SB 2013 - Phoenix - Day 7 - Departure

"It's too dark to be awake"
Jai's alarm pings at 4am. UGH! That is early. We arrange for taxi to arrive at Susie's house at 4:30am so we arrive at PHX airport by 5am. We had done most of the packing before we went to sleep so it was quick work to brush teeth, hair, put on pants and coats and throw food in bag. We planned to wait until taxi arrived to wake children since it takes a few minutes to load the car seats and luggage. However, we wanted to make sure we were ready so woke & dressed them. We realized the taxi was late & called. When we finally got a live person, the dispatcher said the driver was on the highway ... already 20 minutes late. : (
Finally it arrives, but it's not a van. Amazingly we got everything in the vehicle, all the luggage fit in the trunk, both car seats in back seat with me too, Jai in front. Despite the later departure, we arrive at airport quickly and the fare was cheaper - almost 1/2 what we paid on Thursday evening ... strange. Did we get "taken for a ride"? He seemed like a nice person.

Check-in was smooth though the agent was kind of snippy, especially about the tags on our bags ... including the car seats and stroller. I know it's early, but wow, not what I expected from a SW employee. We got through security easily, to gate on time, first in line for Family Boarding, hoping not to be on a full flight. We figured we'd be a rare family flying at this crazy early hour. Ironically there were a TON of families with children, luckily our children were much better behaved. Even though crossing our fingers didn't give us a less full plane, at least it got us a better flying experience considering the small amount of sleep for all of us.  Julia still farted too much, but she & Jacqueline were less noisy. The flight also was about an hour shorter and amazingly we arrived about 30 minutes early which was a blessing.

"Are we home yet?"
After getting our luggage and shuttle to economy parking lot, we drove home. We stopped by Joel's work to get house key and get update on J-dog. Once at our house, we dropped bags in living room, washed hands and face before getting a quick snack & then nap time for EVERYONE. We all passed out for almost 3 hours. Of course we didn't have any fresh groceries so we raided the freezer for dinner - found some frozen pizzas I'd gotten on sale and some turkey veggie soup. Yummy & easy, then baths for everyone and early to bed.

It is nice to be home & sleep in own bed - I'm too old for a couch futon bed. I hope  Susie is enjoying the quiet sounds of silence without 4 additional bodies in her house. Happiness all around! : )