I Hate the Wright Brothers (getting to Nashville)

I had it all planned out. It was a work of genius.
Our flight out of Manchester was scheduled to leave at 6:30 am on a DELTA flight. We would fly to JFK for a connecting flight, which my mother would join us for, and we would all arrive in Nashville by 10:45 am where we would scoop up our bags, pick up our rented car. Voila! We'd be at my Aunts' house for Lunch!
Ha!

We woke at 4:30 am. We left Nick's sip cup in the car.

Going through security was something like this: Declare the 8 ounces of baby formula to a security person, who notes it on my boarding pass. Declare the tiny bottle of disinfectant and some lens wipes, put them in a plastic bag. Remove NIck's Jacket. remove Nick's Sweatshirt. Remove Nick's shoes. Remove my shoes. Remove my sweatshirt. Place all items in the bin. Remove Nate from rolling carseat. Remove Nate's sweater. Place sweater in bin. Place diaper bag on rolly thingy. Place bin on rolly thingy. Fold rolling carseat while keeping Nick near me and holding Nate. Place carseat on rolly thingy. Send Nick through metal detector twice because he keeps touching the sides. Walk through detector carrying Nate. Show security that I have already declared baby formula. Put on my shoes. Put on Nick's shoes. Put Nate in bin. Put sweaters and sweatshirts in diaper bag. Remve Nate from bin and place in rolly carseat. Unfold carseat wheels. Hope that none of the disgruntled people behind us are on our flight.

We made the flight with plenty of time. A flight attendant helped me get the carseat and the baby and Nick and the diaper bag down two flights of stairs and over the runway and up the stairs into the plane. She gave me a seat extender for the carseat and two bottles of water. We pulled away fromt he gate.... and then the plane started making funny noises. Lights flashed on and off. "No problem folks!" the pilot said. "Everything is fine, we just have a discrepancy here." And I knew.

We returned to the gate. Mechanics got on the plane. A ladder set up under one of the wings and someone started messing with the insides of the plane. The flight attendant passed out cookies and water. Time passed. A woman started bringing out new flight itineraries for those of us who had missed our connecting flights. I found out that my next flight was going to be to Detroit, where I would then catch a third flight to Nashville, all with a different airline. I took both boys into the bathroom with me, which was so small that one person would need to stand to open the door... And then they told us all to get off the plane.

We all stood on line - we were last in line, of course. They gave me a THIRD itinerary - through US Airways - which would fly me from Manchester to Charlotte and then to Nashville. The first flight left at 12:40, six hours after our original flight was supposed to leave. That left me almost four hours in the airport with the boys.

Here's what happened during the four hours of waiting: We spoke to Steve, my auntes, my mother, and my father on the phone. We visited the rest room 5 times for diaper changes. Each boy got a complete change of clothing. We went to McDonalds with the meal voucher. Nate emptied my coffee down the heating vent. We visited the arcade where Nick pretended to drive a car. We went to Starbucks to get water and a yogurt and a coffee. Nick spilled the coffee all over the carpet at the gate.

Our second flight Nathan made faces at the men sitting behind us, two men in suits and a young guy in a T-shirt and a cap. Nate spat up on me twice and knocked a half made bottle of frmula all over the aisle. Wehn we landed I wanted to wait until everyone else had gotten off so I wouldn't hold anyone up. But the men behind us wouldn't move. "You can go ahead," I said. "It may take us awhile." But the men just sat there. "By all means," one guy said, motioning for us to go. The T-shirt guy said "I'm not in any hurry!" That's when I realized HE WAS IN HANDCUFFS! Duh.

The airline hadn't managed to get the stroller on the plane, so I had to stand in line - twice, since the first time I didn't know which baggage claim number when to the stroller - and file the correct paper work so they would bring it to the house. I should have left it at home - we didn't use it once.

So... that's getting there. Maybe tomorrow I'll post my adventures of getting back - also a delightful experience.