Mexico City, Day 1: Journey & Arrival

We're here! It was a ridiculously early morning (made even earlier by the stupid daylight savings time switch), but the girls woke up without a fuss. Lucia was in giddy high spirits in the taxi, jabbering nonsense and asking loudly if we could have corn!! in Mexico!! MEXICO!!

We got to the airport and had breakfast at McDonald's so the girls could have pancakes, and, because of general tiredness and frazzledness, we nearly missed our flight because we didn't realize what time it was. We'd gotten there in plenty of time but wound up running through the terminal in a mad dash to our gate; we were the last passengers to board. I don't know what we were thinking. I had Greta in one arm and a coffee in the other hand, which Andrew and I gulped in desperate sips before pitching. Not the most auspicious start.

However, the flight itself actually went really well, for the most part. Lucia was so excited about the journey, and Greta was in a good mood. We read books and then Lucia watched things on the iPad while Greta napped for a bit. It was strangely peaceful and calm until around the last half hour, when both girls grew restless and cranky. Then we began our descent, and it was VERY bumpy, and Lucia finally threw up several times. I caught the first two in motion-sickness bags, but couldn't find another one when she started getting sick the final time--we'd actually landed at that point, and my desperate cries--"Does anyone have a bag! A bag! I need a motion-sickness bag!" went unheeded until the exact moment she threw up, when three people tossed them over the seat. Awful. I'd gotten her Seabands, and maybe they did help for the rest of the flight, but they couldn't overcome that landing. I was fine since I'd taken Dramamine. I'm going to have to do that next time; I was scared of attempting it after reading that it can cause hyperactivity in kids. I may have to give it a trial run at home before the next trip.

We had a driver waiting for us at the airport, with carseats for the girls. Both slept on the way into the city. (Lucia slept in the stroller all the way through the immigration line.) Finally we got to our apartment, and it's gorgeous! It's modern and gigantic--easily twice as big as our Brooklyn apartment, with tons of light, a great kitchen, and a pool just outside our door and down a little flight of steps. We walked around the neighborhood for a bit after settling in, and Lucia was running down the street shouting "Let's explore!" Pretty cute. Those high spirits lasted for a while, until it took a long time to get our lunch, and we ate in too sunny a spot, and we made the stupid decision to go to the grocery store, which made neither girl happy. None of these things were our smartest move. But finally we came home and we all went swimming and had a lovely time. I think I may just need to stay here until winter is officially over in New Jersey.

Andrew has meetings tomorrow, and I plan to keep our activities low key--playing at home, going to a playground, maybe a short walk. Lucia is complaining that her ear hurts, so we might find ourselves searching out a doctor tomorrow as well. She's had a cold all week, so it wouldn't be shocking.

We feel pretty happy with ourselves, all told: maybe we're crazy, but here we are, on an international trip with our little girls. It felt so amazing to dust off my passport, which had been unused since Japan. And so the Mexico City adventure begins...