JW and I get out of bed showered and downstairs for breakfast by 10:00am surprising I know after that late night and no kids to wake us. I guess they have us conditioned by now. We are almost done eating when my parents drop the girls and all their stuff off and head out to catch their flight home.
I have the best parents ever by the way.
We spend a little time talking and saying goodbye to friends that are flying out to all parts of the country and Canada.
We head on back to our room after an hour or so to pack up our belongings that are now scattered about like a mini tornado has hit. It seems like we have been in this room forever and even though it has been a long drama filled week I am a little sad to head back to a normal life.
While JW and I pack up all the stuff the DC watch TV they are worn out and Lillibean falls asleep with in minutes and Jitterbug is quiet and still the whole time we are packing around her the only time she makes a sound is when JW puts something on the bed that blocks her view of the TV and even then it was a half hearted whine.
Once everything is packed we head on down to the restaurant to get some lunch. We have about an hour before the car shows up to pick us up for our return trip to the airport.
Lunch uneventful and so was the car ride to the airport. I did get to see Boston off in the distance. We make it to the airport on time stop and speak to some friends that are waiting for their flight and through security with no fuss and with almost an hour to wait for our flight.
We have been told that our flight is full and I have a bad feeling so I tell JW to ask if we can get bumped to a later flight. He goes and asks and they take our names but they wind up bumping some other folks. I.Do.Not.Want.To.Get.On.This.Plane. but we do.
At first things go really well. We take off on time 5:00pm. The pilot tells us we are going to land early7:03pm. Lillibean falls asleep on the flight and Jitterbug is enjoying looking out the window at all the clouds. JW is sitting in the row with them and I am across the aisle. Everything is going so smoothly.
As we approach Atlanta I feel the plane bank and the pilot makes the annoucement "there is some really bad weather in Atlanta and we are in a holding pattern. The good new is that we should be able to land in the next 20 mins so we will still arrive early" OK well that is not so bad the DC are not restless yet and they have started talking to the little girl in front of them.
After about 15 mins of circling we feel the plane bank again and start to ascend at the same time the pilot starts talking "Well folks we stayed as long as we could but we are running low on fuel and have had to divert to Charlotte to refuel." Well that is just great. We land in Charlotte and sit at a gate for refueling. Still thinking that we will get back to Atlanta before 8:30pm I am not to worried. The DC are playing with Ciera she has a Fur Real pet and Nintendo DS that she is very happy to show the DC.
We back away from the gate and the pilot tells us that we are set for take off. We taxi out and park one more announcement "We are not cleared to take off after all folks. I know you all want to get to Atlanta me too I have a flight to catch to get home. Unfortunately the weather is still bad in Atlanta. We are 2nd in line for take off as soon as the weather clears. The good news is they aren't letting anyone land in Atlanta at this time so if you have a connecting flight you probably won't miss it."
After about 15 mins of circling we feel the plane bank again and start to ascend at the same time the pilot starts talking "Well folks we stayed as long as we could but we are running low on fuel and have had to divert to Charlotte to refuel." Well that is just great. We land in Charlotte and sit at a gate for refueling. Still thinking that we will get back to Atlanta before 8:30pm I am not to worried. The DC are playing with Ciera she has a Fur Real pet and Nintendo DS that she is very happy to show the DC.
We back away from the gate and the pilot tells us that we are set for take off. We taxi out and park one more announcement "We are not cleared to take off after all folks. I know you all want to get to Atlanta me too I have a flight to catch to get home. Unfortunately the weather is still bad in Atlanta. We are 2nd in line for take off as soon as the weather clears. The good news is they aren't letting anyone land in Atlanta at this time so if you have a connecting flight you probably won't miss it."
We sit and sit and sit. By the time the plane takes off it is after 9:00pm Jitterbug is whiny and Lillibean is full of attitude and it only goes downhill from here. The round about way we flew south and came around the backside and a VERY rough landing and we are on the ground in Atlanta at a little after 10:00pm. I would like to point out that we have now been on the plane for a little over 5 hours and the DC's are now CRANKY so am I for that matter.
As we exit JW stops to collect Jitterbugs car seat. The DC and I continue up the ramp and wait for him at the top for 20 mins he finally appears without the car seat. They have lost it. The people at the gate tell us to go to customer service. We get lucky and one of those golf cart shuttles is right there and we hitch a ride to customer service. JW gets in line and I stand off to one side with the DC and our luggage after about 10 mins we switch and after another 10 I finally arrive at the counter only to be told that we have to go to baggage claim. By this time I am furious and along with everyone else tired, hungry, and thirsty.
We get to baggage claim. I can see the car seat so I wait my turn and tell the lady that its mine and I need to get it and she asks for a claim ticket. We don't have one we didn't check it they took it at the gate. She then says to me"can you prove its yours" so I respond with "No I cant but if your aren't going to let me have it then I need to report mine missing." All I have is a boarding pass so I hand it to her she rips a tag off the back and hands me the seat. I tell her thank you and walk out with the car seat.
We get to baggage claim. I can see the car seat so I wait my turn and tell the lady that its mine and I need to get it and she asks for a claim ticket. We don't have one we didn't check it they took it at the gate. She then says to me"can you prove its yours" so I respond with "No I cant but if your aren't going to let me have it then I need to report mine missing." All I have is a boarding pass so I hand it to her she rips a tag off the back and hands me the seat. I tell her thank you and walk out with the car seat.
Jitterbug announces that she needs to potty and Lillibean chimes in with a me too. So we are in search of a bathroom the first one we find is closed for the night so we have to walk all the way back down to the other end of the airport. Which turns out to be a good thing cause that's where the shuttle service to the car is located.
By the way its after 11:00pm and we still have to get to the car.
JW takes the girls to the bathroom and I stay with the bags. We finally leave the airport and get on the shuttle that takes us to our car. We get dropped off at our car with a minimum of fuss. We decide to go ahead and get the DC's in their PJ's. Once they are dressed and settled in the car. We cant find the car keys. we have to unload the back of the car twice before we find them. Then once we are all in the car JW discovers that he doesn't know where the parking ticket is. We search for it for about 10 mins before deciding that we will just pay the lost ticket rate. When we get to the gate the and tell the lady working that we have lost our ticket she just laughs and says "happens all the time, what day and time did you come in?"
She just makes us another ticket we pay and are on our way.
We think we are going to make a quick pass through McDonald's. We.Were.Wrong. they are so busy that they cant keep up so after sitting for 10 mins with out even placing an order we drive off. Lillibean is asleep and Jitterbug is trying not to fall asleep. By now it is 12:23am I know this because I made a point of looking at the clock.
Its after one by the time we make it home and after carrying in the girls and putting them to bed we discover that the dog has had a panic attack during the storm he has pushed the tray out of his crate, dug at the carpet ripping it up and cut his mouth. He hasn't been in his crate since and I have to say he is doing very well with it.
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