Thankfully, the kids slept off their over-sugared, over-stimulated hangover the next morning, and gave us a bit of time to pack up our bags.
We had arranged for a taxi to come pick us up a the apartment around 10:00, which gave us plenty of time for one last trip to our favorite café. Quinn continued his international charm offensive, and said goodbye to all of his new friends.
The stroller ride back to our apartment gave one last opportunity for a "Mimi down."
She had taken to sitting in front of Quinn as we meandered along the sidewalks of Mexico city. The adorableness to safety ratio was just favorable enough for us to allow it.
But at least daily, the inevitable sidewalk crack would send her flying three or four feet when the stroller got stuck. Brief moment of terror. Look up. Smile. Phew. "Mimi down!" She'd declare, giggle, and get back in the saddle. That kid is something else.
The only hiccup in our plan that morning was a no-show taxi. It was booked at the same time as our arrival taxi, and when we didn't connect with that driver, the entire reservation was apparently cancelled. But thankfully we live in the era of cell-phone ride share apps. So I marveled at the state of technology where I could pull out my phone, click a few buttons, and Oscar in a gray Nissan Sentra would arrive four minutes later.
Back on track, we headed to the airport, and our kids soaked up the novelty of a big city taxi ride one last time.
Check in and security were a breeze, which gave us one more chance to live the Admirals Club life.
For Mimi, that meant snacking on a bag of oyster crackers while watching the airplanes taxi. For Aimee and I, it meant ingesting as much free coffee as we could in thirty minutes. The timing of our flights was misaligned with the kids' nap times, so we knew we were in for a bit of turbulence.
For Quinn, it meant laughing uncontrollably at absolutely nothing.
"Ten hours of travel with two kids and no naps? That's a good one!"
Quinn's overtired-hysteria quickly evolved into toddler-breakdown, as it tends to do. So Mimi comfort-smothered him into submission.
Neither kid napped on the flight. The in-seat entertainment kept it bearable, but Aimee and I were both pretty frazzled getting off the flight in Dallas. Then my usual passport-line stress kicked in, and I had no tolerance for a three year old bladder. Aimee kindly talked me down, and escorted Mimi off to the bathroom while I waited for our bags at the customs checkpoint. And waited. And waited. After all of the bags had been picked up and the carousel stopped, we were still short one of our checked bags.
I talked to the baggage agent, who looked up our bag in his system, and pointed out the obvious. "Still in Mexico City."
You don't say.
I wondered how customs would work, since we were supposed to hand carry all of our luggage through the checkpoint. But I didn't have much time to wonder, since our next flight would be boarding in 15 minutes. We hustled through customs with most of our bags, rechecked our luggage, and then passed back through security to enter the domestic terminal. This prevented us from getting the dinner that we were banking on during the layover. Never a good idea in our family.
You don't say.
I wondered how customs would work, since we were supposed to hand carry all of our luggage through the checkpoint. But I didn't have much time to wonder, since our next flight would be boarding in 15 minutes. We hustled through customs with most of our bags, rechecked our luggage, and then passed back through security to enter the domestic terminal. This prevented us from getting the dinner that we were banking on during the layover. Never a good idea in our family.
After rushing on to our flight, Aimee and I were barely hanging on to the last bits of our sanity. So Mimi played the role of parent. As I settled in to my middle seat, she looked over and said, "Are you ok right there?" Granted, she was just parroting what we often ask her. But still. She's three. Amazing.
Predictably, both kids had a rough flight. Over-exhaustion and hunger took a toll on all of us, but Mimi did eventually manage to fall asleep.
After we landed in Tucson.
I tried to carry Mimi out in her car seat, but that lasted all of about three minutes. She woke up in a hungry stupor, but thankfully both kids had their absolute favorite activity on the planet to keep them busy: cart pushing.
Normally, I try to corral them a bit, but I was currently in no shape for that. So there were a lot of sore shins and ankles in the Tucson airport that evening. My apologies.
After gathering the bags that survived our journey, we loaded up the car and made a beeline for my parents' house. We said, "Hello! Here are your grandbabies!" And disappeared into their pantry for a solid fifteen minutes. Calorically and emotionally replenished, we had just enough energy to get the kids ready for bed. I'm pretty sure I slept in my shoes that night.
Like every trip, it was an absolute joy to experience another part of the world. Mexico City, and particularly Coyoacán, was beyond charming.
And like every trip with kids, it was an absolute joy to know that grandma and grandpa would be making their breakfast the next morning. Mom and dad need a vacation.
