Coming Home from Michigan

Following the Truck Parade, we spent a bit of time at a park near Nick and Dawn's house. And then off to airport. 

We were nicely on time. Check-in went fine, but a little longer because of Gideon not being connected to our family. Security was a breeze and we were soon on our way and in Detroit. We easily found our gate in Detroit, had a 10 minute delay for boarding, but soon enough we were on the plane.

And that it when the bottom fell out. 

While on the plane, the pilots revived notice that Toronto was shut down due to weather. We waited about 20-30 minutes on the plane. They gave us snacks. Then they had us get off the plane and wait in the terminal. Every 30 minutes or so we would be updated that we were still delayed. And we were watching dark clouds and lightening roll into the area surround Detroit, too. Soon, the Detroit airport was shut down too. They brought out snacks and drinks a few different times, but finally around 10 pm (so over 5 hours of being delayed in the airport) the flight was canceled and we were stuck.

So, we got in line at the help counter, only to be told by the agent that since we were flying internationally, we had to use a phone. Wilbert got through on the phone and walked around a pedway in a circle pushing Gideon in the stroller so he would sleep. Mataya just laid down at Wilbert's feet and fell asleep. The phone call was really long, partly due to Gideon not being connected with our family and partly because with everyone else being delayed we were not able to get flights until Wednesday.

I think around 11 we got down to baggage claim to try and find our checked bag. But it was no where to be seen. So, we got in the really long line at baggage claim, since we were not leaving until Wednesday. By this time the kids were losing their minds, so I decided to work on getting us a hotel room. Out of desperation, I booked a room at the hotel connected to the airport, even though it was crazy expensive. Then I took the kids and left Wilbert in line at baggage claim. I think around midnight I had all the kids asleep and I crawled into be myself.

Wilbert came to the room around 1 am holding overnight kits and diaper. We were not able to get our checked bag back because we were flying internationally, and our bag had gone through an inspection point that it can't be taken back out of.

We slept in, sleeping as well as could. Wilbert and Joash were in one bed and Mataya and I in another. Gideon had his own crib. I have never been hit in the face or kicked as much while sleeping in my life as I was that night and the next. Mataya is moves all the time while she sleeps and she is a bed hog.

We got breakfast the next morning, put on some TV for the kids and talked about what to do with our day. We decided to find a cheaper hotel room for the next night, which we did. We also decided to wait around at the airport until we could check in for our flights so we wouldn't need to do that the next morning. By 2 pm, we were checked out of our first hotel room, checked in for our flights and waiting for the airport shuttle to our new hotel. We don't know if we missed it or what, but we waited at least half an hour and did not see a shuttle for our hotel. Once again, our kids were losing their minds. Wilbert noticed on the map that there was a Park and Fly Parking lot right next door to our hotel, so he asked a driver of a shuttle for that lot if we could hitch a ride. She let us, so we were finally out of the airport. We walked the street by our hotel, got a fast food late lunch and then checked in to our hotel. All I can say is praise the Lord for good wi-fi and Netflix so our kids were not crazy.

We had supper at the neighboring hotel restaurant, which had nice home-style-not-fast-food food and grilled cheese for the kids. Bedtime came early for all.

The next day went well. We got back in our three day old clothes, had breakfast at the hotel, the shuttle showed up when it was scheduled too. Since we already had our boarding passes, we could proceed straight to security. Boarded our plane and had a bit of a delay since the flight was overbooked by 7 seats. The airlines offered $1500 in credit to those taking a bump. Had we not already been delayed, we might have considered it.

Got to Toronto and customs went smoothly. Had a bit of a delay at the ticketing counter trying to get our boarding passes. Again, Gideon was the issue. But we had a four hour layover, so we did not feel pressed for time. Finally got our boarding passes, went through security again, found our gate and had lunch. I always find at the gates waiting to come to PEI, people are usually very friendly and talkative and that day was not exception. It felt like almost everyone on our flight had been stuck somewhere due to the weather on Monday. So everyone was very glad when we boarded the plane and we finally took off.

We arrived back to PEI around 6:pm on Wednesday. I think everyone was glad to see home, be able to sleep in their own beds and put on clean underwear!