The worst flight experience ever......

So to say that I am a disgruntled airline passenger, that would be a huge understatement. I fall under the category of enraged. I actually overheard a news story about a person that swore at a customs agent and was arrested. That possibly could have been me yesterday, but I amazingly did not swear.

Yesterday I was headed home from my wonderful work trip in Toronto. When we got to the airport 2 1/2 hours ahead of time for our international flight, the check-in machine froze on me, and then when it did un freeze, we found out our flight would be delayed and we would not make our connecting flight. When we asked the gate agent what we should do, her suggestion was to stay one more night in Toronto. I asked her if she would be paying for a hotel for us. Nope, that is not in the plan, but it would be her suggestion. Well, just having left a hotel and paying a rate of $230 per night, my coleague and I decided we would test our luck and go forward and hope our next flight would be delayed too. We also asked her if we do get stuck in minneapolis, could we get our luggage. She said that shouldn't be a problem... obviously we have different opinions of what a problem is, but that will come later. We also asked if she could get us to SEattle, no flights that we would make.... So on we went. When we got to customs, they asked me if I had anything to declare. I said no, he said are you sure. Oh yeah, i bought an outfit when the airlines lost my luggage on the way to toronto. and I got a free build a bear. Duh! Didn't know that was what he was asking. So on we went to the gate, holding back tears because all we wanted to do was go home to Spokane. Both of us had our hearts set on seeing our little boys and husbands.

after eating dinner - more airport food, we went to the gate, bad news, flight is delayed an extra 20 minutes. When the plane finally arrived, we had a quick turnaround. As we were boarding the plane, they informed us that our computer bags won't fit in the plane.... so we need to do the a la carte. Great. The gate agent also got mad at me that I didn't have my passport in my hand. I didn't know I needed it. She rudely let me know she had announced it already, next!

When we got on the plane they announced that we should land at 9:30 and our next flight leaves at 9:45. Oh a glimmer of hope, but wait, our bags are now gate checked so we are going to be running. If you have ever been to minneapolis airport, it's huge. The flight attendant on the plane was very nice. she actually looked up our gate info for us, so when we landed, we knew which direction to run! Our plane landed and unloaded at 9:45. We ran through the airport got to the gate, and our plane was pulling away.... Without us! It was a moment when you wanted to scream NOOOOOOO! and I did!

When we got to the gate, there were 2 agents. 1 was helping someone, the other, doing paperwork. We asked the one doing paperwork what we should do, she couldn't be bothered. At one point as she was typing away, I asked her if she was looking up our info or doing something else. She said "I am fixing my numbers and paperwork." She then walked away!

The other lady fininshed helping another person and then moved on to us. She suggested we go to baggage claim, they are giving out overnight kits and cots if we would like to stay the night in the terminal.... Really not going to sleep on a rolla way with my purse, laptop and phone unattended, but thanks for the offer. She then gave us vouchers for $25 off our next flight. Meanwhile, my colleague called the NW distress line. They offered to pay half for our hotel and the country inn with no airport shuttle and is 20 minutes from the airport. Our share would have been $79 each we knew there were other hotels that are closer with shuttles and a little more. We asked, they told us that was the only hotel they had on their list. No thanks.

We headed to the phone bank at baggage claim - which was a zoo because the flights were messed up all day! we got a room at the ramada and went to walmart. we bought pajamas, and clothes for today. we figured we could share a room and save a little $ if we had some pj's and walmart was right there!

I forgot to mention that I bought some captain morgans at the duty free shop in toronto, and since we had left the secured area, I would now have to check that bag. So I bought a backpack at walmart - only $9.

So as I write this, we are sitting at the gate, patiently waiting to go home to Spokane!

Can't wait for my adventure on Tuesday to do this all over again with Northwest. Here is my advice to them. Please learn how to be helpful to your customers. By providing options, it gives the customers choices. Many of the employees just seem to be disgruntled. I just feel like I have a black cloud following me around especially when I am flying.

Did I mention my luggage got lost on the way to toronto..... I love travelling!!!!!!

I'm in Toronto!

So in case you are wondering what I do when I travel, here is a visual. This is me and a colleague in front of our part of the Washington booth. Here we are selling Spokane to anyone that wants to know about it. So on this trip, I have had many crazy things happen. I almost didn't make my connecting flight to Toronto - Minneapolis airport is huge! Then when I did arrive at 10:30pm, my luggage did not arrive, so I went through customs with just me. I didn't get my bags until 11pm the next night. In the mean time, my phone didn't recognize I was in Canada, and it kept going to roaming. I bought a new outfit to wear for the day and the opening reception. I also had some computer challenges at the booth, and one of the sessions I really wanted to go to was too crowded so I couldn't even get in the door. What a zoo! I will be thrilled to get back to Spokane. All in all, once things calmed down, I was able to network and meet lots of people, so it was a great week.

The Wiggles go Bananas in Spokane!

Ok Wiggles fans it's your lucky day! For anyone that doesn't know who the Wiggles are, here they are: Jeff, Sam, Anthony & Murray. They arrived in the big red car and the fun just kept happening! We told Caden about the wiggles concert about a week before. he didn't really understand what we were telling him - he would see the wiggles up close and personal. Well we did. We were in the 5th row (Row E and seats 3 &4 - which we only needed 1 ticket, but if you have a pulse, you need a seat) I bought Caden this velour guitar and he was so happy to be able to play the guitar with Murray!

This is us just before the show started. So exciting for us! As soon as they came out, Caden's eyes popped open and he was in awe!

The wiggles even came out in the audience. I sent caden over to murray, but he just stood in front of him with his guitar, it was so cute. He got to see one of his idols! Captain feathersword didn't come out into the audience, but it was still fun.

Here is the captain, singing something...

This is the quack quack song - what started our love for the wiggles!

After the concert, on the way to the car, we walked by the river. I couldn't resist these pictures of Caden playing his new guitar after the concert.

This was when we got home and he was just in wiggle heaven!

Thanks Wiggles for coming to Spokane! It was a great highlight for our summer!

All good things come to an end

Jan was here for 3 weeks and we had a blast. We all decided that we need to see each other more often for sure. The last weekend she was here, we went to deer lake to relax. My sister's inlaws live there and were gracious enough to let us stay too! We had a blast just playing in the water and hanging out. Here are some fun pics of Jan with her two favorite guys - Caden & Justin!

Thanks Jan for visiting us, it means a lot to us that you were able to come out here and see where we live. It was a great visit, come back often!

Orcas visit with Nonie

Each year for the fourth of july, we like to go to Orcas. It is like visiting Americana fourth of july - parade, fireworks and all the favorites seem to be present, so if we can get to the island we do. Well this year, we were challenged. We got up really early and left the house at 4:30am. Jan & I packed the night before. While we packed, Rocky ran away and we had to search the neighborhood for him (our dog). All were found and packed and we were ready to go. We got to the ferry at 12:10pm - that's right, it took us forever thanks to the WSDOT, and the numerous road construction projects being performed on Highway 2. When we got to the ferry, the ferry worker asked us if we really wanted to get in line since the next ferry wasn't until 2:50pm. I assured her we did, and here is our money. She asked again, I handed her our money and said, let us pay and get in line please. We were the 4th car in line. The ferry was full within 30 minutes. Hello 4th of July - is the ferry worker new? Could have been all new people since as they were loading the boat, they put too many lopez cars on the ferry and people were jockeying for position in line. I actually heard one guy offer the car in front of us $50 to switch places so he could get on the earlier ferry. This would not have been a good trade since a car + driver is something like $42 unless you have a commuter pass... Love the ferry workers!

So we made it to my parents for dinner time, and then the fun could begin. As you may know, my mom is a quilter. She actually has a whole bunch of fabric strips pre-cut in a basket. Well the basket was right at Caden's level. He found them and handed them out for everyone to wear as headbands. It's pretty funny to see all of the adults and Caden wearing different colored fabric headbands and sitting around catching up.
The next day we went to the beach to look for crab and eels and other sea life.

Orcas also is a haven for bald eagles. We saw about 6 in the span of 5 minutes so Justin & Jan went in for a closer look and hopefully a picture.

On Saturday - the actual fourth - we went to town for the pancake breakfast at the firehall and then the parade. Caden got to help wash the firetruck on Thursday so it was ready for the parade.

Our annual family photo in the fire truck...

Caden was dancing around the firehall while we waited for the parade to start. Caden & I were in the parade with my dad, no pictures of that, but I found one on facebook of us...

I was trying to take a picture of Caden standing next to the wheel, but he wasn't in to that. He really liked this gal, and she was actually the firedog mascot. Caden called her "my dog friend."

After the parade, we headed back to the cabin to rest and play in the pool and slip & slide. Caden loved the pool, the slip & slide - not at all! He hated it! I went on it once and so did justin. Caden ran down it and slipped and that was the end of it. (we had a cheering section of my cousins at the top of the hill)

It was a great weekend on Orcas and so fun to relax and hang out. Crab season wasn't open yet, but it was a great weekend!

Nonie comes to visit!

Justin's mom came to visit us for 3 weeks and we were busy. Caden calls here Nonie, hence the nick name. This was her first visit to Spokane, so we wanted to show her as much of the area as we could, without overexerting ourselves. The first night Jan was here, we went to Manito park. Caden doesn't want to pose for a picture, so this is what we got.... Then on Saturday we went to Wallace Idaho - a mining town. We went on a tour of a mine and got to wear the hard hats. We told Caden that he could be like bob the builder, so that got him to wear his hat. It was a really interesting tour and we learned lots. We then headed to Montana so that everyone could say that they have been there before. We were so close at that point (15 minutes) why not. So we went to the silver dollar bar. They have something like 51,284 silver dollars all over the building, mounted to the wall and such. It actually was impressive. The scenery was beautiful as well, especially looking down at lake coeur d'alene in the morning!

The next day, Sunday, we went berry picking at Greenbluff. This was so fun, and hilarious to watch Caden "help" us. He picked a few green ones, but did pretty well.

When we got home, we played some bocce in our yard, gardened and made jam. Busy week!

Here is the little stud muffin showing off - he didn't want to wear a shirt because daddy wasn't!

Caden is potty trained - yep!

Caden is potty trained - I already shared that... But here are some pics from a birthday party that we went to the weekend after. The amazing part of this picture is that 2 of the 3 two year olds are actually looking at the camera... this was tough! This was Cole's 2nd birthday - he is in the red.

Both Caden and Cole could not get enough of the swings. I think they each spent at least 20 minutes in the swings. Heck if I could get someone to push me and fly around, I would too!