The last day in Florida was a roller coaster! We had a fun start by taking one last dip in the swimming pool. The kids did not want to leave the pool but we had to be out of the condo by 10. By 10:45 we were ready to leave, oops. With everything packed in the rental van we had decided to walk around Downtown Disney and see what that was like. This was the downward part of the day. Peter got very sad. Haley was hungry. William was hot and tired of walking. Caleb was just plain tired. Rob was testy from the rush to get out of the condo. Diedre was just dealing with all the moods. So, instead of enduring the heat we decided to go bowling. The best part of the day!
The whole family.... happy. Quite the accomplishment.
Haley loved being in charge of her own ball.
Rob schooled us all with 4 strikes in a row! Wowzers!
After bowling we headed to the airport. Went through a crazy long security line, found the gate and waited with some super nice people for the plane to board. Our first leg of the trip was to Phenoix, AZ. We were to make a connecting flight there to Salt Lake and arrive home by 11:00pm. Caleb and William stayed awake all the way to Phenoix, Peter and Haley sat by mom and fell asleep. It was great UNTIL the pilot began telling us that there were thunder storms over Phenoix and they would have us circle the airport until the storms let up. 15 minutes turned into 30, which turned into another 30, which turned into another 30. By this time all the kids are awake and we were so ready to be off the plane. Plus, everyone on the plane was starting to get concerned about their connecting flight. Will we make it? Will those flights be delayed in taking off? Then, bad news. The pilot says that we have to fly to El Paso, TX to refuel! We had been hanging out above this thunderstorm for so long that we ran out of fuel. Off to Texas we went where we all stayed on the plane for a good 45 minutes, waiting for fuel and for clearance to go back to Pheonix. We took off again and the flight back seemed like forever! All the kids fell asleep again, the pilot again came over the intercom and said we had to circle the airport now to wait for all the planes to land. By the time we landed it was midnight, Haley was screaming on the plane because she was DONE flying, and we had missed our plane to Salt Lake. End result......
We spent the night sleeping on the hard airport floor waiting for a connecting flight the next morning! What an adventure. Turns out we could have gotten a hotel room, but we would have had to pay for transportation there, pay for the rooms, then go through security all over again. Plus it was already midnight, and the kids were done. So, we hunkered down, dressed the kids as warmly as possible, and to the blare of the TV above us (which every 15 minutes updated us on Robin Williams and flooding and the like) we tried to get as much sleep as possible. Rob and I gave up after an hour. That airport was FREEZING COLD! Haley was the only one with a blanket, William had Rob's jacket, Peter had mom's, and at 2:00am Diedre started searching the suitcases for anything to put over the kids so they would not freeze. Finally the hour arrived, Rob was amazing and got us on an earlier flight and we headed for home. You have never seen a happier girl than when Haley heard we were flying over Salt Lake City, UT and about to land. She was very excited! Whew, what a journey. Some great memories made, new experiences and not to be forgotten. It was worth it.
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