Adventures in Traveling

Our day began at about 4:30 this morning as we prepared to leave for our 8:15 flight out of Indianapolis. We were out the door at 5:30 at arrived at the airport just before 7:00. Jason dropped us off and parked far away and as we were waiting for him to come check in with us I realized that our flight time had changed to 7:30. I couldn't do anything in terms of checking in because my wallet was coming with my husband. So I stood there with a baby, two excited young children, a car seat, and a pile of luggage and panicked. We didn't make it, obviously. Being the holidays and all, there were not very many alternatives...especially since there are only three flights from slc to twin falls and slc is the only portal into twin falls. Luckily, we had a very kind and hardworking Delta attendant who searched forever to get us where we needed to go. They realized that it wasn't really our fault that we missed the flight ( even though it probably was more our fault than anyone else's). While we were waiting for them to search for an alternative, the real adventures began. 1. While Jason was sitting with the kids on the bench, Jude suddenly took a fall from the bench to the tile floor. He gashed his gum and split his top frenulum and there was blood everywhere. He was screaming, which is a good sign of course after such an injury. His lip immediately started swelling. It was huge. The tsa people working baggage claim suggested calling medical and reported that the infant was vomiting blood (he wasn't, but there was a lot of blood). The firemen came and took Jude's vitals. The policeman took a report. Then the ambulance came. They wanted Jude to go to the hospital with the reason being a small injury can turn into an emergency quickly on such a small baby and being in an airplane will just exaggerate that. They explained that delta would work with us to find yet another flight. Ha ha. We didn't go to the hospital and even though I couldn't see much in Jude's bloody mouth, I figured it was a split frenulum. (I secretly wished it was Evelyn and not Jude...not because I love her less...but because her frenulum is extra tight and needs to be split. With all of her falls, I actually surprised.). Anyway, Jude fell asleep and we were actually escorted the rest of the way. 2. They took us to the Sky Lounge to freshen up and grab a quick snack before our new flight which was taking us to Minneapolis. The Sky Lounge is awesome. Their refreshments are good and their bathrooms are very European. 3. I set off the metal detector and had to be frisked. The guy knew right away what had set it off since I was wearing a huge bun on the top of my head. Hair pins. :). The ladies frisking me were amazed with the bun and we chatted for quite awhile about how to create such a full bun. 4. We made it to Minneapolis and were on standby for an immediate connection to slc. The gates couldn't have been farther apart. Jason was trying to go ahead to make sure we got seats. Max was close behind him...the Evelyn...and Jude and me trying to keep up in the rear. When we approached an escalator, Jason went down with max close behind. Jason called to Evelyn from the bottom, "wait for mommy!". Max called, "Evie, come on!" I knew what was going to happen and crud, "Evelyn, STOP!". She was nervous, but she chose to listen to Max (as usual) and fell as soon as she stepped on. I ran to her and rescued her with my one available arm. Then a pilot came up from behind us and just stared at Evelyn without saying a word and gave us a look as if to say "good thing I was here." 5. We made it to slc and again Jason ran ahead to try to get us some seats on the afternoon flight to twin falls. While he was gone, the kids and I waited in the play area with all of our bags and coats. As soon as we sat down evelyn needed to go to the bathroom. She tried to hold it while I tried to gather our things one-handed. Jason came back up just in time to take everything while Evie and I rushed to the bathroom. She didn't make it. Poo in her pants. 6. Now we are sitting here in slc hoping (most likely in vain) to get on the next flight because otherwise, we won't get to twin falls until midnight. The kids are crazy and tired. I am grumpy and tired. And that's why I'm venting on the blog! It is my hope that we see you all soon. P.S. Jude is doing fine. He traveled well, as he always does. Our kids are really good travelers. There were no emergencies and his lip swelling has already gone down a lot. He can still nurse, too, which I was really worried about.