A Day at the Airport

So here is the story I promised yesterday. It's going to be kind of long, but hopefully worth the read....And just for the record, YES, I am crazy.

Since Chris was flying through San Francisco to get up to Crescent City, my mother-in-law (who works for SkyWest/United Express Airlines and is the manager of the Crescent City station) got me and the boys buddy passes to fly down to San Francisco and surprise Chris at the airport. I figured if I can handle 3000 miles in the car with these two knuckleheads, I can handle an hour on a plane, right? Sure....

Actually, the plane ride itself wasn't too bad. Except for the last 15 minutes of the flight when Aiden decided to take off his seat belt and throw a fit about putting it back on. He literally sat on the floor during landing since I couldn't put Jack down to force him back into the seat. Oh well, we survived. We got to the airport around 12:45, Chris was due in about 3:20. So I figured we'd get something to eat, and wander around for a bit before going to meet his plane. Since he was flying United into SFO, we were in the same terminal, and didn't have to worry about security or anything, we could be standing right there when he got off the plane. I thought it would be a great surprise. So I check at the gate where his plane is supposed to land only to find out that it's been delayed and is landing at another gate. Okay, so I go down to that gate a little while later to check on the progress of the flight only to have them tell me that it's been delayed even more - not landing until 4:38 - and it's at yet another gate. Now, San Francisco airport is very nice. It's very cosmopolitan, has lots of specialty shops and eateries, and even a spa to get a massage and a pedicure and stuff. Not that I got to do any of those things. I spent 4 hours wandering around the terminal with a bored 2 year old and a baby. We played on the playground for a while, then we spent about an hour and half riding the moving walkways back and forth, we had snack after snack after snack, we watched the planes land out the window, and we were reaching the end of Aiden's patience about the time Chris is supposed to land. We are waiting at the gate (the gate agent knows my story and is letting me know if things change again). I'm talking to Angela (Chris' mom) and she tells me that she just had the following conversation with Chris before he left Denver, keep in mind he doesn't know I'm in SFO waiting for him:

Chris: Hey Mom, I changed my flight. I'm going into Sacramento instead.

Angela: What? Why? Why would you do that?

Chris: Well, the weather's crappy in SFO and I decided to go to Sac instead and I'll take the evening flight from there up to Crescent City.

Angela: Uh, well, actually, we don't have an evening flight from there anymore, if you go there you'll be stuck there overnight. Do you already have a boarding pass?

Chris: WHAT? There's no flights? !@$# Okay, I guess I'll change my flight back. Where's Jennifer, can I talk to her?

Angela: Ummm, no....she's out running errands with the boys, I'm not sure when she's going to be back. She said she had lots to do before you get back.

Chris: Oh, okay, I'll call her cell then and let her know I might get stuck in Sacramento.

Angela: Yeah...okay, I don't think she's got cell service cause I just tried to call her myself and it wouldn't go through...you know how it is up here.

Chris: Okay, well...tell her I love her and I'll try to change my flight back.

Angela: Okay, yeah, you better, cause otherwise you won't be back until tomorrow.

She tells me this whole conversation. I'm thinking that if he goes to Sac I will absolutely kill him. She assures me that he changed his flight back to SFO, he called her back and confirmed it, so he's definitely coming to SFO. Okay, phew! Cause if I came all the way down here with 2 kids and spent the day here only to have him go to Sacramento I will be really pissed! But okay, he's on his way, only a few more minutes. What a butt...

I was talking to a couple in the gate area about how I was waiting for Chris and they offered to take a picture of us as he came off the plane and email it to me. I thought that was so nice! And soon some other people heard our story and everyone was so excited for us that he was coming home from Iraq. The plane lands, I get Aiden all excited to see Daddy. The people start coming off the plane, and coming, and coming and then....he doesn't get off the plane. I repeat, he does NOT get off the plane. At which time Aiden throws himself on the ground, kicking and screaming and throwing his shoes across the floor and yelling, "I WANT MY DADDY!!" Very embarrassing to say the least. So the gate agent checks the listing and sure enough he's not on the flight. And he's not on the Sacramento flight either. She doesn't know where he is, must still be in Denver. I am not thrilled. Then she checks the next flight into SFO and he's listed on that one. It's landing at another gate across the terminal in 20 minutes. Apparently when they re-booked him back to SFO they put him on another flight. Are you KIDDING me? Do you know how sad everyone looks when you are standing there with 2 little kids, waiting for your husband to come home from Iraq and he doesn't get off the plane? I was mortified. Luckily I didn't have time to think about it much, cause I had to get across the terminal. So I threw Aiden (who is still screaming) in the stroller, carried Jack and pushed the stroller as fast as I could to the new gate. I made it with enough time to get Aiden in a better mood before the plane landed.

We were waiting and waiting and suddenly there he was...with a pretty stunned look on his face to see us waiting for him. It was totally worth all the stress. Only the stress didn't end there. Our return flight to Crescent City was supposed to leave at 5:30 (about 10 minutes ago) but had been delayed til 6:45 due to weather. Worked out great since otherwise we wouldn't have made it. So we get to the gate and get something to eat and the flight keeps getting delayed...and delayed...and delayed. Daddy was doing great occupying Aiden (who was really excited to finally have his Daddy back) until the flight finally left at 8:00. Once we got on board, both the boys conked out, so the return flight was relatively painless. Chris' entire family was waiting at the terminal in Crescent City, it was a nice ending to a pretty stressful day. All in all, the 8 hours I spent in San Francisco airport with 2 small children was worth it, we got to surprise Daddy and he's finally HOME.

Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and thoughts while Chris was gone, it meant a lot. He's back home safe and sound and hopefully he will be home for a while, so he can get to know his little boys.

It feels good to be a family again.