Our journey from Point A to Point B this past weekend proved very eventful. I was very anxious going into the trip. Trying to imagine myself toting two small children and dragging luggage through four airports and onto three airplanes did not sound like much of a vacation.
Our adventure started Saturday afternoon as Shane took us to the airport. We arrived at the South terminal approximately 20 minutes behind schedule (because no matter how hard I try, I have yet to be anywhere on time since Josias' arrival, God help me!). We drag children and luggage inside the airport to find that my airline, Delta, has its ticketing counter in the North terminal. So, we drag the children and luggage back out to the van to drive to the other terminal to check in at the correct counter. At the north terminal, we once again drag the children and luggage inside to locate the ticketing counter. Once at the Delta ticketing counter, we find a vacant post. Not one soul is within 50 feet of the counter, with the exception of the stuffed grizzly. Wondering how this could be, I finally look at the itinerary to find that it is a Delta flight "operated by Alaska Airlines". At this point, I just wanted to shoot someone. Why not just call it an Alaska Airlines flight? Sooooo...we drag our two little popcicles and 50 pound bags back out to the van to drive, once again, to the south terminal to arrive at the Alaska Airlines kiosk approximately 1 hour before takeoff. Of course, the kiosk does not allow me to check in, wasting yet another five minutes. The folks at the desk finally get us checked in and we get in line to go through the metal detectors.
Now, I don't know how many of you have flown lately, but they now have you take off your shoes and put them on the conveyor belt. In addition, you cannot have any amount of liquid/gel over 2 ounces, and you have to send DVD players, camcorders, and cameras through the x-ray machine separately. Oh yes, and if you have a stroller, that has to be x-rayed as well. So as I'm trying to get all of this stuff onto the conveyor belt, Emily is wandering away as the security guard stands there looking at me like I'm crazy because I'm not watching her. Hello! Get off your tail and herd her back! There are five other guys standing behind you that can catch the handicapped woman behind me if she tries to run through the metal detector!
Thankfully, we made it through security without losing anyone. I think my heart stopped for a moment when I could not find the tickets which the man at the counter had told me would put an abrupt end to our trip. They had been tossed in with my shoes as I was chucking stuff into those gray x-ray bins. We made it to the gate as the stewardess was calling the last seating zone.
We soon found ourselves seated in the middle and window seat beside a middle-aged German-American man. I cannot say he would have been my first choice of travel partners; however, he proved quite helpful and very patient with our children who whined half of the five-hour flight. About an hour into the flight I smelled "something". Sweat started beading upon my forehead as I thought of all the scenarios of how I would change a dirty diaper in a restroom the size of a shoebox (after all, airline restrooms do not come equipped with changing tables). Short of sitting the toddler in the sink to cleanse her, I was at a loss. Thankfully, it turned out to be a false alarm. I told the man beside me that he should get extra flyer miles for putting up with us!
Our first layover was good. We found our gate then backtracked to get some pizza. The flight boarded on time, then we sat...for an hour. Emily slept most of the five-hour flight. She slept around 3 hours in the seat, scrunched up in various positions. I finally just had her get in the floor for the last hour and a half of the flight since she kept kicking the lady by the window. She seemed to sleep well down there. I think she moved once. The flight went very well until the very end. I now wonder if Emily was sniffing jet fuel fumes down there in the floorboard because just as we were about to step out of the seats to leave the plane she showed me her hand. Full of the last meal we had eaten. Yum! Of course, my first response is to put out my hand to catch the results of the second heave. Now we both have a handful of this chunky goodness as she starts to cry and other passengers stare at one another with puzzled looks upon their faces. How she managed not to get reconstituted pizza all over herself, I do not know! A helpful co-passenger finally handed us a plastic bag to empty our hands into, and we managed to clean up the rest with one of the complimentary blankies (yes, the little blue ones people fight for when they get on the plane) and a few wipies.
We exited the plane to find that we had missed our next flight, so we proceeded to find the counter to get a new flight to our final destination (in the process calling my parents to let them know we were not going to be walking off the airplane in a half hour). Of course, we weren't the only ones who missed their connection, so we waited in line once again. We finally got our new flight assignment to find that it left in about an hour and a half and that it departed from a different concourse from a satellite terminal. So we huffed it to an elevator to take the train to another elevator, so we could walk another half a mile to get there. We found our new gate fairly easily, so it seemed practical to get a bite to eat and let Emily run around while we waited to board. So she ran and ran, and we ate (er, well, I ate so as not to repeat the last flight's highlight moment) until it was time to start boarding the plane.
We arrived at the gate approximately 30 minutes prior to our scheduled departure. The stewardess had not yet started calling people, so we sat down to prepare to board. After about ten minutes of waiting, I wondered why they hadn't started boarding yet, so I went to the counter to see what was going on. The man behind the counter informed me that the flight had been moved to a different gate...on a different concourse...at the other end of the airport! AAAAHHH!
Prior to the trip I hadn't imagined myself dashing through the airport with a three-month old strapped to my chest while pushing a stroller with a screaming two-year old tightly strapped in the front while trying to keep the baby's head from flopping around like a ragdoll! We ran to the elevator to take the train to take another elevator to the correct concourse. Once on the concourse, we darted to the last gate a half a mile away bowling through the crowd of unsusupecting travelers while yelling "Excuse me! SORRY! Excuse me!" Huffing and puffing, we rolled into the boarding area as the stewardess was making the last "last call". Whew! We made it without losing or killing anyone!
An hour and a half (and one DVD) later, Emily ran to Mamaw smiling with arms outstretched screaming "I see her! I see her!" A sweet ending after a night full of adventure!
Dec 9-Em training for the triathalon she's planning to do with Aunt Anya
Em in her piggy tails
Dec 8-Josias and Emily
Dec 8
Dec 7
Dec 5
Dec 5-Josias at 3 months old
Dec 5-Josias at 3 months old
Dec 4
Dec 4
Dec 2- Emily and Josias ready for Christmas *<]:-) 
Josias cheesing ...
Emily cheesing... 