After a week of almost total craziness, it was a relief to finally make it to the airport. And, in fact, our flights turned out to be relatively uneventful and largely stress-free, with just a few exceptions.
I had prepped the boys endlessly about the flights and security procedures but forgot to tell them about the wait times and lines involved in travel these days. They were most put out by all the security screenings, particularly when we got stopped at every single checkpoint because of the magna tiles in J's carry-on bag. Note to self: large sets of magnetic blocks should go in our checked luggage from now on!
Yes, we were in first class for the trip from Cleveland to Chicago, but no, they didn't actually seat us together, preferring instead to give me and my 3 and 5 year olds all window seats on two different rows! I'm sorry, unfortunate gentleman in aisle seat 1B, you will now be moving to a window seat in row two so I can be on the same row as these two small children! Luckily, the kids charmed everyone when they couldn't stop laughing during take of and then quieted right down to watch Peppa Pig on Direct TV.
We had a bit of trouble navigating O'Hare, getting from the domestic arrival area to the international departure terminal and would have ended up in the wrong terminal entirely had it not been for a fortuitous encounter in an elevator with a helpful woman who pushed wheel chairs around the airport. Thanks but no thanks United gate employees who were sending us to Terminal 5 when we really needed to be in Terminal 3!
It also took us a while to find the American Airlines Admiral's Club, a perk of our Qatar Airways tickets, but once we were there, we had to enjoy the free food, lots of lounge space, and quiet out of the holiday bustle of the rest of the airport.
We arrived at our final gate in plenty of time and were actually the first ones in line to board the plane we were denied entry because they needed to switch our boarding passes for some reason, which they did...very.......slowly, giving J time to complain about yet another line and E time to bang his head on the check-in counter. However, we did get on the plane and the flight itself was fabulous! I changed the boys right into their new pajamas (planes for J, Superman for E) which was prudent because E was exhausted from the day and full on the free sushi he had in O'Hare so he watched some Dora and then crashed. J ate some sushi of his own and watched a bit more but then he, too, fell asleep before desert. Actually, all of us thwarted the flight attendants' plans for our trip by not eating at the correct time or the correct amounts. I thought mine was going to have a fit when I kept moving the tray over so I could get up and help the boys with their video screens or find a toy and adjust their blankets while she was trying desperately to serve me an arabic mezze platter and some cheesecake (I ate the crust and the compote, both yummy). The Business Class schedule really isn't set up well for the 5 and under set but we persevered, charted our own path, and the kids both slept for five or 6 hours, though E did come get in with me halfway through. Both kids weren't hungry for breakfast but they enjoyed their plane bags from Grandeur and me and quietly drew and played happily with stickers and new little toys until close to landing time, which was exactly what I had hoped would happen.
Customs in Qatar was easy but took forever, so more unhappy waiting occurred and then, finally, we were able to see the husband, at long last! The boys were overjoyed, the husband was crying, and I was just so relieved to be done I couldn't stop smiling. Of course, once we got to the house, E broke down in hysterical tears about wanting to go home to Shaker Heights, J woke up at 2 am raring to go for the day, and J had a meltdown first about having an artificial Christmas tree and then about not wanting to be J any more so he wouldn't have to be in the desert--but all that happened AFTER we arrived, thank goodness, so I declare our flights themselves a success! Hooray.
Next up: our new house and grocery shopping!
I had prepped the boys endlessly about the flights and security procedures but forgot to tell them about the wait times and lines involved in travel these days. They were most put out by all the security screenings, particularly when we got stopped at every single checkpoint because of the magna tiles in J's carry-on bag. Note to self: large sets of magnetic blocks should go in our checked luggage from now on!
Yes, we were in first class for the trip from Cleveland to Chicago, but no, they didn't actually seat us together, preferring instead to give me and my 3 and 5 year olds all window seats on two different rows! I'm sorry, unfortunate gentleman in aisle seat 1B, you will now be moving to a window seat in row two so I can be on the same row as these two small children! Luckily, the kids charmed everyone when they couldn't stop laughing during take of and then quieted right down to watch Peppa Pig on Direct TV.
We had a bit of trouble navigating O'Hare, getting from the domestic arrival area to the international departure terminal and would have ended up in the wrong terminal entirely had it not been for a fortuitous encounter in an elevator with a helpful woman who pushed wheel chairs around the airport. Thanks but no thanks United gate employees who were sending us to Terminal 5 when we really needed to be in Terminal 3!
It also took us a while to find the American Airlines Admiral's Club, a perk of our Qatar Airways tickets, but once we were there, we had to enjoy the free food, lots of lounge space, and quiet out of the holiday bustle of the rest of the airport.
We arrived at our final gate in plenty of time and were actually the first ones in line to board the plane we were denied entry because they needed to switch our boarding passes for some reason, which they did...very.......slowly, giving J time to complain about yet another line and E time to bang his head on the check-in counter. However, we did get on the plane and the flight itself was fabulous! I changed the boys right into their new pajamas (planes for J, Superman for E) which was prudent because E was exhausted from the day and full on the free sushi he had in O'Hare so he watched some Dora and then crashed. J ate some sushi of his own and watched a bit more but then he, too, fell asleep before desert. Actually, all of us thwarted the flight attendants' plans for our trip by not eating at the correct time or the correct amounts. I thought mine was going to have a fit when I kept moving the tray over so I could get up and help the boys with their video screens or find a toy and adjust their blankets while she was trying desperately to serve me an arabic mezze platter and some cheesecake (I ate the crust and the compote, both yummy). The Business Class schedule really isn't set up well for the 5 and under set but we persevered, charted our own path, and the kids both slept for five or 6 hours, though E did come get in with me halfway through. Both kids weren't hungry for breakfast but they enjoyed their plane bags from Grandeur and me and quietly drew and played happily with stickers and new little toys until close to landing time, which was exactly what I had hoped would happen.
Customs in Qatar was easy but took forever, so more unhappy waiting occurred and then, finally, we were able to see the husband, at long last! The boys were overjoyed, the husband was crying, and I was just so relieved to be done I couldn't stop smiling. Of course, once we got to the house, E broke down in hysterical tears about wanting to go home to Shaker Heights, J woke up at 2 am raring to go for the day, and J had a meltdown first about having an artificial Christmas tree and then about not wanting to be J any more so he wouldn't have to be in the desert--but all that happened AFTER we arrived, thank goodness, so I declare our flights themselves a success! Hooray.
Next up: our new house and grocery shopping!
No comments:
Post a Comment