The Boys Were Good...

...the airlines - not so much. We had quite a hellish day on Tuesday, despite my prayers and positive thoughts. Thankfully, we arrived in Florida safely and only about 3 hours later than originally planned, but the trip was rough. Here's a recap of our day, if you're interested:

Phil and I woke up at 4:00 that morning, got ready, got the boys up around 4:45 and were out the door and heading to the airport right on time with everyone in a good mood and without forgetting anything. Hooray!

Our bags were both less than 50 pounds, the ticket agent had a nice big bag to put our car seat in, Phil was able to get a pass to escort us out to the gate, and the flight was on time. Hooray, again! I was beginning to feel more confident - things were going to be great!

When we arrived at the gate, Phil and I noticed that my flight was not a direct flight to Denver like we had thought. It was stopping in Salt Lake City on the way. This was a little hiccup in our plans, but that's okay! Phil said that they have these stops down to a science. The ticket agent said that the turnover time in SLC was only about 25 minutes and that we would still make it to Denver on time. This made me feel better, because our layover in Denver was only 30 minutes.

Jackson was beside himself at the airport with all of the airplanes around. He was running around yelling, "Mama, Daddoo, aypane!" over and over again. That was really the only issue we had on the first flight. He was so excited that he would scream those words while looking out the airplane window at all of the planes on the runways. The first flight went so well! Emmett slept a little bit and Jackson was entertained just by looking out the window. He did spill a large amount of Cheerios on the floor at one point, but I was able to clean most of them up when we stopped. I felt great and was so glad that I made the decision to fly with the boys. I was SuperMom! I could definitely do this!!

So we arrive in Salt Lake, pull up to the gate, let passengers off, and are able to change seats if we want to. I decide to move closer to the front so that we can get off quickly in order to make our connection in Denver. A nice lady helps me move my bags to the front so I can wrangle with the kids. And then we wait. Jackson plays in his seat nicely and I stand up and hold Emmett for a bit. I see the pilot standing up front talking to the flight attendants. After about 10 minutes of waiting, I hear him say, "Are we going to let them off?" and I know, I just know right then that my whole day is ruined from this point on. I look at him and say, "Oh, no!" He looks right at me and cackles, "Oh, no! Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" like this is the funniest thing in the world.

Turns out, Denver is not letting any planes land for a bit due to limited visibility from smoke from the California fires and a closed runway. So we're delayed for 30 minutes. "But, my connection!" I think. We're reassured that all planes are delayed coming in and out of Denver and that all connections on Southwest will be okay. Phew!! So we sit for 30 more minutes (at this point both boys are getting a little fussy) and then are told we have to wait for another 30 minutes. Okay, now I'm a little annoyed. They finally allow us to get off of the plane after 40 minutes of waiting, and I let Jackson run around the airport. I am not feeling quite as confident as I was an hour ago.

After 20 minutes of riding up and down the escalator and a small tantrum from J when I told him that was the last time, we get back on the plane and finally push back from the gate. At this point both boys were in meltdown mode (double screaming and only two hands is difficult to deal with), but luckily, as we started to taxi Jackson got drowsy and Emmett fell asleep. J also fell asleep after takeoff.

This flight went pretty well, but Jackson was a little more grumpy. I was trying to wait to pull out the big guns (the DVD player) until our last flight, but I had to do it toward the end of this one. He was not happy with me at all when we had to turn off all electronic devices in preparation for landing. Emmett was good on this flight, too, except that during his nap (he was sleeping on his side on the nursing pillow), he pooped and it leaked out of the side of his diaper and soaked the pillow and the front of my pants. Fun times. So we arrive in Denver an hour later than anticipated, hot, sweaty, cranky, and covered in poo. Nice.

I'd love to say that at this point I held it together wonderfully and was a cool, calm, and collected SuperMom. Unfortunately, that was not the case. When we get off the plane I discover that our connecting flight left on time and is long gone (apparently only incoming flights were delayed). I go up to a Southwest gate agent who, luckily, is very nice and understanding, as I am in tears at this point. She lets me know that I have two options... take the next flight to Orlando which leaves in an hour and a half, has a two-hour layover in St. Louis on the way, and arrives in Orlando at 9:45 P.M. (it's 11:00 A.M. at this point), or take the next direct flight to Orlando which leaves at 4:45 P.M.

Okay, now I'm freaking out a bit. Cue the circus music. Jackson has escaped from the stroller and is throwing his stuffed George around and running after it. I am having a mini-mental breakdown. "How could I ever think that I could do this by myself?? Why can't Phil and I ever get a break when it comes to flying with kids?? How am I ever going to be able to hang out in the airport for 6 hours with two fussy babies?? Can I please just close my eyes and be back in my cozy apartment in Boise?? Jackson, come back here right now!! Calgon, take me away!!!" We put on a nice little show for all of the passengers waiting at that gate.

Then, aaahhh, my hubby calls. My night in shining armor. My voice of reason. My personal Valium. He calms me down and tells me that my wonderful, smart, thoughtful, retired United pilot father-in-law has booked us standby on the next United flight that leaves in 45 minutes. He did this as soon as he heard we were delayed coming into Denver. What a guy! The flight is wide open and we have a great chance of getting on. It is a direct flight to Orlando. Hooray for Papa Swoop!! I pull it together a bit and truck down to the United concourse with 18 pounds of baby on my front and 20 pounds of backpack on my back. Jackson has been strapped securely into the stroller at this point. I really wish I had worn tennis shoes instead of these cute, strappy flat sandals.

We make it to the United gate on time, get on the flight, and are seated in Economy Plus with extra legroom and a whole row to ourselves. Emmett is d.o.n.e by this point and has a 20-second all-out screaming fit until I can get settled and stick him on the boob. As soon as I do, he is out, Jackson falls asleep before takeoff, and both boys sleep for over an hour. Ahhh, bliss. They are both so good for the rest of the flight - Jackson watches George and Emmett is content to just sit with me. I don't even have to get up and walk around with him. Right at the end of the flight, as we are about to land, Emmett is standing on my lap looking at Jackson. Something about Jackson's face makes Emmett giggle, which makes Jackson start laughing. They go back and forth like this - laughing at each other - for a few minutes. It is the cutest thing, and eases some of my stress.

We land safely in Orlando and the whole ordeal is worth it when we see Grandy and Popeye. Unfortunately, our day of heck is not quite over, as our bags are MIA. When I didn't rebook on Southwest I was listed as having canceled my trip, so the Southwest baggage agents aren't sure where our bags are. We wait at the airport for over an hour to see if they came in on later flights, but no such luck. I was told that they would be Fed-Exed to me whenever they arrived and that I probably wouldn't see them until Thursday at the earliest (two days from now). I was quite upset about this, but what can you do?

We got a loaner car seat from Southwest, which was a piece of junk. I got the LATCH system plugged in, but couldn't tighten the seat, and the strap to fasten Emmett in was broken. Luckily, we made it home safely thanks to Popeye's good driving, although both boys were quite unhappy on the drive and made sure we knew about it.

Things got much better once we arrived at my parents' house. The boys went right to sleep and have been sleeping pretty well. While I was giving Jackson a bath that first night, my cell phone rang and it was the Southwest baggage delivery guy calling. Apparently, my bags had arrived soon after we left, and he was going to deliver them at 4:00 that next morning. I don't know how this happened because the baggage agents told me that they didn't deliver up to where my parents live, but maybe they felt sorry for me or something. Whatever - I was totally thankful!!

Hopefully our return flights go a little more smoothly. I'm flying from Orlando to Vegas (with a 45-minute layover there) to Boise. Phil examined my return itinerary and saw that my first flight makes a stop in St. Louis on the way to Las Vegas. He called Southwest and was able to change that flight to a non-stop to Vegas (with a 2-hour layover there, which I think will be better than 45-minutes - we will have time to eat, change diapers, and run around a bit) with no extra charge.

I had planned to take a bunch of cute pictures of us on the trip, but you can probably guess that I didn't get around to that. These were the only ones I got - waiting to check in at the Boise airport, before the whole debacle...


I'm not sure that I'll be making this trip again by myself. But maybe it will be like childbirth and over time I'll forget about the pain and just remember the positive rewards. :)