We Made It

It was an early morning yesterday-4:30AM-when my husbands alarm went off. The four hours of sleep that I got between 12:30 and then were going to have to be enough for that day. It was a beautiful day to drive the 3-1/2 hours into Anchorage and catch our flight to Seattle. Natalie was all excited about flying on a big plane, but anytime adults started discussing her or "when to get there" she became unusually quiet and tucked her little head to the side. She knew something was going on. As special as she felt being the only one of her siblings to go with her parents on a big plane, she knew that it was unusual and kept asking where Heidi, Jessie and Craig were.

We had a variety of pre-op phone calls that we took on the road. It's a little tricky to get the communication that is needed from the hospital when we are traveling the day before.

Natalie and I sat by an older gentleman on the airplane. He was very kind and asked if she could hold his hand when we took off because he got scared during take-off and landing. I thought he was just being accommodating until after we got in the air and he relayed that he really does have a fear of flying. Natalie was so sweet with him and held his hand and he watched her cartoons with her.

We were greeted by sun and the infamous Mrs. Greene at the airport. What a treat to have a personal chauffeur. We skipped staying at Ronald McDonald House this time since we are only here for an outpatient procedure and will be here for two nights. The Greene's are out hosts with the mosts!

Seattle is so different than any place that I've lived. The neighborhood community aspect is neat. We went for a two block walk to the store...yes, Walgreens is really just around the corner. Natalie had a blast taking everything in. Compared to Alaska, it feels like we're walking through a botanical gardens here in Seattle. We stopped to smell the roses, looked through the quaint little shop windows, slid down a huge slide, watched a man playing violin on the sidewalk and took in the differences in the masses of people. Natalie loved it. She didn't want to go home when it was time, though she would time from time to time and have to be carried. "I tireed. I want you to hold me," she'd say. (We're hoping to fix that while we are here.)