Arizona Trip

We took a trip to Arizona to get away from the freezing cold of Wisconsin. Last year, my first winter in Wisconsin seems like a novelty and sort of a fun challenge. This year there is no novelty and it's just a real fucking challenge. The last couple of days were so cold that school was actually closed. NO JOKE! It wasn't snowing or anything, just TOO COLD TO SEND THE KIDS TO SCHOOL! So it was easy-- keep the kids home. This weekend, the temps are back to normal (20's) so I don't really have an excuse to stay home all day but there really is nothing to do. I mean, I could take them to the children's museum or the mall park or ice skating (indoors) or bowling or something but... who wants to? Ron is working in the mornings this weekend and maybe we'll go out to dinner somewhere. I guess I can take Talia out when Ron gets home but I'd really just like the time to myself! Remember when I was complaining about not having time to myself over winter break? Well, with this weather and our vacation Talia has only been to school THREE TIMES since then. I know.

But back to our trip. The weather was nice-- 70's in the afternoons but much cooler in the morning/evening. The accomodations were fantastic (Thank you Aunt Barbara and Uncle Allen!) and the children were really well behaved. We went to a train park and a fantastic children's museum and a nice park etc. The traveling was a nightmare, as usual. They gave us a 45 minute layover in Chicago each way and both times we landed in Chicago at precisely the time our next plane was supposed to take off. On the way there we booked from the end of terminal G to the opposite end of terminal K (a REALLY LONG distance!) with the kids, the backpacks, the kid's backpacks, the car seat, the diaper bag and a bag of food (who knows when you're going to get stuck somewhere?). The first time we missed our connection and had to wait three more hours for another flight. On the way home we ran again, from terminal K to terminal G and luckily the plane had been delayed by 20 minutes. We got there just in time to board and then sat for another 20 minutes, which you *think* would be enough time for our luggage to get on the plane but... no. And you wonder why I pack so much to carry on the plane? We did get our luggage the next day. So, a nice trip ruined by the travel experience.