Jacksonville

So Saturday morning Cori and I flew to Jacksonville, FL.

Saturday:
woke up early squirly! (a phrase my mom used to use) Loaded up the car and headed to the airport, this was about 6am. Had a little trouble getting in b/c my plane ticket said Casey Smith, my TDL said Casey Cranford - but luckily I brought my expired passport, my newpassport and my marriage certificate showing who I am. Then, I swear the lady at security called me stupid. I had never taken a stroller through the airport and I didn't know I had to collapse the stroller and send it through the xray thing....so I took our shoes off, took Cori out and was going to push it through in front of me and she rudely said "HELLO......YOU HAVE TO COLLAPSE IT" (and then turned to someone and said "I SWEAR SOME PEOPLE ARE STUPID".....If I wasn't in the airport security line I would have popped off at the mouth! Don't worry though, I cussed her out in my mind and gave her a dirty stare!!!!

The plane ride went good. We had a really nice lady sitting next to us and Cori and her got a long really well. I was relieved! I was afraid we'd get some mean person sitting next to us. Cori and the lady did a lot of high fives and she taught Cori how to fist pump. At one point Cori reached over, and took a bite of the lady's muffin. I was mortified and very apologetic to the lady and she said "It's no problem honey" as she finished her muffin. After we got off the plane, got our luggage Ashley & Syd were there to pick us up! We drove back to her house, which is on a Navy Base!

This little bubble was so different than anything I've ever seen. It's guarded by gates and ID's must be shown to get in. Everything you need is in there - Houses, gyms, fast food, gas station, office buildings, ship ports, daycare, even an RV park! Ashley calls it pleasantville. Her backyard is literally the beach! We walked down there and Cori had fun! It was her first time in sand and salt water. We didn't get all suited up, and we didn't stay a long time but it was nice to just go and see it. We took lots of pictures (I do not have any of them, we were using her camera) but they all turned out so good! We came back to her house, let the girls nap and then went to the NEX (Navy Exchange). That was so cool! It was like a department store, except everything was cheaper, and no tax. It was super cool! We browsed for a while and I got a new purse! After we left NEX we drove around town, stopped at a few stores and ate dinner at Chick Fil A. The girls were exhausted so we sent them to bed and Ashley and I stayed up until Midnight talking and catching up!

Sunday:

We got up and went to church. Ashley teaches a Sunday School class and I was able to go with her to help out. Luckily she teaches kids in the 2 y/o range so Cori was able to stay with us. She had a blast. Their church is really awesome and I wish we had something like that near our home! Starbucks on the way home, lunch and nap for the girls! Later we went to mall and walked around and let Cori play on the indoor playground. I said "Thank y'all" as I asked a couple where the restroom was and got a VERY strange look. FL is so much like Texas that I forgot to leave my "y'all, aint & mitiswell's" at home!

Monday:

We got up, got all packed up and loaded the car. We had tickets to go to the Jacksonville Zoo. We got there about 10 in the morning and started looking around. They have a really nice zoo!!! Cori had a great time as did Ashley and I - Sydney had fun just looking around in her stroller! Chick Fil A again for lunch (We had some time to kill before we needed to be at the airport and I like Chick Fil A's play ground better than McDonalds)

Airport Disaster:

Getting to the airport, checking baggage, finding our gate, browsing the stores to kill time, boarding the plane (for the first time) all went well. Cori was an angel. After we got on the plane we left the terminal and headed for the runway - only to hear the captain come on the speaker and say there is really bad weather in Houston and we had to wait 25 minutes until we could take off. Okay that was bad news, but Cori had her Dora episodes on my iPhone and she was being still and quiet. after 30 minutes of waiting he came back on to say it would be at least another hour so he was going to take us back to the terminal and get us off the plane. SHOOT ME NOW! I gate checked the stroller the 1st time we got on the plane so here I am in the airport, my almost 2 y/o has not napped all day, and it was now 4 O'clock in the afternoon with no stroller, no toys for her. She was TIRED and CRANKY and BAD. She took off running from me, laughing. I finally caught her and she threw herself on the ground. So thats what she did. She laid there, in the middle of the floor, on her back with her arms and legs spread - people were stepping over her! I walked away.....about 20 ft away and watched, pretending she wasn't my kid. When I tried to pick her up she'd scream....so I just left her there. Finally after laying on the floor for probably 5 minutes or more, a lady stopped to ask her if she was lost and she came running to me. We walked around for a few minutes more when they finally called us to board again. After we were in the air, she fell asleep about 5:30 in the afternoon, but only slept for about 20 minutes. The rest of the flight was still okay even though she was awake. She just laid on me and watched her episodes, holding the iPhone. I thought my bad luck spell was over.....nope.

I called James when we landed and told him to head that way to get us. (We only live 5 minutes from the airport) Well SOMEHOW (??) there was traffic and even after stopping in the restroom to change Cori, waiting for our luggage at baggage claim and getting outside....we waited about 20 minutes! Cori didn't want to stay in her stroller so I was holding her, and had the carseat backpack on, pushing the stroller and trying to drag our suitcase - Cori ended up getting a spanking and buckled in her stroller. She screamed, and screamed and screamed as I was texting very bad words to my husband to hurry up and get there, what was taking so long???

HOME SWEET HOME - Cori got a bath and went straight to bed at 7:30. She said she wasn't hungry so she didn't even get dinner. (Bad mom, I know) I unpacked, chilled out and ate dinner and was in bed by 9. I slept HARD.

I feel bad today b/c I have never been so frustrated with Cori before. I feel like I should have handled things differently b/c I knew she was so tired. But, if you have a toddler then you know that if they are tired and used to only sleeping in their own bed that just because I want her to nap doesn't mean she will. I handled her pretty well (The best I could) but I was frustrated and tired myself. I gave her big hugs and kisses this morning and asked her if she had fun and she said yes - so that's good! She woke up in a really good mood surprisingly and didn't hold on to my leg when I dropped her off at daycare, which is rare!

I had such a great time and can't wait to go back! Thank you Ash for everything!!