sv evi

was long and crazy, as to be expected when you begin it with a red-eye with 3 kids under 5 years old.

We said goodbye to our dear friends Joy, Lucas, Shel, & Mo at Mo’s house after a dinner of takeout Thai food, and left for the airport.

Goofballs Shel & Tomu

We planned on getting to SeaTac airport 3 hours early so I wouldn’t be stressed. I was sure our flight was at 11:30 pm. We had to take 2 cars to the airport because we had 6 big suitcases, 2 big duffels, 2 roller bags, 2 backpacks, 2 toddlers, and a baby in a carrier. So all that didn’t fit into our minivan. My mom and Weston helped us out by taking us to the airport.

We lucked out at check-in because the agent didn’t charge us extra for our 5 overweight bags. When we arrived at the gate, we saw people boarding, and we were surprised. Turns out the plane was at 10:30 and not 11:30, so we were the very last people on the plane. The agent said that we would have to check our roller bags all the way to Guayaquil, Ecuador. But we had a 12 hour layover in Miami, and needed diapers, swimsuits, etc. out of our roller bags. I said, but we need our stuff. She said, sorry, there’s no room. So I laid Luz down on the floor of the airport, opened a roller bag and began piling out stuff that we needed on the floor. I asked her, do you have any plastic bags we can use? Nope. Pretty ridiculous. Then she relented and said we could bring them on the plane, and there was room in the overhead compartment right above our seats. Whew.

Luz slept on Riki the whole way, and I managed to move Jade to the floor once she was asleep, so Tomu had room to sleep on two seats. Of course, all 3 kids were asleep when we got to Miami. Tomu and Jade refused to walk b/c they were so sleepy so Riki had Luz on his front, a backpack on his back, and was pulling 2 roller bags, one with a backpack on it. I had Jade on my back in a carrier and was carrying Tomu in my arms.

We rented a hotel room for day-use, and Riki took the kids to the pool while I slept with Luz. Thank you Riki!

Our second leg we got to fly first-class, a new experience for me! (Riki worked some serious magic through long hours on the phone with Alaska & American agents to get our tickets using miles). Our seats converted all the way into beds, such luxury. Of course Luz wouldn’t sleep the whole time, so Riki and I didn’t sleep either.

Once we landed in Guayaquil we breezed through customs and immigration, and were happy to see someone holding a sign with my name on it. Pedro told us they had a problem with the Courtyard Marriott shuttle, so we had to split up and go in two regular cars. This felt pretty dodgy at 11:30 pm after a long journey…Riki went in one car and the kids and I in the other. Luckily we arrived just fine at the hotel and fell into our beds. I bought the kids a $7 pack of skittles in the hotel lobby; they asked and I figured they deserved it.

Around 4 in the morning I realized we had forgotten Luz’ carseat in the airport. So Riki went on a mission to retrieve it while I took the 3 kids to the hotel breakfast buffet. Our personal 15 passenger Mercedes Sprinter van arrived to take us into the mountains to Cuenca. 

It was a smooth 3+ hour ride and we were so happy to arrive at our AirBnB with all of our bags and people intact.