Trip - Day 1

What's this? An unattended computer attached to the Internet? Well, then let's begin...

First of all, the kids did great - I really couldn't have asked for better. They slept from before the first plane took off until it landed, woke up, got on the shuttle, had a snack, got on the other plane, and went back to sleep. That part was great!

However, the airports and the airlines were horrible! They had cancelled a few flights over the last few days, so of course, they overbooked mine. The first leg went fine, I was able to convince the person (at first I wasn't sure, but it turned out to be a woman) to switch seats with me and take the aisle. The second leg of the flight was fubar from jump street. When I went to the kiosks to check in, I only got half of the boarding passes for the second leg. I got an employee at the airline to figure it out, and he got the other two passes printed, but only three of them had seat assignments - they had put T and S in the exit row - (hello?? 6 year old in emergency exit row - not allowed), they had put me in row 4, and A didn't have a seat. I tried to fix it, and was told I'd have to address it in Philadelphia.

We get to Philadelphia, and of course, the plane is late, then it's even later because of some problem with the gate. Then we get out of the plane (we were in the second to last, and last rows of course) and hustle to the new gate (which requires a long walk, a shuttle ride, and another long walk). I get there and the lovely lady (insert heavy sarcasm here) told me that the flight was oversold and that she'd try to get A a seat. I reiterated again - that she is 5 years old!!! She's not getting bumped or flying alone!!! The woman tried to say she will have to wait and see if there is a seat available, but I think she figured out from my evil look, that this was not an option. So she puts her in row 12. Hello? SHE'S 5 YEARS OLD! SHE IS NOT SITTING AWAY FROM HER FAMILY. This "customer service" employee's response? "You'll have to work it out on the plane, I can't play musical seats".

We get on the plane, and the flight attendant tells me just to take all of row 12. (Again, the back of the plane) - ok, fine. However, she doesn't tell anyone else this, so I get the pleasure of dealing with a very angry woman at 7AM - who tells me that "it's not her problem" that I'm in her seat, that she doesn't want to hear it, and that I can just take it up with the flight attendant. She then went on to complain about how she was being treated. She eventually took the seat, but I just love how I'm supposed to deal with these passengers now!!!

Anyway, we made it, we're here, and for the most part we had a lovely day.

My sister and her children met us at the airport, then we all drove over to my parent's place for coffee (never has a sight been so welcome), and various breakfasty foods. Play time for the kids, of course, and it was wonderful to see how well they got along again, even after not having seen each other for nearly a year!

We then went strawberry picking (pictures will be added later - you'll have to check back for those after I get home), then we went our separate ways for naps. Of course, my children didn't sleep! They slept maybe 5 1/2 hours altogether, but didn't take a nap! T did, of course. I was left to take care of the kids, and continually remind them to be quiet because Daddy was napping. There's something wrong with that!

After naps, we drove over to the new house my parents were buying so that we could see it - it's beautiful, big and grand, and has a lot of potential, but I'm worried that they're getting in over their heads both financially initially, and on upkeep. From the house we take a short walk down to the beach - a private little button-hole sized beach, but the kids had a great time dipping their toes in the waves, watching the boats go by, looking for sea glass, etc. (Again, come back later for the photos!)

Well, it's now 8:30 locally, and I've slept about 3 hours in the last 36, so I'm pretty pooped. Tomorrow we're driving to Bar Harbor (it's about 4 hours away), and then the REAL vacation begins.

More updates soon!