Let me tell you how it went…we left for the airport and due to my very astute planning we arrived at the airport within the required “two hour before your flight” timeframe of the TSA. Hooray…one point, Adam. We make it to the gate, board, and arrive in Philly right on time. Hooray…three more points, Adam. We pick up the one checked suitcase (that’s right let’s cram as much as we can in one bag…so my clothes can be wrinkled all week, but save $$$) and we get on the train in record time. Hooray…two more points, Adam! We get to our stop on the line and begin walking to the hotel with three kids, a suitcase, a carry-on roller bag, a diaper bag, three backpacks and the “retro metro” (for all you Thirty-One fans) bag. We brought the double stroller so Emerson and Tristan are riding along and Addison who is a real trooper on these trips is walking merrily with us. Then….drip….drip….and then downpour! Ugh.
So then the question is to hail a taxi or not…insert witty comment from Becky, “It’s a warm rain.” We walk….or trudge…I think it was trudging on my part. Now, Becky did have me pack one umbrella…so Addison is covered and Emerson has the little stroller cover…so at least the girls are dry. Tristan is holding a bag on his lap, so he only gets his head and shoulders wet. However, Becky and I are soaked to the skin. One nice man (who didn’t realize I was with Becky) offered to walk her to the hotel with an umbrella over her head….incredible, but she sweetly declines.
We drip into the hotel lobby and the hotel tells us that our room isn’t ready yet…(did I mention Ronald McDonald House couldn’t squeeze us in?)…so we hang in the lobby (soaking wet) for forty minutes until we can go up to our room.
In our room, we change into dry clothes and decide to walk to the bookstore and grab some dinner from the “Wawa.” We get caught in another downpour this one with winds strong enough to invert our umbrella. However, some nice man (a different one) offered an umbrella to Becky, so now we are all soaked this time…but own two umbrellas. So I guess Becky gets a point for that.
After the second drenching, we enter the hotel lobby and find a superfluous amount of people in said lobby. An alarm is sounding and emergency strobes are flashing. We are wet and in the lobby again while a “false alarm” gets cleared by authorities. (Apparently, it was the second false alarm of the day.) We settle in for the night and then at 2:49am the alarm and emergency strobes are flashing again. A computerized voice is telling us to make our way to the nearest emergency exit. We throw on flip flops and grab our wallets and the kids - out the door in less than 20 seconds. Poor Addison is dazed and confused but walking down the twelve flights of stairs, while Tristan is attached to Becky in a monkey grip, and I am holding sweet smiling Emerson.
We wait outside with strangers (also in their pajamas and one person oddly, wearing only a robe) until the alarms stop. I realize that I forgot the room key in the room (I think I lose a point for that) so we wait in the lobby again for the crowds to clear and for the front desk to get back to their normal activities.
We are back in our room by 3:30 and the big kids go to bed pretty quick. Emerson settles back down by about 5am…and the alarm goes off at 7am to get ready for the pre-op day at the hospital. Whew…day one is done…day two will clearly pale in comparison (I hope).
No comments:
Post a Comment