That said, the lead up to this trip was particularly exhausting. This was our kids the morning before we left:
We were in the midst of another big snowstorm, and had experienced several prolonged power outages during the last few weeks. The hospital was crazy busy through the holidays, so Aimee and I were slammed at work. And worst of all, Aimee's grandma passed away at ninety nine years old the week before we were scheduled to leave. Thankfully, Aimee was able to trade a few shifts to be able to make it to the funeral, but it meant that she'd be coming back from a whirlwind trip to South Dakota the day before we were scheduled to fly to Mexico City. We lost track of how many times we asked ourselves if this trip was going to be worth it.
Even the decision to go on this trip was pretty impromptu. Not quite two months earlier, our friends Nona, Grael, and Conrad were visiting us in Whiteriver. As we always do when we see each other, we were reminiscing about our Vietnam and Greece trips, and commiserating that we didn't have another one planned. We talked about going to Puerto Peñasco for New Years, but then realized it'll be a bit cold for a beach trip. And then--no one quite remembers how--we all had tickets to Mexico City booked within the next seventy two hours.
It's slightly painful to admit, but I was already questioning our decision to go on this trip as I clicked "Purchase" on the airline tickets. International travel over the holidays is never a cakewalk, keeping newly-walking Quinn seated on our lab for 6 hours was going to be extremely painful, and is Mexico City really the type of environment for the kind of relaxing New Years celebration we were looking for? But as Aimee and I have learned several times already, if traveling with kids doesn't make you question every life decision that brought you to this point, you're not trying hard enough.
So with absolutely no idea if we were doing the right thing, Aimee and I hugged goodbye. She went off to her grandma's funeral, and I stayed home to pack through one big snowstorm and two small hurricanes.
I kept reminding myself, "Four passports, two kids, lots of diapers. Four passports, two kids, lots of diapers." As long as I remembered to bring that, we could figure out the rest.
Not wanting to risk a critical oversight, I pretty much packed up the kids' entire rooms. And let me tell you, there's nothing heavier than a suitcase full of art supplies and board books.
Saturday morning, I loaded the kids into the car, and took advantage of them both being in five-point restraints to make a final pass through the house. I had packed quite a bit more than four passports, two kids, and lots of diapers, so I felt pretty good about our situation. At least the packing situation. I wasn't particularly thrilled about driving across the reservation during an uncharacteristically heavy snowstorm. But I had a decent amount of emergency supplies in the car, and it was early enough in the day that visibility wouldn't be an issue. And by emergency supplies, I mean raisins, pretzels, and a Frozen coloring book.
The drive took almost twice as long as it usually does. A few of the mountain passes were ominously dark, but there wasn't any ice on the road, and the kids did great in the back seat. We made it to Tucson without any issues more serious than a couple of ill-timed potty requests.
Aimee was not quite as lucky. Her flight from South Dakota was delayed multiple times due to the weather, and she didn't get in until about 9:30 pm. And that was just to Phoenix. She still had to make the two hour drive to Tucson. But she's pretty resilient, and had adequately caffeinated herself that day. She made it to my parents' house in Tucson around midnight, and got the bare minimum amount of sleep required for international travel with children.
I'm not sure if "too tired" is a valid reason to file a trip cancellation claim with our travel insurance company, but it crossed my mind more than once that night.