TWP Guest Post:

Hi there! We have one last guest post as part of our celebration of 500 posts. This final installment comes from TWP. She's one of my oldest friends, my unofficial wedding planner, overall source of hilarity and support, and her daughter (FlowerGirl, FG) is my godchild. Love them both to death. The two of them visited NavyGuy and I last week, and TWP has chosen to recap their vacation for her guest post... crazy good times. Enjoy her version of our week together! :)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball: Our Trip to Anacortes
The Highs and Lows of Traveling with A Toddler

Part I:

The Cast of Characters:

TWP: Me! I'm one of NavyWife's BFF's. I've known her since we were in 4th grade and both had hideous clothes and even more hideous glasses. I've been doing my best to corrupt her ever since the day we met.

Meatball: Otherwise known throughout the blog world as "FG" or the Flower Girl. My daughter and NavyWife's goddaughter. So named because 1) while I was pregnant with her I majorly craved meatballs. Not with pasta or sauce or anything, just meatballs. Bowls and bowls of them and 2) her head is an adorably huge, perfectly round, baby ball of chunk that looks like a giant meatball. She's a 20 month old hilarious bundle of craziness and can be best described by saying that her current favorite food is Caesar salad...go figure.

Nice Roommate: One of the oddballs currently making NavyWife's house messy. He basically played on the computer for five days straight during our visit except for a brief respite to play Rockband.

Weird Roommate: The current bane of NavyWife's home organization existence. He made pasta the first day we got there and it was still sitting on the stove when we left. He also wore nothing more than boardshorts (that's right no shirt...EVER) during our entire trip and says "dude" every other word. After eating perhaps his tenth "well-balanced" meal of chicken and rice during our stay he proceeded to give me a lecture about how I really shouldn't drink soda because the high fructose corn syrup is bad for me. I would have thrown the can at him, but I would never waste a precious drop of my Diet Coke on such a Tool.

And so, the adventure begins...

Day 1: We wake at the mind-numbing hour of 5am to depart from St. Paul. Meatball is oddly chipper for this early hour, I manage the SuperHuman feat of packing Meatball and I into ONE, count it ONE, suitcase (mothers worldwide: it's possible!) and we make it out the door on time. The plane ride was smooth, no one vomited, and I survived changing a diaper blowout in the airplane bathroom. NavyWife met us at the airport, Meatball slept the entire car ride to Anacortes and we had lunch at an adorable place, Gere-A-Deli: yummy desserts, delicious chicken salad, and a re-caffienated TWP made for a much better day all around. We hiked the oddly steep hills to the slug-filled park near the NavyFamily's uber-adorable home, drooled at the fabulousness that is about the be the NavyFamily's new home, ordered some yummy pizza for dinner and crafted the night away.

Meatball at the toddler park.

Cheers: To the kindness of strangers.
-To a fellow warrior/mother/angel in the war against squirmy toddlers who waved something shiny in front of Meatball while I attempted to not have my bags searched and messied.
-To the TSA agent who turned a blind eye to my 6 pounds overweight bag because he didn't want to have to charge me the $90.00 overage charge. I love you old TSA man with a big heart! You deserved that $5.00 tip!
-And To the highly tolerant flight attendant who allowed Meatball to play in the exit aisle for over an hour, sparing me and the entire plane from the wrath of a toddler who won't sit in one place for longer than 30 seconds.

Jeers: To the other parents on the flight who thought my presence in the exit row indicated my willingness to provide free child care at 35,000 feet.

And to Meatball's blatant disdain for every single item in the 40 pound "purse" I brought on board to entertain her. I should have known that a free plastic cup and the drink cart would have brought her more joy.

The amazing view!