Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Monday, March 31, 2014

Home.

We got back home late Saturday night after spending a week in Texas. First a few days in Houston to celebrate the hubby's grandma's 90th birthday, 3 days at the coast with hubby's dad, and then 2 days in Austin visiting all sorts of friends, old and new. There was a lot of activity and a lot of driving, which with two kids makes for some tired parents. The kids played with their cousins, and Finn made fast friends with Todd's best friend's son. On the coast, we saw amazing amounts of shorebirds... blue herons, ibis, egrets, spoonbills..... they were everywhere. Such majestic birds. If I had it my way, I would have sat there watching them for a long time. We also saw porpoise, rode on a motorboat, and spent an afternoon at the aquarium. And the Mexican food was amazing. So delicious! However,  after about 5 days there I realized that I had barely eaten any vegetables. Seriously. Everything was beans, cheese, tortillas, and at some places it was hard to find a vegetable on the menu, unless you count the salsa. Oh vegetables,  how I missed you.
Both of our flights were eventful, to put it nicely. On the way there, while waiting to board our second flight, Todd and I both looked down for a second (really, a literal second), and Phoebe (my runner child), was gone. Panic. Where was she? She had gotten excited and ran past the boarding line, past the woman taking boarding tickets, and onto the jet way. She was standing there crying, as she finally realized she had left her family behind. This all happened in about 20 seconds, but it felt like much longer. It turned out OK, but scary. That could have been a whole lot worse if she had run a different direction. On the second flight on the way home, Phoebe fell asleep immediately, and woke up about an hour later having a night terror. Have your kiddos ever gotten those? They are freaky and terrible and really hard to deal with, even in the comforts of your own home. And it's much worse on a plane. They scream and yell and cry, but they are not fully awake, so all you can do is help them to fall back asleep. We spent about 90 minutes with her thrashing and screaming on and off (really loudly), late at night, mind you, so everyone was trying to sleep... Anyways, we felt terrible, but everyone on the plane was so nice and sympathetic. I am so thankful for the kindness of all of those strangers.
Anyways, we are home and we survived. Finn heads back to school today and I start teaching a new term tomorrow. Back to the grind, yes?














Pin It Now!

7 comments:

  1. I love your blog... so I nominated you for a Liebster Award --> http://onceuponatimeinabedofwildflowers.com/2014/03/31/i-was-nominated-for-a-liebster-award/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like you had a good time except for a 20 second child missing and a screaming child on a plane....my son was the kid I could never find. And I was the mom that couldn't remember what he wore that day. He never went far but my belly would flop during those seconds.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the photos and glad you had a nice visit down here in Texas. Those birds are wonderful, aren't they? We see egrets and herons almost daily...and woodpeckers and hummingbirds, and so so many more. There are lots of negatives about Texas, but I LOVE the birds and the wildflowers.
    As for the night terrors, ugh! Evan used to have them when he was younger and they run in my family. My brother had them for years and my aunt and my grandmother. They are so awful for everyone. Can't even imagine dealing with one on an airplane. So glad everyone was kind about it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a wonderful time away, well, except for those two little incidents. I have never experienced night terrors, but have a friend whose little one has them, they sound pretty awful. Enjoy the fresh start of the new term :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. you were in my hood! and from what i remember your in laws are in tomball! down the street. and we have a beach house in san luis pass (right near galveston)! vegetables? what are those? did you eat crawfish? i know that's not a vegetable...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Glad you had a nice time. Sounds like you have experienced the joy of flying with little ones. Been there done that. We took our kids from California to New York twice by air...the kids were actually much better fliers that I was. I am not such a great flier. I "white knuckle" all the way. Glad everything turned out OK. Sounds like your daughter was having a "night terror." My granddaughter has those as well. They are a challenge. Glad that everyone was understanding on the plane. Enjoy the coming week.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The photos look great! My wife and I were just checking out your blog and had a quick question. I was hoping you could email me when you get the chance. Thanks! - Cam

    ReplyDelete