Traveling Caravan

Spring Break has started and we were lucky enough to get out of town to the lovely state of Minnesota (more on this to come). This story starts about two weeks ago, when the packing actually started. Preparing to go on a trip with three kids requires a person (i.e. Mrs B) to start packing way early. I started to see piles of stuff, that didn't look any different from all of the other piles. These piles, unbeknownst to me, had already been "packed", so when I tried to take something like clothes out of these piles, I received a stern reminder that I should look elsewhere because these clothes were already "packed". Pointing out that the clothes were in fact "piled" rather then "packed", (which would have required them to actually be in a bag) didn't seem to make Mrs B happy.

Flash forward to yesterday. I rush home from work figuring the car would be packed and we would hit the road for our flight in 2 hours. The car wasn't packed, so I rushed in and started grabbing bags to putting them in the car. In the rush of packing, I removed "the boy's" jump seat from the stroller. I then promptly loaded the stroller, without the seat for "the boy". Unfortunately we didn't discover we were missing a seat until we were half of the way to the airport. The ensuing discussion about how we would be better off with out the seat and how lucky we were to make such a mistake to start our trip was filled with the usual "No, it was my fault" "No, it was actually my fault". Being the gentleman, I was willing to finally agree with Mrs B and concede it was actually her fault.

On to check in and security check. I dropped Mrs B off at ticketing with the Twinkies and the stroller, and "the boy"and I went to park the car. Mrs B got all checked in without a problem, but things got interesting once "the boy" and I got to the check-in kiosk. I got my boarding pass without incident, and then the guy turns to me, and asks about "the boy". The ticket jockey wanted to know if I had a confirmation number for "the boy's" ticket. AHHH NOPE, not on me. The he turns to me and ask, and I quote, because you can't make this stuff up, "Do you have and ID or credit card with his name on it." I responded that he currently only had his learners permit right now and he only carries cash. Eventually the baggage guy was able to print up the last ticket so we could proceed the fun of security.

I don't want to go on one of those rants about all of the reason the security check in at the airport is ridiculous, so here is just a short summary of the experience. After removing nearly every article of clothing and putting it in the little gray bin, I proceeded to put "the boy" on the counter and begin removing his clothes as well. The TSA agent (maybe we should start calling them TSA chumps - because they don't seem worthy of the title agent) tells me I can't have him up on the counter.....I ignored her and continued. Once I got everything off, I started to help Mrs B get herself and the twins ready to go through the checkpoint. "The boy" took this opportunity to sprint between the security guards and into the terminal. I run after him and grab him moments before a certain airport lock down because somebody had broken through the chump line without a proper invasion of privacy. We eventually got on the other side and got to the gate without much additional drama. The Twinkies slept most of the flight, and "the boy" watched a movie the whole time and seemed very content to do so.