California

I had been dreading my trip to California for my grandmother's 80th birthday party for months.  In large part due to David not being able to go.  I was terrified of traveling with three kids by myself.  The upcoming trip weighed me down from October to January.

I am happy to report that the trip went much smoother than I had anticipated.  We survived going through airport security without a hitch.  In fact, most airport employees I came in contact with were very nice.  I am sure they went out of their way to be friendly since they saw I was traveling alone with the boys.

Ethan would have stayed in California for much longer if we could have arranged it.  The trip was a day longer than Ross would have preferred.  Christian stole the hearts of his California relatives.  He was a trooper walking Disneyland for eight hours and partying until midnight for his great grandma's birthday both on the same day.

We had a few hiccups.  A woman passed out on our flight from DFW to Orange County.  This caused quite a bit of excitement.  In the early morning hours before our return flights home, Ross suffered an asthma attack.  He had been clear of his asthma for three years.  I had no medicine to give him and didn't know if I should put him on an airplane or get him to a hospital.  It cleared enough after he sat in the bathroom with hot steam and we got him to the doctor when we got home.  Ethan and Ross had a hard few days trying to catch up on school work even though I tried my best to work with their teachers to allow them to do some of their work before our trip.  Their work load is back to normal now.  Thank goodness!