21May2009: Day 360: Isn't That A Pip

Up way too early - 5am. Chris really wanted to make sure we made it for our 12pm flight. I guess it was a good thing as the motorway on the way to Heathrow did get backed up. That is one thing I will not miss--the inane way these people seem to stop for a butterfly crossing the road. I say this because all traffic seems to come to a sudden halt for no reason that is obvious (besides the fact that they don't seem to be able to merge without stopping,) and then all of a sudden, you are off and speeding again.

We had time to sit and eat a breakfast in the airport and then a little time to walk around. Makenna did really well on the plane overall. She only had about three little breakdowns and each were less than five minutes. It was mostly over her DVD player quitting as it didn't charge like we thought. So she only got about an hour's worth of play time. She was quite upset and didn't hesitate to let us know. I was able to get her to watch the movie on the plane for a small bit. Since we were near the back of the plane, I took her to the back and she got to look out the window and see the clouds and some things below. That excited her. By the last two hours of the trip she was "done." She kept saying, "done, done, off?" I explained that we had a little while longer to go and after that small melt down she calmed down and we got through it.

One thing that got me was the lunch on the plane. It was chicken with carrots and green beans and mashed potatoes. Well, Makenna actually had no problems eating the chicken...until...I thought I'd be "smart" and put a tiny piece of carrot with it. She somehow cleverly kept biting off the chicken without eating the carrot. I finally shoved the whole thing in her mouth and after a few chews, she spit the whole thing out and refused to eat any more. "Dang It!" I said.

We made it to Washington, got through customs pretty quickly, picked up our luggage, walked it 30 feet and turned it back in again. Can anyone tell me why this was necessary? Chris was not too happy that we had to pick it back up to just turn around and turn it back in for our final flight to Binghamton. They don't re-weigh it, they don't check it again, as far as we know, it's just as if we're the baggage handlers to save them money.

Anyways, since Makenna didn't eat too much at lunch, she was hungry and Chris could only find a "hot gog." She chowed this down. I was joking how we're "improving" on our food fare for Makenna...from fried chicken nuggets to the ever healthy hot dog. Great!

Got on the small plane to Binghamton with a small incident. The plane had 12 rows and one column had a single seat "A," and then across the aisle were two seats "D" & "F." Chris, some how, lucked out and had a seat in "A" up near the front of the plane. I was sent to the very last row and Makenna had an "A" and that left me, I figured, with the seat right across the aisle, as the "F" seat was taken by another person. After I got Makenna all settled in, I started to sit and another kid (probably about 12,) came to say that I was in his seat. I also thought I heard him say that I would need to go up front and find a seat. I was incredulous and very tired, saying "Oh, and what am I supposed to do? Leave her back here on her own? Why don't I just do that!?!" He walked away and I heard him say that some lady had the seat with her little child back there. In the meantime, another lady in the row before us told me that the kid had said that he would go up and find a seat. I felt bad for snapping. Makenna on the other hand, after trying and succeeding at taking off her seat belt, finally left it alone and before the plane even took off, was fast asleep.

When we got into Binghamton, we were greeted by some family and went out to eat some GOOD Chinese food. Makenna was a bit grouchy but perked up when she saw her cousin Katie. At the airport Katie's dad, my brother, said, "Katie's Crazy!" Makenna then had the best time for the next two hours saying "Katie's crazy!" When we were at the Chinese restaurant, Makenna also enjoyed following Katie's lead in standing on the table. I was like, "Makenna, you're older and need to set the example, not be the follower."

Makenna also enjoyed saying, "Isn't that a Pip." She started saying this on the car ride on the way to the airport and continued saying it on and off throughout the day. I guess that was a good way to say goodbye to England...bye ending with a typical old English saying.