Our day in Philly

If you thought perhaps we spent our "free" day in Philly hunting down cheesesteaks or ambling around the zoo, you thought wrong!

This should tell you a lot: After a full day of travel, starting at 5:30 am MST and ending at 12 am EST, drinking water is high (like top) of the priority list, right? Right.  We woke at 7:30 am and it took us until 12:30 pm today for G to escape the room for 10 minutes just to make it downstairs to buy water! Second highest priority after a full day of travel: showers.  It took us until 1:30 til either of us could get in the shower! 

How, you may wonder, can it be so hectic to be in a hotel room with 2 little kids? You don't have to cook.  You don't have to clean up.  

We were wiping chinny chin chins.  We were giving baths. Nursing people down for naps. Cutting food and feeding and getting drinks. And holding people on the potette on the potty. Playing kitchen with room service lids and hotel furniture and the paper coffee cups.  Feeding snacks. Unpacking & repacking suitcases. Replenishing our carry on bags with used supplies.  Ordering extra towels. Ordering breakfast from room service. Trying to find needed items in our 4 bags. Setting up and breaking down a crib. Child-proofing a non-child-prodded room. "Give me that. Don't touch that. Let's move that." It was crazy and busy.

We got in the room around midnight and left the next day at 3 pm for our 6 pm flight.

Takeaways for traveling moms:

Staying at the on-site Marriott was a huge help. Since they are used to people traveling like this, all of our requests were met quickly and thoroughly. For example, when the bell hop came to get our bags and we asked how to get back the the airport, he said, "I'll take you there." And he personally drove us over. The fact that it was on site meant not loading and unloading all our bags in a shuttle, meant a faster transfer. If I stay at an airport hotel in the future with my kids, I will not hesisate to pay extra for staying at the airport hotel that is actually connected to the airport like the Philly Marriott or DFW Hyatt. When you're traveling, it's just not worth any extra hassles or stressors. You have enough on your plate. Make it easy on you!