We finally made it. We weren't sure we were going to be able to make it home for Christmas because Trav is an important doctor wanna be. Fortunately the doc he is rotating with is pro-student and gave him the week of Christmas off. We booked the golden tickets (literally they probably cost as much as gold) and anxiously awaited till Friday the 19Th! Finally it came; we packed about everything we owned (it felt like it as we were walking through the airport) and were off to KCI airport. Then the following things went wrong:
1) I totally forgot that Avery is a person and not a doll and that she needed proper documentation. When the ticket agent asked for her birth certificate; my heart jumped. I sure didn't have it. The lady looked at me really funny. Did she think I was smuggling bombs on my baby? Luckily we had her shot documents in her diaper bag and that was good enough for a spot on the plane.
2) After a very enjoyable flight to Denver (Avery was an angel and didn't make a peep), we got there expecting to catch our connecting flight right away; but to our dismay it was delayed an hour and a half. That didn't really surprise me because if anyone is familiar with Denver airport, this usually happens and an hour in a half wasn't too bad. We found a nice perch and rested for awhile.
3) While we were patiently waiting we found out our flight was delayed another 2 hours! I was red hot! And apparently Avery was red hot too because she started flipping out. We paced those escalator things all through the airport with a crying baby.
4) We heard an announcement that the Salt Lake flight would be boarding a little bit earlier than expected... this is good news, but the bad news was that they played with our hearts. It took about an hour for them to even start boarding the plane. At this point Travis was getting red hot. I was still red hot and Avery was livid.
5) We were finally on the plane (again this is good news). Everyone was seated and we were just waiting to go. Hello... why aren't we going yet? Oh its because the airline all of a sudden got a conscience and wanted to wait and see if other people were still coming who weren't on the flight. You snooze you loose! Everyone knows you don't wander from the gate too far in the airport. I think I lost my Christmas spirit (see blog entry below) at this point. Finally two tiny Chinese woman were loaded onto the plane and we started moving. We made it all the way to the runway then...
6) We turned around and were back at the gate. The captain came on the speaker and announced that Salt Lake decided to close down all but one run way and they didn't have room for us. %$*!@##% those Chinese ladies we would have been in the air and Salt Lake would have had to accept us! I thought I was going to explode. So we were stuck on the plane for another hour. Then...
7) This ten year old kid who was flying by himself got sick. He is a diabetic and his glucose was through the roof. I felt bad for him. I also felt bad for us too because we had to wait another half hour for the paramedics to come and get him. I hope he is OK! We were finally cleared for take off and we actually got up in the air. Oh I'm not done; then...
8) We were getting so close to Salt Lake. Avery was pretty good for most of the flight, but was getting fussy. She had about 20 more minutes in her until total melt down; which was fine because we were going to be there soon. Oh but wait... Salt Lake decided to shut down all but one runway again; so we had to circle around the airport for another half hour. Poor little Avery had had enough and was screaming. It was rough, but its even rougher when the lady in front of you keeps looking back. I almost punched her. We were trying our best woman!
We finally made it to the airport and with a very mad baby we found all our bags, caught our ride and headed home to Park City. Our 6 hour trip ended up taking 12 hours. After hearing how bad it had snowed in the northwest and about the major delays, I realized our adventure could have been way worse. So I decided that maybe I should be grateful that we made it home for Christmas. Then I decided that I was worthy to have the Christmas spirit back in my life... and it is! We are so happy we could make it home for a short visit. Merry Christmas!
Avery's first flight
16 comments:
Oh my heck, a similar thing happened to us when Cannon was 4 months old and we were coming home from NY. What a mess! Flying with a baby is miserable! Well I am glad that you made it home safe! Let me know if you are here long enough, i would love to see the precious little angel!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Wow! Sounds like an adventure. I'm glad you guys made it. Merry Christmas!
Whoa Nelly! That sounds horrible -- I'm glad the Scrooge left in you...because that wouldn't be fun! Merry Christmas!
Cute pic! Wow... what a fantastic "first flight" experience as a family :) You know the worse part about that entire story?? That witchy woman who kept looking back at you! That is terrible. It's not like it was a quick 1 hour flight! What a scrooge!
Merry Christmas to you though! Has Avery done well w/out her "baby whisperer"???
What a nightmare!! I am great at road trips, but I hate flying so I am sure I would have lost it!!! Sounds like Avery did a really great job flying though, I am sorry you guys had to go through all that! Merry Christmas!
Well, I am so glad you made it here! Don't forget HSM3 is calling our names.
I think we all have a "screaming baby on delayed flight" story!! Don't feel bad:) So glad you made it home safely after all the craziness with airports and planes this week. It is always worth it once you are surrounded by your family. Hope you had a good holiday...(I just added you to my blog, not sure what happened but all should be good now)
Bless you...
So good to see you on Saturday. Thanks for letting me hold Avery for so long. I wish I could've taken the "night shift" like you said. I would've loved it.
Wow, what an ordeal. Glad you made it home for Christmas. Avery is so little and cute. I bet your family was glad to see her!
Glad I got to see you the other night! Avery is beautiful and looks just like you. Screw those Chinese ladies! I blame the entire thing on them.
Wowsers! You guys always have trouble in Denver! Sounds like tons of fun :) Glad to hear you and the fam are well! We all need to get together soon and catch up! Miss you lots!
Yikes. You just made me feel so grateful for the quiet Christmas we had in our home. I hope you had a great time in UT and that the long, drawn out trip was worth it. Good luck on the way back!
Congrats Milli & Travis! She is a little cutie. We hope the birth went well and all is healthy with Avery & family. Hope you had a wonderful first family Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Kallista and I left Salt Lake on that same day (Dec. 19). Fortunately, our plane was only 2 1/2 hours late taking off. After a long delay, we finally boarded. After boarding, it took an hour to before we moved because they couldn't start the engine!
We thought we had it bad until we read your blog. We had it easy in comparison to you guys. The only bad thing is I missed out on 2000 bonus frequent flier miles because the rental car company was closed by the time we arrived to our destination.
We are looking forward to meeting Avery at some point. Happy New Year!
Holy shiz I didn't know you had such a rough time! And it sucks even more with a baby.
It was so great seeing you! But I'm ticked I didn't get to meet avery. Please come home again soon so I can meet the lil cutie!
Holy crap! I was mad when we had to wait like 20 minutes and it was just myself there. I loved seeing you guys. Avery is darling. She's got your beautiful skin. I wish I could have seen you way more. That was definitely not enough. love ya
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