We recently had to head to a family wedding up in Connecticut and we decided to travel by train.
Best.
Decision.
Ever!
Although having Evan arrive home hours before we left.
Not such a great decision!
haha
So, after playing with Evan and going to bed at 10pm,
the boys were woken up at 4am....
Luckily all-out enthusiam and excitement were aplenty!
We broke the trip up with a four hour stop in NYC!
The boys remember that Nonnie and I had gone there and couldn't wait to see it!
We took in sites...but not a lot of pictures.
Ya know, for obvious reasons,
like trying to make sure we didn't loose our children amongst the hustle and bustle of the city!
Along the way to Toys R Us,
we somehow ended up in a commercial and had to sign a waiver release.
Hysterical, right?
I'll let you know if we made the final cut for TV.
Just keepin it real...somewhere in the store, both boys LOST it completely!
That whole missing 4 hours of sleep may have finally caught up with them.
On the way out, they basically staged a sit-in and refused to walk 10 blocks back to the station.
So, we splurged on a cab ride.
And they were thought that was the coolest.
Then, we sugared them up for the last leg of the trip.
PENN station, for families, is a NIGHTMARE!
For security reasons,
they don't tell you which track your train is at...
...uintil FIVE minutes before departure time.
WTF?
They make the announcement,
my family of four (each with our own rolling luggage), along with 15,000 NYC commuters,
line up single file to head down an esclator .
(pausing for that to sink in)
HOURS later, we still have our children,
and the conductor is yelling
"empty seats in the rear cars"
Each car we looked in is PACKED...
So, we keep heading down the length of the platform trying to find an empty car.
From behind me, I hear Gary yell:
"Donna, the train is going to LEAVE without US!"
I turn back at look at him.
He has look of panic on his face and he is standing next to a conductor who looks equally stressed!
There is NOT another soul on the platform!
WTF!
Gary is at one entrance. The kids are between us and I'm closer to another door.
The conductor yells,
"GET ON NOW!"
I yell to the kids to go back to daddy.
I head to my cars' door - only to find it shut.
The kids (as usual) had chosen me over their dad and were right behind me.
Amidst more panic shouts, we scream at the children to haul butt back toDaddy.
He and the conductor are throwing luggage on the train.
The train is so packed, Gary, the kids and our luggage are all in the little boarding space once you step ontp the car.
There is no room for me to step up on the stairs as luggage is everywhere!
The conducotr behind me, is yelling "NOW! Now!!"
I mean - don't they have Safety precautions!?!
Gary starts throwing our children to clear out some space.
The kids are screaming!
They are scared I'm getting left behind and now their Daddy is throwing them.
I jumped on, standing on top of our luggage.
Lights and sirens are going off everywhere.
And they door shuts behind me, practically
WTF!?!
And it is not the end of our ordeal.
Because the 15,000 commuters have every one of the seats taken.
Gary and I are stressed from the NYC trip and keeping up with the kids.
Now, we have reached maximum non-productive, exhaustive,
"I cannot even SPEAK to my spouse" level of communication.
(Think of the worst five minutes you've ever seen on The Amazing Race.)
Gary yells at me to take the screaming children and he'll manage the luggage.
I spot a place on the floor.
Yes, the floor.
I dropped down, pull the children on me.
And we sit and have a good cry.
;-)
15 minutes later, half the people exit at the next stop - and we find some seats together.
The children fall asleep 30 seconds after that.
And power nap for the next hour!
The rest of the weekend went great!
We got to see family.
Austin and Logan got to see their cousins and uncles and aunts.
And of course, their grandparents!
And they slept a good 4 hours of the 6.5 hour train ride home.
Austin had laryngitis from talking and shouting so much...a true sign of a successful party weekend!
All in all, a great experience, another little scenario to add to their almost-guaranteed need for therapy in the coming years, and some much loved time with the other half of their family.
(Oh and there was that one little incident where Logan hit the STOP button the elevator,momentarily trapping and panicking the groom hours before his ceremony, but I thought the post was long enouigh without that whole stroy!)
;-)
