Eilidh appeared next to me around 6:15 a.m., holding a bucket of beach toys and sporting one of the biggest grins I’d seen in several days. After some rough nights in Porto Santo and Lisbon, I was thrilled Eilidh slept more than 9 hours straight and was so chipper to start her morning. The early wake-up time didn’t necessarily jive with my late bedtime, but between a few bouts with the iPad, the extensive collection of letter and number magnets on the refrigerator, and the aforementioned beach toys, Eilidh kept herself pretty entertained until I was fully awake and ready to start the day.
Noah was the second child to wake up, followed by Nina and then, eventually Emmie and Nola. Noah had a few bowls of Raisin Bran Crunch for breakfast, and Eilidh even had one-and-a-half mini bowls of Raisin Bran herself, focusing on the bran and not raisins as she happily ate her small spoonfuls.
I loved yesterday’s breakfast so much that I decided another trip to Black Star was in order, though this time, Caley, Caleb, and I all had the classic avocado toast. Nola ate some of Caley’s breakfast, but Emmie declared the sriracha sauce on the entree too spicy for her tastes, and she decided to eat more blueberry waffles along with Nutella-topped toast.
Amanda introduced Gee Gee to food delivery apps, browsing the selection on Postmates before landing on lunch from Sanfords Restaurant in nearby Astoria. Amanda ordered truffle mac and cheese, Gee Gee ordered the Thai peanut chicken wrap, and they both shared truffle fries. Gee Gee was so impressed she declared it to be the best meal of our trip.
At 11:00, with our bags mostly packed, I gave kids the one-hour warning. When Noon rolled around, Noah was in disbelief that 60 minutes had passed. We said our final goodbyes to Caley, Caleb, Nola, and Nina, before taking a Lyft to meet up with Amanda and Gee Gee and head to LaGuardia Airport.
Our LaGuardia experience didn’t get off to an ideal start, as Amanda’s ticket didn’t have TSA pre-check, despite previously paying for the service. While I was able to breeze through security with the older kids, Amanda, Gee Gee, and Eilidh mired in the slow lines before eventually jumping ahead due to Sky priority status with Delta which was indicated on their tickets.
Even with the security delays, we had ample time to eat the ridiculously overpriced drinks and snacks Noah, Emmie, and I had purchased at the airport’s dining hall. And, any complaints we had with Delta were more or less erased when we found out we’d all been upgraded to the economy comfort seats, which provided more leg room and in-flight snacks.
Noah and Emmie shared packages of cotton candy and gummy bears.
In the end, we left New York City ahead of schedule, kicking off one of the best-ever flight experiences. In fact, we landed so far ahead of schedule, we had retrieved our checked bags, taken the shuttle to the parking lot, loaded our van, and paid for parking nearly 10 minutes before the flight’s scheduled arrival time.
The flight attendants let Eilidh stay in the Tula to get a much-needed afternoon nap on the flight from New York to Kansas City.
It was much easier to pack our minivan compared to the tiny minivans we rented in Europe.
After a quick drive-through stop at Raising Cane’s for chicken strips to share, we made good time during our return to Ankeny. Just after 8:30, we pulled into our garage to unload our bags one final time.
The chicken strips weren’t quite as good as Amanda and I remembered from our one Raising Cane’s experience in Phoenix. Nonetheless, they checked the “easy and tasty dinner snack” box for our 3-hour return to Ankeny.