It is a snowy-Sunday morning as I am writing this. The kids are parked in front of the Disney Channel... and I am hoping to get some pictures posted of December happenings. But, this story about our holiday travels is a good one!
Right before Christmas, Jason's grandfather passed away. He was in his mid-90's. Lived a long, good life. And, he will be missed.
At first, just Jason and Carson were going to attend the funeral. With it being just days before J.D.'s birthday and Christmas (and the price of airfare), we decided only Jason could/should go. Then, plans changed and I was hunting for more airline tickets at the last minute. So, here are the details...
Jason- flew ouf of the Springs, the last ticket out... with Carson as a lap child. His connection was cancelled in Chicago. They booked him on the next flight out in First Class.
The next day, Carrie/J.D./ Natalie flew out of Denver. (we left the house at 3am!) We arrived in Salt Lake City for our connection... a 45 minute layover turned into a 5.5 hour layover due to mechanical problems. The whole airport had travelers in it that were stranded. And, yet, I will never cease to be amazed at how God provides... I literally ran into a member of our old youth group (Annapolis) in the airport. She was scheduled to fly on the same flight to Baltimore- as she was headed home for Christmas. So, I had HELP for those 5.5 hours! Thank you, Lord. When we got on the plane, we weren't all seated together (due to the last minute booking). So, I needed to ask the man in the row with the Children to switch with me. He said NO. Then, Natalie bit, kicked and hit J.D. The man switched places! And, if you believe in God having a sense of humor... the man in the row with the man that said NO... well, he was Morman and proceeded to take the whole flight to try to convert the man that said NO to me. HA!
We arrived in Baltimore at 11:30pm... thankful for The Millers helping me navigate the 2 baggage claims that the bags came in on... they hubbed the kids while I navigated between the 2 carousels where the luggage was coming out of, don't know what I would have done without the help... got the rental car... drove to Drew's... Jessi had a botttle of wine open and ready... she really is a wonderful sister in law! The kids were overjoyed to see Kayla. We played, chatted and then slept! Drew made a wonderful breakfast, Kayla painted Natalie's nails, the kids loved being together and I needed a dose of Drew and Jessi! Again, thank you Lord for this quick visit with them.
We piled in the car at 10am... drove to Carlisle... visited with John and Jill for about an hour... then went to the church for the funeral. My kids wouldn't sit still... so we went to the nursery. I missed the funeral! At the reception, J.D. got his finger slammed in a very large, heavy, wooden church door. He was inconsolable. So, I think both Jason and I missed the reception for the most part. Then, it was time for kids to go to sleep- we went to the hotel... and that was that.
The next morning... dropped Jason and Carson at the Harrisburg airport. Drove the rest of us to Annapolis for another quick visit with Kayla and Drew and Jessi. Went to airport, dropped off car, schleped all our stuff from rental car to baggage/check-in; got to the gate- DELAYED! Sat on the plane for 1.5 hours... because they didn't have enough ground crew to load our bags on the plane. Landed in Atlanta at the exact same time our connecting flight was taking off. Missed it. Got in line at customer service (more than 100 in front of us) leading to one agent. I called the Delta Hotline... they said go to front of airport, find an agent, get hotel voucher, we are booked in First Class on the first flight out in the morning. (Nothing like flying First Class in yesterdays clothes, with no make-up or hair stuff... hmmm).
Got to front of airport... another 100+ people in line. Kids LOSING it... Natalie scratched J.D. Some grandpa saw us... grabbed us... took us to the front of the line... told the people behind us to 'deal with it, she's got kids'. Thank you , Lord for that angel! Got our hotel voucher, had to go find the shuttle to the hotel... with about 300+ people waiting, yikes! Got to the hotel, slept for 5 hours, back to the airport... flew first class on J.D.'s birthday- he loved it! Got home, got pizza for J.D.'s birthay, and got busy getting ready for Christmas.
It was crazy. Essentially, I feel like we flew to the East Coast just to fly back! And, yet, it was good to see family even just briefly.
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2 comments:
Wow! Maia and I were just saying how little help we get when flying with kids but praise God you had so many people willing to make others "deal, she's got kids!" That's awesome! I'm curious who you ran into in SLC? We've got to get together. And also, Maia is coming out to visit end of May/early June. If you are free, it would be wonderful to get us girls and our kiddos together. They can wreak havoc on some unsuspecting playground while we go down memory lane. ;-) Oh, but I'm not saying I want to wait until May to see you! We're always free on Wed and Thur afternoons. - Andrea
Possibly the most ridiculous travel story ever. I don't know how you did it...I think I would have lost it before the kids did.
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