Brrr...from Miami

Aside from looking at us like we were crazy for waking him up at 5:00 am to head to the airport, Luki’s first experience aboard a plane went off without a hitch. Well, he did knock down the complementary glass of orange juice I was so kindly given after paying $50 for checking two pieces of luggage, but that’s the sort of thing I routinely did before he was born so I won’t hold it against him.  He played, laughed, and cooed throughout the entire trip and, most importantly, his diaper did not explode. Luki gets an A+ on traveling.

Ton Ton and I, however, get a C-. It’s a question of basic math: four hands divided by one stroller, two suitcases, a diaper bag, a computer case, a purse, and a camera bag, equals two people tripping all over themselves and holding up airport traffic. Next time, we are definitely going to pack lighter – the computer and camera are absolutely necessary, but perhaps Luki can ride atop one of the wheeled suitcases and we can do without the stroller.

Miami has been fun, albeit, uncharacteristically cool. Although that sucks because I was hoping to dip Luki’s toes in the ocean for the first time, the weather has been responsible for affording us more than a few giggles. Just to be clear, when I say “uncharacteristically cool” I mean yesterday the high was 65˚F and the low was 40˚F. When we left home Thursday, it was below freezing.

I kid you not; we were watching the Spanish news and, in between the usual update on Fidel and rant against Chavez, they had a special segment in which they interviewed a meteorologist and a “heating and air conditioning expert.” The meteorologist used the words “polar temperatures” to describe the cold front, and the HVAC guy gave a step by step guide on how to turn on the furnace.

Our relatives must have been watching that newscast too, because when we went inside their house it felt like we’d just walked into an oven. They had set the thermostat to 80 degrees and were wearing sweaters! When they saw that Luki wasn’t donning a snow suit and ski mask, we got an earful. “The baby is going to get sick! You have to cover his head!”

It’s been an improbable trip. Hell Miami has frozen over. Our kid didn’t poop all over us. And, oh, I think I just saw a flying pig polar bear outside our window.