So my trip was great...let me re-phrase that...my VISIT was great, my trip was from hell. Left my house at 5:15 am on Thursday to easily make my 6:55am flight (#1) to Chicago. Landed in Chicago, traveled to the other side of the terminal and sat to eat my bagel that I had brought with me (mistake #27) instead of the McDonalds Egg McMuffin that I really wanted. So as we were preparing to board the plane (small regional jet with 1 seat on one side, 2 on the other), it began to rain. Hard. Very Hard. But the show must go on, so I exited the terminal to run across the tarmac to wait at the bottom of the stairs to climb into the plane. Now I am soaked. We taxi out to the runway and we are preparing to take off when the pilot informs us that there are storms to the North and we have to park and wait it out. Can you see where this is going yet? So luckily I had brought my Kindle with me and I was reading a book that was fluffy yet kept my interest. Time passed slowly but as I only had myself to entertain, I was ok. I stretched out on the seat to wait out the storm. Until 11:27 am when the pilot comes on and informs us that unless we take off in the next 13 minutes, our flight is going to be cancelled according to the new law that was passed that says that any flight that sits with the doors closed for more than 2 hours is to be cancelled (when I just googled that law to put the link above it says 3 hours, so I'm not sure, but that even makes me a little more angry about the rest of this story). So I'm biting my nails until 11:40 when the pilot comes on and says "good news - we're 2nd for takeoff"! Yippy!! 5 minutes later....the pilot comes back on and says that even though we are 2nd in line for takeoff, the company (United in this case) has cancelled the flight and we are returning to the terminal. OMG, this SUCKS!
Back to the terminal we go and because I am sitting in the back of the plane, I am one of the last to depart and run for the customer service counter because there is a 3:40pm flight and there are 16 available seats for the 23 of us that were just screwed. Well apparently I don't rank very high with United because after I stand in line and think I may have just beat a few of those slow people to one of those 16 seats, they inform me that the 3:40 pm is full and they have booked my on the 9:43am for the next day. Great. It's 12:30pm by now and I am starving (remember my bagel, curses!) but I see if they can get me to Minneapolis because there is a shuttle to Eau Claire that I can see about taking but just get me somewhere closer to where I need to be. So, they got me on a 1 pm flight ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TERMINAL! Augh, let me just say that I am not a runner and my shins did not do well in the flipflops I had worn to easily get through security. But, I made it and actually had 3 spare minutes to buy a caprese sandwich that was really quite good (or it was cardboard and I was just so hungry that I didn't care)!
Jennifer and Garrett were super troopers and came to get me in Minneapolis (for which I felt horribly guilty), but she says they did great on the trip and it was nice to see them after planes, trains and automobiles! We were planning on making a trip to the twin cities area to go to the closest Babies R Us to her on Friday, so we just switched our days and ran errands on Thursday instead. Garrett was a very good baby during the whole trip, so that part ended on a good note. Friday we had a couple doctors appointments and some time to kill in between, so we took Garrett to lunch and the mall to kill time - again he was a total trooper! Jennifer has not sat down and relaxed since the day she came home from the hospital and has been going, going, going. Breastfeeding was hard to manage with all the comings and goings and upon the advice of the lactation specialists, we calmed down and just enjoyed spending time with each other, Garrett and the breast pump (well, Jennifer did). We had good quality time trying to establish some sort of routine on Saturday and it was fun to see if I remembered any of my old "mommy tricks" from when Gavin was little. Jennifer and Garrett are very sweet together and he definitely likes the quiet time with his Mommy! We're hoping to see them in September for Gavin's birthday (if all the planets aline) and it will be exciting to see how much he has changed. I'm so glad I got to see him when he was such a little sprout, though, as I know he will be a different little baby the next time I see him. One thing I will say is that for my next C-section, I want to have the one that Jennifer had because I was basically immobile for 3 weeks from mine and she was living large just a day or two after hers! Impressed!
And although my flight home was much better, we still sat on the runway for 30 minutes once we landed in St. Louis while we waited for the ONE United gate to free up so we could get off the plane. Ugh.
It has been hotter than hot here and Gavin has enjoyed more days of running through the sprinkler (a new one thanks to Miss Ella) and we have even enjoyed our neighbors' pool. Gavin has this awesome new life jacket that totally keeps him upright and in a good position for swimming so it's actually fun to go in the deep water and just let him motor around! He even jumped off the diving board!
Still a spitfire he alternates between angel and devil pretty regularly but still a hoot to be around and watch him think. Here are a few of his recent ponderings:
"Daddy, can you come and see what I hear?"
"Where's the moon mommy?" "He must still be sleeping Gavin" "Where's the moon's bed?" Apparently I was quick on my feet that day because I told him the moon's bed was in the clouds and he didn't question me on it! One point for me!
He's really into knowing where we are and where we are going. He has learned all the roads around our house and asks if we are on any of them whenever we are out. One of his favorites is 141 and he'll see a highway and say "Is that 141?". He know his grandparents live off Clarkson and he knows that Big Bend, New Ballwin and Manchester are roads that we travel frequently so often he is right when he asks if we are on one of those.
The picture above is Gavin and Riley drinking out of sprinkler, the picture below is Miss Ella sweltering while watching Gavin cool off
Is there anything sweeter than a newborn sleeping baby?
Checking out the scenery in his ride.
Mommy and son
Playing with the rain forest friends
He was actually sleeping with Jennifer on this one, but I chose to concentrate on Garrett only (you're welcome Jennifer)!
On the day of my departure (in the middle of a feeding, but we finally had time and a body to take a picture of the 3 of us)
Ok, so I had to post this picture because I couldn't help but remember the Blue Collar Comedy Tour where Ron White talks about his flight in Arizona where he takes off from the "Airport/hair salon/tire & battery center" for his 12 minute flight! If you haven't seen the movie, you need to rent it immediately - laugh until you pee funny! Anyway, this is the Eau Claire airport...all of it...I didn't even need a wide angle lens. The far left is the check in and one check-in kiosk computer, which they made me use, despite the fact that 3 gate agents were standing behind the counter. Then they checked my ID - to cross me off the list of all passengers scheduled to fly that day. In the middle is the security "area" (all passengers have to go through at once as heavy steel gates block it until everybody arrives) and then behind the glass on the right is the gate. I took the picture from the terminal lobby and waiting area. It's brand new and nice, but sure is a one horse airport!
Happy 2 week birthday Garrett! I had fun spending time with you!
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