december 31

The morning we left. Wow, what a day that was. We always get mixed up with what airline we are flying on and are wrong every time! Our ticket confirmation says "flying United Airlines operated by US airways or vise versa. We always pick the wrong one. We got to the airport and stood in the United line for about 20 minutes before we got to the front and heard that we were in the wrong line. We had to wait another 30 or so minutes in the US Airways line. When we got to the front we were stressed out and then got the news that it was delayed coming from Chicago. The ticket agent said, "Don't worry, though, it's not a weather problem in Chicago, it's mechanical work being done on the plane." Is that supposed to make us feel better? Our plane is having mechanical issues, but the weather is great in Chicago! Thanks a lot lady!

We knew we were going to be there for awhile, so Matthew and I took turns walking Finley, and yes, that's his leash in the pictures below. I've said before that I would NEVER get my child a leash, but when you think about all the people in a huge airport and such a little guy, it's pretty scary. I didn't even care if people looked at us like we were horrible parents (which I didn't see). I knew it was the safest thing for Finley. He even had a homemade identification card inside the back pocket that had his name, our names and our cell phone numbers on it just in case. He ended up doing okay with the delay. He learned to show off a little. He would stand on one foot and then fall over for anyone who would watch...and many people did. He would stand up and clap for himself sometimes and then do it all over again. We also had some of his toys and books with us so we made our own little play area for him. Our plane left almost 2 hours late and we boarded hoping that the mechanical issue was fixed. It was a full plane which was scary. I wondered if everyone was too heavy now for this already broken plane. I now have some very strong opinions about whoever made the changing stations in the airplane bathrooms. They should be made to change a 16 month old in there. It was made for more of a newborn to maybe 3 month old. Whenever Finley would straighten his legs, his head was slide over the edge and hang down toward the toilet. Whenever he would push against the wall with his hands he would end up practically standing in the toilet.

We made it to Chicago 4 minutes after our connecting flight was supposed to leave. We stopped and checked the gate number when we got off the plane and noticed that this just happened to be the gate that we were supposed to fly out of 4 minutes ago and that that plane was late. Of course that plane was our plane...the one with mechanical issues....GREAT! It was a huge blessing to be at the same gate though, especially in Chicago. That never happens and we actually had time to get some lunch and walk around a little with Finley before we again boarded the broken plane. We ended up being 3 out of the 30 or so people on the plane (maybe it will run better if there aren't nearly as many people?) and we had the whole back third of the plane to ourselves. They also offered free drinks since it was New Year's Eve. They were a very nice crew and just what we needed after our long and stressful day. We turned on Jonah for Finley and Matthew and I watched The Office which was being shown on the plane.

We got back to Minneapolis in cold weather and a frozen car. We had to leave it running because it would freeze up when we shut it off. It ran for 2 hours while we were in Target and in Denny's trying to tire Finley out for the ride home. Our plan worked. The car ran great and Finley slept all the way back and had plenty of energy at 11:30 p.m. when we got home to play with all of his toys and look at his books which apparently he missed terribly. We unpacked the car and then settled in to watch the ball drop in NYC. We were able to sleep in the next day and went out to the farm for New Year's Day. We found out that Darlene (Matthew's mom) had stayed up until 11:45 to watch the ball drop but then was too tired so she went to bed. =)

Here he is 'riding' the airport seats. He thought they had made that just for little boys to ride on like horses.