Travel to the U.S.
On the morning we left Hong Kong, flying through Los Angeles, the internet reported that there was so much snow in Minnesota that the airport was temporarily closed. The kids about had a heart attack. Craig told them we are heading to LA as planned and if we have to spend an extra night there until things improve, so be it. Our connection in LA was a little tighter than we normally like, which involved the Sandness family RUNNING through the airport to catch that last flight available heading to Minnesota that day, as we were told "they are holding the flight" for you. Thinking that going through the one last security check won't be so bad because there was only one person in front of us, boy were we wrong. Mr. Chatty Kathy proceeded to remove every possible item (watch, bracelet, necklace, wallet, phone, jacket, shoes, belt, etc.) he could from his body without being indecent, all the while chatting with one of the guards in between removing each item. During which time, my kids had removed all of their shoes and sweatshirts/jackets, gotten out their laptops and put them in bins, had all of their bags sitting on the rollers waiting to go through the scanner. I had four kids standing there staring at a man who had absolutely no clue that he was causing these kids to possibly miss their last opportunity of the day to get on their flight.
As he continued to figure out what was making the scanner buzz on him, all of our carry on luggage had gone through the conveyor. I politely asked the guard if we could possibly go through ahead of him. Thankfully, he said YES! So, we briskly walked through the scanner, one by one, and quickly started grabbing our stuff. The kids were amazing! No complaints, everyone grabbing whatever they could carry and off we were running again only to come upon our gate and quickly realize that they had not even de-boarded the plane from the previous flight. The kids and I looked at each other and just slumped in a heap of exhaustion from our long flight from Hong Kong, all the running with our bags through the airport and the emotional ups and downs of possibly missing our flight. Still no one complained, probably because they were too tired to speak. If any time there was a moment of deserving a treat, this was it. Under the pretense that I was going to go get us some water, as we were all very thirsty from our running, I spotted ice cream! Cookie dough ice cream for all!
We made our flight, all in relieved spirits, despite the fact that none of our seats were together on this airplane. Thankfully, there were at least two seats in the same row so I used those for myself and Keely. Since my seat assignment was on the aisle and Keely was in the middle seat on the opposite side, the man in the aisle seat next to Keely gladly switched with me after I explained he would probably have to take care of my 4-year-old if he didn't.
As I was getting all of the other kids settled with their various electronics, the woman in the window seat with me and Keely arrived. After taking her seat, the child behind her proceeded to bang his table top into the back of her seat about 25-30 times in a row without one comment from his mother sitting next to him. Our seatmate soon realized that I had other kids throughout the airplane and she asked me if I wanted her to switch with one of them. I said, No, that's okay, they are used to traveling and they will be fine for this short flight. She looked at the child behind her and said "are you sure? I really don't mind switching." I showed her where Tyson was sitting, which was a middle seat farther back in the plane. She hopped out of her seat as fast as she could and said, "I really don't mind. You should really have your kids together." As she passed me to get out into the aisle, I said softly to her "too many kids, huh?" She smiled and agreed.
Well, at least at this point I had two of the kids sitting with me...Trey was up a few rows and Kyra behind a few...and not a complaint from any of them. They were just so happy to make the flight...and then we found out that the flight was shorter than we had mentally prepared ourselves for. If that isn't just a special treat to top it all off. We couldn't have been in any better spirits than we were at that moment.
We were so happy to see our friend, Craig, at the airport waiting to pick us up. We eagerly surrounded the baggage claim as we were looking for our luggage, soon realizing it wasn't coming. Unfortunately, 5 out of our 7 bags did not arrive. That meant that Kyra and I were the only ones with clothing. Long story short on that one is that we got our bags by the end of the week. Not exactly how we wanted to start our stay, but again, everyone was so happy to be in Minnesota that it just didn't matter. A quick visit to Kohl's and Target and we had enough to survive in until our bags arrived.
The Vikings Game Experience
One of the highlights that Trey and Kyra were looking forward to over break is that we had tickets to go to the Vikings game against the Bears. Unfortunately, with the snow causing the Metrodome to cave in, that plan was in a bit of jeopardy. Instead, they had an awesome experience with Craig and my sister's family of going to watch the Vikings play in the Gopher's stadium outdoors. They were talking non-stop about their experience and I'm sure they will remember it for a long time. Trey's only negative comment was "the only thing that would have made it more memorable was if it was actually a good ballgame." well......
