"SMACK the butt!"

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. My poor mom was battling a sickness back at the end of February which she originally thought was just the flu which actually turned into a 3-week hospital stay, multiple doctors and tests, and 2 surgeries. The good news is that things now seem to be moving forward and despite some post-surgical complications, she is now heading home (again) from the hospital to recover for good.

I was fortunate enough to be able to fly to Michigan with Olivia to be with her during her recovery and help take care of her. It was such a blessing to be able to go home. God really worked some magic the way everything worked out with airfare and getting to spend an entire week with my mom and youngest sister who I hardly ever get to see.

Of course, travel with a 2-year old does not come without stories :) This was the first time EVER that we have been lucky enough to get a non-stop flight to Michigan and it was heavenly. I never realized what a quick trip it is via plane from Kansas City to Michigan since we have always dealt with layovers and connecting flights. Olivia was a champ on both legs of the trip. It's always hard to keep a little one busy for the duration of a flight and to explain that when the seatbelt sign is "on" it means we HAVE to stay in our seats. I think she now likens the pilot of the plane to being right up there with God in terms of his authority since I must have told her 200 times that it's not Mommy that wants her to sit, it's the "man flying the plane." Whatever, it worked!

On the trip back to KC, we were sitting in the very back of the plane so naturally, we were the very last passengers to get off at the end of the flight. We were walking single-file style down the aisle of the plane with Olivia in front of me when the gentleman in front of us stopped to retrieve one of his bags in an overhead compartment. As he bent down to adjust his bag and pull up the handle so he could roll it the rest of the way, his rear-end was right in Olivia's face. This must have seemed intentional to her because with no warning she took her chubby little hand and swung it back and hit him RIGHT ON THE BUTT. Hard. As she did this she said "SMACK the butt" gleefully and smiled from ear to ear. This was one of those mommy moments where I'm so mortified yet at the same time I want to double over in laughter because I canNOT believe what just occurred. The man seemed neither irritated or amused, he simply turned around (still bent over) and looked at us with a stoic expression and then continued walking. It seemed trite to say "I'm so sorry" but I think that's what came out of my mouth before we parted ways, hopefully to never see each other again.