Trip to Cleveland

Cleveland rocks! We had a fantastic vacation and I can't believe how glitch-free the whole experience was. Easy flights and connections. Kids who did well on the airplanes and traveling in cars. A city where the drivers don't scare us and getting around is pretty easy. Lots of fun stuff to do with the kids. Hotel room with a kitchenette. A little boy who took naps and went to sleep at night without any major battles (in fact, he loved the little bed we made for him on the floor of the closet. He'd go in there voluntarily and cuddle up with his blankie.) Time to hang out with the bride in the days leading up to the wedding. Patient, very well-behaved kiddos who didn't get cranky when we kept them up late learning to do a Greek dance at the wedding rehearsal dinner. Our beautiful Little Bug dressed up in her beautiful flower girl dress with curls all in her hair. A gorgeous Greek Orthodox wedding and a fun, fun reception later with dancing! A roller coaster called Top Thrill Dragster that apparently reaches 300 mph!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPjN7zArwiI

On the way home, a minor glitch made me so aware of God's presence with us. We were in the air, maybe 15 minutes into the first flight, when Mark discovered that something in the duffel bag leaked ALL OVER. It was seeping out of the bag even and covered everything inside. Wet, slippery . . . a 16oz. unopened, plastic wrap covered bottle of bubbles had lost all of it's contents. Gross! Normally that would be disastrous in an airplane because what do you do? You don't even have room to grab the magazine in front of you. This flight we were on was the only leg of the journey that I hadn't been able to chose seats when I booked them. We got on the airplane and discovered we had a bulk head row. What a gift! So in this case, God was totally looking out for us. I had tons of room to lay everything out to dry. I had the kids' pajamas that they had changed out of in the airport still in the other pack and used them as towels. I know it's a minor thing but I felt rather blessed at that moment.