I can't believe that it has been almost 3 weeks since we arrived in Maine. We have had great luck with military flights... and am so grateful that we had a few days to spend at the Swanbeck's. I love that family so much and am so sad we did not have more time together!! On Wednesday, I found out that there was a flight from Dover, Delaware straight into Rota with 73 open seats. It was meant to be!!
Thursday morning the kids and I got on the road at 2:30 am to make it to our 7am roll call time. It was a good thing we gave ourselves enough time to get there because waiting for our taxi to pick us up at the car rental drop off location to base took a little longer than expected. We arrived with just 20 minutes to spare... and got our name put on the flight list. We then settled in... got breakfast (the USO was fantastic and had a wide variety of food for the kids to eat) and waited for our name to be called.
We were called first... FIRST!! We got our boarding passes, checked our bags, and waited for our flight.
Hanging out in the playroom waiting for everyone to get their boarding passes:
Waiting to go through security... Do they look tired or what?!
... and more waiting.
This time we were waiting for the shuttle-bus to take us to the plane...
Getting closer to the plane... woot woot!
We were the last ones to get on the bus so of course... we had to make our way to the back.
Joke was on all of them though... I think we hit every single person on both sides as we walked by... all of us... with out bags, blankets, pillows, and food.
Sorry... (but not really after you scroll down... you will see why)
Once the bus stopped at the plane- they announced that women with children could depart first... of course I did not want to clip everyone AGAIN so I said we would wait our turn. STUPID me!!
Once we got on the plane, the only seats left were in the front.... with the most leg room ever!! Naturally, I thought we hit the jack pot... should have known better with my luck.
Of course... being that it was my first time on this plane I had no idea why anyone would leave those seats open... that is until the sun went down and we still had 3 hours left on the plane. I cannot remember a time in my life I have even been that cold for that amount of time...
The heat that was going through the plane was not even making it to the first 3 rows due to the doors and stair case which is why all the old, mean, crusty, experienced space-A, retired JERKS took the back leaving the 3 kids to freeze. It wasn't even until I took Liam to the bathroom (which conveniently was next to the back WARM seats) that I realized how nice and toasty it was... with ONE person laying across each row SLEEPING! I could not believe how rude they were and didn't even offer a row to the kids... I mean, couples who could have easily sat next to one another each took their own row so they could sleep... in the warmth... while my kiddos froze. The older two kids moved to the empty row behind Liam and I.. bundled up as best as they could while Liam and I did the same. At one point... all 4 of us sat in a 3 seat row and kept each other warm. The last 3 hours took forever... it felt like a lifetime. I should have got off the bus first and HIT every single one of them going out... and next time I will. (If you are retired, fly space-A, see us on the same flight and read this... you have been warned)
Finally after waiting on the plane for almost 2 hours before we could leave- we left. I had no way of contacting Steve so he had no clue that our flight was WAS arriving at midnight was really coming in 2am...
The crew however were fantastic- they took Morgan to the cockpit...
and brought the kids extra blankets.
FINALLY off the plane... in warmth again and thawing out our fingers and toes...
Liam however... was hyper to say the least!! This was him on the shuttle bus at 2:30am heading towards the terminal... so we could finally meet Steve and go home.
All I have to say... is I hope he annoyed everyone on that bus! (yes.... I am bitter towards them ALL).
On another note-
I am so thankful for the opportunity we had to come back to the states and attend Erik and Amy's wedding. We had a great time with the Perez's, Ledin's, Swanbeck's, and all the other friends and family we met while here. We had a great time, made lasting memories and can't wait until we will see them all again. I am also extremely grateful to be home and to be sleeping in my bed again! I am also so grateful that we were able and fortunate to take the military flight to and from the states.
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