wait till they all come to see us. Because for now, our traveling with the kids is done for a while.
But still...
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