We love to fly and it shows?????

Kids on a Plane!

Well, our flying experience last Friday was not fun at all. We get to the big ol Dothan airport and check in and I asked if Andy could help me with the car seat and getting the kids on the plane. The lady said oh no don't worry we will help you with it. O.k. so we get checked in and wait for a bit then we have to get through security and even in a small airport it is a hassle with two kids a stroller and a car seat. We also had the diaper bag so full that they had to search it separately because he couldn't see everything in it. Hm.. I was trying to pack just one carry on since I had the car seat and stroller. Apparently as we were going through security the TSA guy told Andy why don't you go get an escort pass. So he went back to the counter to ask and the lady said sure. So when I asked her earlier I didn't have the right term or something. Anyway so after we made it through security, which took a bit because I had to catch Kara from running away, get Aaron to go through, etc. Andy went through. Not in time to help us but we still got to visit longer so that was nice. Then when we were getting to load the plane, the lady (gate agent) who was going to help me smiled and me and left and never came back. So Andy held the kids so I could fold the stroller and gate check it then he loaded me up with the diaper bag, Kara and the car seat and we walked on the tarmac to the awaiting plane. When we got to the top of the stairs of the plane I had Aaron and Kara go ahead of me, I figured they couldn't get off without passing me, and lugged our stuff to our seats. They of course had Aaron sitting in a different row, they always do, so I asked a guy if he could switch so I could see Aaron during the flight. He was annoyed but moved. Then the lady and child next to me offered to switch so Aaron could be right next to me so that was really, really nice. After that we had a nice pleasant flight to Atlanta.

When we arrived in Atlanta we were again the last people off the plane, but fortunately they had a ramp up to the aircraft and I didn't have to do the steps again. I still had to hold Kara, the car seat and the diaper bag up the jet way until they got the stroller but oh well. We found some elevators so that was nice and our next plane was two gates from our arriving gate. I thought to myself that was too easy. And of course it was. After we sat down our plane was delayed 20 minutes. No biggie, there was a little house that the kids played in so that was nice. Then our plane was delayed another hour, so we went to get the kids some food. Then they changed the time to another hour (yes, we are at two hours and 20 minutes late). Then there were apparently lightening strikes because they closed the airport for another hour, but we were to stay at our gates because as soon as it was re-opened our planes would take off. Then they changed our gate so we picked up and moved. Then another delay and gate change so we had to move again. Meanwhile the later flight to San Antonio left without a hitch and our flight was still in limbo. About midnight Delta decided to give us meal vouchers, a whole seven dollars a person and only one food place was open. Now 7 bucks does not go far at the airport but Aaron and I had a nice half sandwich each. Meanwhile the people on our flight were getting to know everyone and they were playing peek-a-boo with Kara and talking with Aaron about Transformers so that was nice. Finally our plane left after 1:30am. It was supposed to leave at 8:04! It was quite a delay. We finally made it to San Antonio about 3:30am and were exhausted. I was quite upset with Delta since I had paid full price for 3 tickets and our plane left 5 1/2 hours after it was supposed to. Ugghh. The kids were really, really good the whole time so that was a blessing. Needless to say I am not looking forward to the flight back.