Come Thursday we get to the airport around 3 for our 4:30 flight and end up waiting for over 7 hours to fly to JFK because of crazy thunderstorms in NYC. They'd give us updates to let us know they'd update us in an hour every hour. It was awful. We asked repeatedly the JetBlue staff if we'd make our connecting flight and they assured us that all flights in and out of JFK were delayed. So once we boarded our flight close to 11pm we asked once again, and were once again reassured. After a short flight to JFK where the kids fell asleep, we land to find that there is no flight to SLC and that our plane was on the runway taxiing. We were livid. Natalie stood in line for over an hour to speak to an agent who was dumber than rocks. We were given minimal options since the flight direct to SLC the next day were sold out. They weren't willing to put us up in hotels or pay for food since it was weather related, though it was pretty much their fault that they got us stranded in NYC in the first place. Our best option was to fly to Long Beach the next afternoon and for me and the kids to fly to SLC solo, since there weren't enough tickets for a connecting flight from Long Beach. So Natalie had to end up buying her own ticket from Long Beach to SLC on another carrier. Insane.
We were so exhausted, and though Ethan was asleep on the floor of the airport, Eleanor was wide awake and crazily content. An employee not working at the help desk saw the kids and must have had pity on us because she went against protocol and gave us a hotel room. We finally checked into the hotel at 4:45 am and tried to get some sleep. The kids slept for about 5 hours and then we headed back to the airport for our 1 pm flight. We boarded the plane and though we weren't able to sit together for that leg of the flight, the kids did pretty well. They slept the majority of the time and were a little whiny when they woke up considering they hadn't gotten much sleep. When we landed in Long Beach, Natalie booked it to another terminal to catch her flight and I got to sit around the small, crummy airport terminal in Long Beach since our flight was delayed 2 hours leaving us there for a total of 5 hours. The kids were well behaved though, but I was so tired and in such a bad mood.
We finally got on our last plane and landed in SLC after midnight. My brother and SIL, Tyler and Summer, picked us all up from the airport and we made our way down to Orem. It was about 1:30 am by the time we got home and my kids went to bed around 2 am (4 am their time) and slept in fairly late the next morning. I felt so wiped out by the last 36 hours of travel that it took me over a day to feel normal again. All that crap we had to deal with and after writing a long letter to JetBlue all we were given was $100 each for our troubles. Pathetic.
Anyway, that's the end to my sob story of our crazy travels. Now on to the fun stuff that happened while in Utah. Since the Olympics were just starting when we got to Utah, we spent a lot of time lounging around my parents' bonus room watching Olympics. In fact I didn't even leave my parents house for the first 2.5 days. It was great. The kids were able to spend time with their cousins, we had a big barbeque with family and friends and we were able to just relax. The first time we actually went out and did something we went to Cascade Springs which is past Sundance resort. The windy drive up there was almost too much for my stomach, but the stroll around the springs was beautiful.
All the Bruford grandkids.
Ethan loves to tell me to take pictures of him posing like superheros.
Some deer forging through the springs.
More superhero poses.
Renee loves her cousin Eleanor and she would often pick her up like this and attempt to tote her around the house.
Grandpa taking the grandsons for a ride on the UTV. Ethan was unsure about the ride and let my Dad know that he just missed his Mom.
Crazy kids.
We went up to SLC to check out City Creek which is right across from Temple Square.
The kids loved the water features.
We strolled through Temple Square and went in the tabernacle.
We met up with my good friend Becki and her 3 kids for a little bit.
Utah has some of the most gorgeous sunsets.
One day we took the kids to the Provo Beach Resort to do some kiddie bowling.
My cousin Caroline introduced us to her micro teacup pig and some of the kids (and adults) were in love with the little piglet.
Ethan wasn't as amused as his cousins.
C'mon, it's a baby pig!!!
The cat is actually fairly small, and the pig, at just 1.5 lbs, was so tiny in comparison.
Eventually the Bruford kids had to head back to CA so we tried to get some final shots of the cousins.
Ethan had stayed up until midnight to play with his cousins and when he woke up at 7:15 he wasn't super happy. Surprise, surprise.
We took the chairlift up Sundance and took in the views from the top.
Once again, Ethan was weary of being so high off the ground on an open chair.
He ended up loving it though and enjoyed the ride down maybe even more than the ride up.
We were able to see lots of cousins and 2nd cousins, and friends including Ethan's cousins, Stella and Hazel, who just moved to Utah from Minnesota.
So although the trip started off pretty rough, we had a good time staying with my family in Utah. We wish Ben could have joined us, but he was busy working and holding up the fort back here in Rochester. Luckily we flew back on Southwest Airlines and made it back to Rochester without any problems. So now I've got $250 to fly on JetBlue somewhere... where to next? Or do I dare fly on JetBlue again?!?!
1 comment:
Great serious picture of Eleanor! Also great pictures of the little piggy. I know the trip out was tough, but hopefully you think it was worth it! We miss you all already.
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