The Labyrinthine Wedding – Day 17

Our vacation of sorts is finally over, and we had to fly home today. My wife had decided to stuff suitcases inside suitcases to avoid having to take so many, which I was greatly thankful for later in our trip (more on this later). My mother-in-law was so upset that we were leaving that she came inside for a quick hug and kiss, and then she turned away and walked off before she started crying.

Troy was being a little obnoxious today, insisting on being picked up and carried around the airport the entire time. This is especially rough when you’re already carrying fifty pounds on your back, and then you add another 45 pounds to your front. My wife and I were also very tired and stressed, which made us less tolerant of his antics too.

Luckily, we got three seats on one side of the plane, so we didn’t have to share with anyone. Troy and I watched movies the entire time, while my wife alternated between naps, movies, and her book. This trip was longer than the last, and Troy started to get antsy at some point. He was restless and kept wanting to move around. It was hard to keep him entertained. He also decided to fall asleep about an hour before we landed in Atlanta, so waking him up again was tough.

We had a three-hour layover in Atlanta, which sucked since we’d been up 17 hours already, and Troy was starting to act up. He was completely incorrigible on the flight, but he finally dozed off 30 minutes before we landed, which was about 4:00 am where we had come from…so early. Sleep and irritability were starting to get us all by this point. After nearly 24 hours without significant sleep, we were nearing complete exhaustion.

Troy was so tired that he had to be carried off the plane and around the airport. Every little thing was setting him off, and he finally had a meltdown at the baggage claim when he couldn’t properly blow his nose. While my wife went off to deal with him, I was left alone to grab all five suitcases while wrangling both our backpacks (so thankful that it wasn’t seven). Then, we had to somehow get them outside without putting Troy down. My wife finally put him on top of her suitcase and rolled him out the door, and he seemed content with that. When we got him home, we took his clothes off and put him straight in the bed. He was asleep instantly. We finally got cleaned up and we’re in bed by midnight. It was a very long day, and now I can look forward to going back to work tomorrow.