Friday about noon we all headed to the airport for our fun adventures in Idaho. Colin helped us with our luggage and they gave him a pass to go to the gate with us. It was great! I was certainly nervous. Our flight to Las Vegas was uneventfull and the kids LOVED it. We landed and were all set to eat some dinner at Pizza Hut then head on over to the kids play area. We couldn't find Pizza Hut on the map so we ate Burger King. I knew it was expensive to eat at the airport but they wanted almost $10 for a chicken sandwich combo. That's how it is though.
After we ate we headed for the play area. We were headed in that direction when I realized we would have to pass security. An airport worker tole me that it would take about 45min just to walk there without kids. We only had two hours. The kids were very dissapointed. We found some moving walkways and Jack was in heaven. I am sure that there were many people who thought I was irreponsible letting my kids run around on them.
Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:30pm. I checked the monitors and it said it was delyed until 10pm. Ahhhh! We already had a 3 hour layover now it was going to be five and a half hours. I was frustrated and the kids were getting tired. Jack desperately wanted to play the slot machines. Imagine how that was going. I toyed with the idea of staying the night but really didn't want to fork out the money so we put a movie on and I got Cole to sleep in the stroller. Well 10pm came and they moved it back to 10:20pm. Thankfully Mia made a friend and she had older brothers so they were entertained. Take off time came and went and finally we took off about 10:45. The kids fell asleep right away with the exception of Cole. He needed a lot of covincing.
At some point late into the flight there was an announcement made about the Spokane airport being closed for construction and all the runways were closed. WHAT??!!! They diverted us to Portland and we landed about 1:30am. Don't forget the time difference. It was actually 4:30am for us. The kids were great. The airline gave us a food allowance and we had to be back by 4am to take off at 4:30. The line was very, very,very long and there were maybe 2 people working. It took about 3 hours to get something to eat. I had many other passengers give me help, watch my kids and more offer their assistance. I was taken care of the whole way by wonderful people.
We got on the plane a little after 4am and got into Spokane at 6am. It was so crazy and it often felt like a dream because I was so tired. I napped 3 times yesterday. I can't believe we survived adn I can't tell you how many times I wished we would have gotten that hotel in Las Vegas. Oh well. We are here now and having fun. The kids are loving being in the country with their cousins and Grandma. Grandpa will be home in about a week. They really love the 4 wheeler! We miss you Colin!
8 comments:
lori, i am so sorry i was not available when you called. i would have loved to have talked to the kids, and abby would have, too. isn't it great how many good, kind people there are around? debby
It was unbearable just reading about that story. It's a good thing you do that stuff (have kids and travel) when you're young. So glad you made it all safe and well.
Can't wait to see you all next week
David
Lori! What a disaster! I feel your pain. My trip back from Kenya took 36 hours, with a 10-hour delay in London AND getting diverted to a different airport in DC, AND they lost my bags and didn't get them back to me for two days, AND some of the stuff in my baggage was broken.
But I confess, on more than one occasion while I was killing time in London, all I could think was, "at least I don't have any kids, because otherwise this would be impossible." I don't know how you do it.
Can't wait to see you guys!
Yikes Lori!!! That sounds horrible. I'm sorry!! I don't know if I will ever be able to go on an airplane with my 3 kids by myself. Maybe when they're in their teens.
Ain't no way, girl. Props to you, you continue to be a heroine to me. YAY FOR MAKING FRIENDS and finding the moving sidewalks though, oh... for small miracles!
You are AMAZING!!! We have only flown with the kids twice and I had Shawn with me both times and still wanted to pull my hair out. I'm so happy that goodness found you.
She didn't mention in Portland after she got the food, she had to go back through security, which she didn't know about. She only had the boarding passes-she forgot her ID. So of course they won't let her through security. Mothers with 3 kids under the age of 5 is the latest terrorist scheme I guess. Luckily someone went and got her bag with her ID for her.
What a nightmare! I have vowed to never fly with my kids by myself, and that was when I only had 2! You are awesome to have made it in one piece!
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