Christmas Vacation Part 6

The morning was filled with packing and saying goodbyes. Or rather, saying goodbyes without actually using the word "bye." 

Aubrey seems to have abandonment issues and gets really upset when Jared or I say goodbye around her. 

Somehow, we got everything packed up and loaded stuff into the car. Aubrey woke up and people played with her for the last time (at least for the year 2013). 

Tim and Laura drove us to the airport and things went a lot smoother than the trip coming to Utah. 

Except for the fact I completely forgot my backpack at the house! It had the second computer in it and several of Aubrey's favorite movies. We called Laura and asked if anyone at the house could bring it to the airport. Ashley and Nicole were rockstars and offered to bring it up for us.

Jared waited for them while Aubrey and I made our way through security and getting to the right terminal. Things went pretty well! Jared got the backpack in time, the flight had no delays. Things were good! And it worked out that on the plane, we had an empty seat by us, so Aubrey had plenty of space in her own seat, rather than sitting on our laps the whole time. 

Plane took off, no problems. She was well-behaved on the plane. Aubrey was even good when I had to change her diaper on the plane. Those bathrooms are tiny and rather uncomfortable for one person, let alone someone and a toddler!

But we made it to Chicago. That's where things got a little rough. It was cold and snowing. Our gate was taken by a flight that was delayed so we had to wait an hour on the plane before we could get off. 

Our luggage came in good time and we made our way to the shuttle to get our car in a park, ride & fly. It was snowing, but everything seemed fine. The car started, which was a miracle. 

The drive home was pretty great. I had accidently left two unopened Dr Peppers in the car, and they totally had exploded while we were gone. Oops. 

Jared sat in back and put on a movie for Aubrey. She fell asleep and he hopped up front with me. Driving from Chicago to Fort Wayne was pretty stressful sometimes. The windshield got dirty and I could hardly see out of it. Jared was also inspired that we stop somewhere to eat and it happened to be right before midnight. I totally forgot most places are closed New Years Eve! 

We stopped at a Burger King, which thankfully had still been open. We were that store's last customer of the year :)

We made it home and got ready for bed. Poor Aubrey didn't appreciate being woken up and was rather upset to be woken up and then put to bed. But she was fine after a while and we all slept in. 

That was our Christmas vacation!

We miss them all very much. Tim and Laura were so great  for letting us stay with them so long. Brandon, Ashley, Nicole, Megan and Spencer were also great for playing with Aubrey and letting us invade their space for a while. 

Everyone was so patient with Aubrey and we had such a great holiday!