A school day folded into a flight day. Layla picked up at 11:45, then Noah from his last day of kindergarten at Madera — you could tell Noah was going through a whirlwind of emotions. Home for a snack while the car got loaded, then the drive to SFO, and a longer day than the calendar shows.
A thousand small inconveniences
We went to Terminal A specifically for the 3 lounges, but despite the many empty chairs, all three lounges denied entry to Priority Pass. So back through security to Terminal G. Dinner was surprisingly good (Noah got sushi at the place I used to frequent during my consulting years), but it cost over a hundred bucks. Layla pooped twice. We arrived at the gate when our group was almost done boarding. I accidentally bagged Layla's water bottle in the stroller, and Jess lost her sweater along the way. It cost $250 just to put the four of us together in coach. We paid thousands of dollars and transfered hundreds of thousands of points for the possibility of an upgrade, but we weren't even close. A frustrating start, but it all got better.
Dinner and a movie, with neck pillows
The cabin was cold; Noah shivered. But after the somewhat bumpy start, meals and drinks started flowing. Layla got Frozen and a Paw Patrol movie. Noah had Minecraft and Phineas & Ferb. Four sets of headphones, four neck pillows, a kind of temporary equilibrium.
Eight hours, in patches
Layla passed out first, but only for 45 minutes. Noah was next, but he stayed down for 6 hours. Layla was fussy and wired when she woke up, but at least not crying or screaming. After midnight PT, Layla finally went down for another hour or two before we had to wake her up for landing. I watched Cold Storage, Avatar, and Have Fun Stay Safe Don't Die back to back. Ninety minutes of sleep, give or take. Jess somewhere in between us all. Somewhere over Greenland, Noah turned six. He slept through it.
The mess of arriving
We had to wake the kids before wheels-down. Noah overheated in the deplaning crowd, got frustrated, and ended up letting it out at full volume. I had Layla in one arm, my backpack on the other, and I had to grab Noah's suitcase with my pinky and hold his hand. We tried to redirect Noah with a task: throw away 2 fruit containers. 30 seconds later, both fruit containers were accidentally spilled all over the floor, Noah crying, and we were back to square one. Thankfully I had the foresight to capture that ridiculous moment.
The Grove was stunning. More to come.
— Day one, fin.