Goodbye Austin . . . Hello New Jersey!!

For those of you who haven't heard, Andrew's last day of work at Enterprise was Jan. 31.  He is currently looking for a new job, so we took advantage of the time off work to travel to New Jersey to visit his family.

We left our house around 2:40pm on Tuesday afternoon.  We weren't checking luggage, so we had plenty of time to get to the airport, make it through security, and comfortably get to the gate for a 4:30pm flight.  Um, except for one problem . . . IDs are required for all flights, and I didn't have mine!! 

I had a checklist for EVERYTHING I was taking on the trip.  I used it to pack most things on Monday night, and I finished going through the list, packing last-minute things, on Tuesday when I returned home from work.  My wallet (with ID) was on the list.  It was not crossed off - a move I deliberately made so I would remember that it hadn't been packed yet.  I packed the last item (except for my wallet), folded the list, and put it away . . . without packing my wallet.

We were almost to the Austin airport when I realized my mistake.  We quickly turned around, drove back to the house, grabbed my ID, and drove back to the airport (using the toll roads this time to hopefully save time).  We arrived at the airport just before 4pm . . . for a 4:30pm flight.  Andrew grabbed some of the bags and ran inside the airport, hoping to get though security and to the gate in time to tell the gate attendants that the rest of his family was on the way.

I got the kids into the double stroller, grabbed the other bags, and ran to the Delta counter to reprint my boarding pass to include Danielle on it.  I have never been so happy in my life to hear that a flight was delayed!!!!!  With a new boarding pass in hand, the kids and I made it through security and to the gate with PLENTY of time to spare for our now delayed flight! 

There were very few people waiting for the flight, so Peter enjoyed running around and getting rid of lots of energy. 

Danielle loved watching out the window, walking on her knees, and eating pears.

 

The first flight was fairly uneventful.  The plane had two seats, an aisle, and two more seats.  We were in the fifth row from the back, and we had all four seats to ourselves.  There was no one in the row in front of us, and only one person was sitting behind us.  Peter spent most of the flight watching DVDs, and Danielle enjoyed crawling and walking in the aisle. 

Once we landed in Detroit, we disembarked to go to the next flight.  We have always avoided layovers in the past, but we learned after this trip that layovers are actually a good thing when kids are involved.  It gave the kids a chance to get off the plane and run around a bit before finishing the trip.  The only thing I wasn't thinking about was the weather we would encounter in Detroit.

The plane was small, and all carry-on suitcases were actually gate-checked and placed under the airplane.  Once off the plane, everyone waited as suitcases and strollers were brought up from underneath.  This would have been fine in Texas, but it was FREEZING in Detroit.  I had my coat with me, but everyone else had a coat waiting for them in New Jersey.  The kids were wearing long sleeved shirts, but Andrew and I were in short sleeves.  We put my coat on Peter and held Danielle tight as we waited for our bags.  We could see our breath - it was absolutely frigid!! 

Once in the Detroit airport, we had dinner and let the kids roam around a bit.  Then it was back on the plane for the last part of the trip.

Peter spent a little bit of time looking out the window, but he slept for most of the flight.  Danielle slept for all but 15 minutes.  We landed in New Jersey around midnight.

We bundled the kids up in new coats and hats and headed out into the wonderful 12 degree night that greeted us.  I have never felt anything so cold in my life!!!!!