November 2015 - Denver

On November 4, 2015 I was able to fly out to Denver to visit my very good friends. This was Megan's first time flying and I always get nervous before I fly. Our flight was at night so I was nervous all day and could hardly eat anything. I had planned Megan's naps and feeding schedule to work with take off. We were scheduled to leave around 7:30 so I planned for her to be hungry around then so I could feed her on the plane and she would fall asleep.

Things didn't go exactly according to plan.

I was borrowing a car seat from our friends in Denver, so I wrapped Megan up in my wrap and carried her through the airport. She was in some of Andrew's old PJ's so everyone asked about my baby boy. (She usually wears a bow, but didn't want to lose it in the airport.) Megan was doing great. I got through security without a problem and even thought the line was long, people were asking about Megan and her success with flights etc. Everyone was commenting on how well she was behaving. She was calm and quiet and making me feel better.

We got to the gate in time and without problem. I found a seat on the end of a row but still close to windows. I enjoy looking out and watching the planes, but wanted to be able to get up with Megan if she needed me to. There was a sweet older Indian couple sitting next to me asking about Megan. They were one of those couples that just smiled all the time.  I was watching the clock carefully, planning each minute. On the boarding pass it has a time for boarding so when we had about 10 minutes before that time I decided to go for a little walk and use the restroom and check Megan's diaper. All went well. My legs were stretched and was ready to go.

I got back to my gate and people were lining up to board the plane. I got in my proper line and we all waited for a little bit. While we were waiting we see the gate next to us was also lined up to board their plane. Then an announcement is made over the intercom that their plane was delayed an hour. We could hear the moans and complains and watch the body language of these obviously unhappy people and I was just grateful that wasn't me. I was already so nervous with Megan and was hungry from not eating, but also knew I couldn't eat. I just wanted to get on the plane and on my way.

Then an announcement was made at our gate. Our plane was 15 minutes late. Ok, not that bad I thought. I'll go sit back down with Megan. I thought I should charge my phone, just in case and found a seat by an outlet. My phone charger was acting up so it wasn't really working, but Megan had fallen asleep and I didn't want to disturb her by messing with my charger. I texted my friends in Denver so they knew to check on my flight status before they left to come get me. I wouldn't want them waiting for me.

Then another announcement was made a few minutes later. We didn't have a pilot. No pilot?! How do we not have a pilot! A brief panic was followed a few minutes later by another announcement. A pilot agreed to fly our plane but was on another plane scheduled to land in 15 minutes at the gate next to us. Ok, again, not that bad. I can wait 15 minutes. Another announcement. Now the plane was 30 minutes late. Time passed. Now the plane was an hour behind schedule and "oh woops" looks like we don't have a pilot after all and the next pilot isn't available for 4 hours FOUR HOURS!!!!!!

 By this point, Megan had woken up and was hungry, exactly as I had planned. I'm still sitting at the gate texting Ryan and my friends in Denver. I got up and just started walking. I didn't want to sit anymore. I thought I should get food, but was still not really wanting to eat. I knew that I should be freaking out, but I was surprisingly calm. I walked past the United desk, the one for all of United not just our gate, and I thought, I should go get in line. I knew there was another flight scheduled to leave at 9:30 that night. I should go see if I can get on that plane. My head said get in line, but I felt I shouldn't. I followed the promptings and walked away. About 10 seconds later there were 100 people in line there. I called Ryan and my friends to let them know what was going on. Megan had calmed down by now since I was walking so I just walked around for a few minutes.

I figured I really needed to charge my phone now since I need to keep in contact with Ryan and my Denver friends. I walked over to a charging station and started to get my phone out. A man behind me said, "excuse me?" and I stepped to the side thinking I was blocking his way to the charging station. I turned and looked at him and saw he was actually trying to talk to me. He asked if my flight was delayed. I said that it was delayed for four hours. He told me he was a member of the United club and he could get one guest in for free and asked if I wanted to go in and get some food and rest with the baby.    - ok-   I've read enough horrible news articles and heard of things like this go terribly wrong. I immediately did my "check" on this guy. What was my gut telling me? Was I getting bad signals from the Spirit? Is he trustworthy in the 3 seconds I've met him? Should I run screaming "stranger danger" down the airport? etc etc etc. I asked all these questions and waited for answers. I felt nothing bad come to me so I said, yes, thanks. As we walked he told me his name which I immediately forgot, then regretted. He pulled out his phone to check the time or something and I saw his background were his kids. He started asking about Megan and telling me about his kids. I made sure to stay close enough to be polite, but far enough to be comfortable. I figured in a public setting like this if I started screaming and I'm holding a baby, someone would help.

We made it to the United club which was just a minute or less walk away. He checked in with the woman at the desk and said, "Hi, I'm back with a guest". She smiled at him and she and I exchanged small talk and we went inside. He pointed the directions of the rest rooms, food, tv's and chairs and a place to drop off our luggage if we wanted. He also told me if I went to the Untied desk inside the club it would be like getting to the front of the line at the United desk that I decided to walk away from. He bid me good luck and walked away. That was it. I wasn't forced to sit down and talk with him or any weird stuff like that. I said thank you and he just said you're welcome. I just stood there with Megan not really knowing what to do and feeling like I didn't fit in. Everyone there was in business attire or at least nice clothing. I'm here in my jeans with a baby (and the only baby) wrapped on my chest. Well, here goes nothing!

I stood in line at the United desk. There were two woman working behind the desk, each helping other customers. I was the only person in line. I heard the women in front of me were on the same flight that I was on and wanted to get on the 9:30 flight. They got new tickets and walked away. I told the woman at the desk I was in the same situation. By now I guess the flight was full so I got a standby ticket. I thought that was better than nothing so I took my ticket and walked away. I ran into the gentleman who got me in the club and thanked him and told him I got a standby ticket. He seemed happy. I found some comfy chairs and sat down and tired to plug my phone in again but the charger still wasn't working. Megan had fallen back asleep (bless you child) so I just tried to relax.

Megan woke up about 30 minutes later and she was HUNGRY! I wanted to save the milk I had brought for the flight so I went looking for the family room that I was told about. I found it, but it was locked. I didn't want to make a big deal about it so I found the restroom and changed Megan's diaper. The diaper changer was in the big stall and since nobody else was going to use that I just stayed in there and fed her. I heard people come in and out without washing their hands! Gross!

So Megan was fed and I grabbed a banana to eat while I waited. I walked past the United desk again and asked some questions about flying standby since I hadn't done it before. Everyone was so kind to me, and I was still strangely calm, but I just wanted to get to Denver and relax.

I went to get some more food, even though I wasn't hungry and saw the 2 women who were in line ahead of me when I first got to the Untied desk. They came up to me and said they decided to wait until the other plane had a pilot and would give me their tickets. What?! I was shocked. I followed them to the United desk once again and they asked if they could give me their tickets. Since the 9:30 flight was already booked the United staff said as soon as they release the women's tickets, anyone could snag them up. Both of the women working at the desk decided they would get on the computers at the same time while one releases the tickets the other would try to get them for me and guess what? It worked!!! I had a ticket!! I was so happy! I thanked those ladies a million times. I didn't have much time now before the flight so I called Ryan and my friend again to share the news, but was a little cautious just in case something else happened.

Just before boarding I went out with Megan to get in line at the gate. There was a group of high school kids who were flying home from a service mission in Puerto Rico (I think). They were super cool kids and all loved Megan. I hoped I would sit next to some of them. As I was getting close to the gate I saw the Indian couple. They walked up to me and said they were so happy that I got on this flight. They had wanted me to and wanted to do something nice for me, but didn't know what to do.

Since I got my ticket after everyone else, I was in the last boarding group. I was in row 12 and as I walked down the isle I noticed all the overhead bins were already closed and full and that there was only one seat open in the front half of the plane. Guess where it was? Yep, in the middle next to two big adults. The woman on the end made eye contact with me and I just nodded. She started to stand up, but I asked if she would just take my backpack because I had to walk way down to find space to put my carry-on. The man across the isle offered to take my suitcase for me so I didn't have to with Megan. Everyone was so nice to me!

I got into my sweet middle seat and the man at the window seat was reading a newspaper. He put it down and started talking to Megan and making funny faces. The woman on the isle started talking with me. She was originally on the same flight that I was on and got one of the last tickets on this flight. Oh, backing up. The women who gave me their tickets had first class seats on the original flight so when they were put on the second flight they got the seats with extra leg room. That proved to be another huge blessing to have more room for Megan. I just couldn't believe it all worked out and that everyone was so nice. I was worried flying with a baby on a night flight when people would be sleeping. I fed Megan her bottle during take off and she was a little fussy, but fell asleep rather quickly. She fell asleep on my lap thanks to that extra 6 inches of leg space. She wouldn't have been able to do that on the other seats. 

Megan slept for most of the flight. I couldn't have asked for her to be any better. She was amazing. I really can't believe how great she was. The rest of the night was great. Although we got in late, my friend still came and picked me up without complaint. Megan slept on the drive home and I was finally able to relax completely.

Our friends, Peter and Lauren, have a sweet baby girl 10 days older than Megan. I brought some matching clothes for the girls. They were so cute together!

 Holding hands!

Megan did enjoy playing with new toys!

She is definitely super cute!

 Hi friend!

 I just about died when I saw this photo! Isn't he just the most handsome little boy!!!

While in Denver, we decided to go indoor skydiving! Peter had gone before, but it was a first for me and Lauren. As usual, I got really nervous and scared about doing something new. We took the kids with us so we took turns being in the tunnel and watching the kids. It worked out nicely because Peter was able to take photos for us while Lauren and I were flying.

My mom has been skydiving. Real skydiving - jump out of a perfectly good airplane and fall to the ground hoping that a piece of expertly crafted fabric saves you from dying - skydiving. Yep. If my mom can do that then surely I can stand on top of a giant fan and pretend to be as brave as she was.  

Guess what? I LOVED IT!!!! It was really so much fun! At the end they did a "fly high" where the instructor takes you up and down the huge tube really fast! It was awesome!!!! I've already bought tickets to go again here in Houston. They just built one a few minutes from our house. 

There is a video of me flying, but I can't get it to work. When I figure it out, I will update this post.

 I'm so glad I was able to go out an visit my friends! Thanks for letting us come play!

The end.