Or at least they were. Megan and Ethan actually left a few weeks ago but I am finally trying to catch up all my posts now that I have all of my pictures loaded into the computer. I am going to try and do a post a day until I am all caught up.
And so the story begins...
Allan left for Pennsylvania on December 23rd to pick up Megan and Ethan and bring them down here for Christmas. The plan was for him to leave here around 2 p.m. and land in Harrisburg, PA around 9 p.m. He was going to hang out in the airport until the kids arrived the next morning to take their 10 a.m. flight back to Texas. They were to arrive here about 3 p.m. The plan was for Nate and I to pick the three of them up at the airport and have a happy 2 hour drive to Tyler, Texas to spend Christmas Eve with Allan's mom and family. Santa was going to come to Tyler for the kids and then after lunch we were to make the 2 hour drive back to Ft. Worth to have Christmas with my family. Picture perfect plan, right?? But it didn't go that way AT ALL!!
Here's the REAL story...
Allan's plane didn't leave Ft. Worth until 3:20 p.m. which only gave him a 10 minute layover in Chicago, IL instead of and hour and a half layover. Needless to say he missed his flight. PANIC! He quickly went to the ticket counter to see what they could do about it. The problem was the next flight to Harrisburg, PA wasn't until the next morning. It wouldn't arrive until 9:20 a.m. and his flight with the kids was scheduled to leave at 10 a.m. Him and I both agreed that it was too close for comfort. I immediately began looking up different flights to other area airports. There was a flight from Chicago to Baltimore late that evening and it would put him in Baltimore about midnight. He could then rent a car and drive it one way up to Harrisburg. It's only a hour and an half drive. After talking with the ticketing agent they booked him the flight to Baltimore. Turns out it was a better option anyways since they could only put him on stand-by for the morning flight to Harrisburg....or so we thought.
Allan had to wait in the airport for 3 hours to take the plane out of Chicago to Baltimore so I got busy trying to find him a last minute car. I also had to call the actual car company to make sure they would stay open late enough for him cause he only had 30 minutes to get from his arrival gate to the car rental place. (If you've ever been to Baltimore, you have to take a shuttle from the airport terminals to the car rental counters.) The car company assured me they would wait. Sigh of relief, or so I thought again. His flight to Baltimore was delayed and it didn't arrive until 1 a.m. He immediately called the car company himself and told him he landed. They said they would wait, and they did.
He got to the counter, filled all the paper work out, and handed over his card to pay. Now, we don't rent cars all that often so we had no clue that they put a hold on more than the amount of the actual rental and Allan's debit card fell $50.oo short. PANIC again. He calls me and I have a credit card I could give him to put the hold on, but they won't accept a number over the phone. Allan had to physically have the card. So he started down the line of rental car companies and no one would help him. So, here is Allan stranded in Baltimore at 1:30 in the morning with no car and no way to get to Harrisburg to get his kids and take the flight home at 10 a.m. I am at home with no way to help him. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I immediately started calling tons of taxi companies to see how much it would cost for them to take him to Harrisburg. They wanted over $300! Ouch! Finally at 2:30 a.m. he called the kids mom and asked her if she would come and pick him up in Baltimore before she took the kids to Harrisburg. (Her and the kids live in Chambersburg, PA. Harrisburg, Baltimore and Chambersburg form a triangle on the map.) She agreed to come get him! Hallelujah! Allan slept a few hours in Baltimore and I didn't sleep a wink until he called me to tell me she had arrived and they were on their way to Harrisburg. But the story doesn't end there!!
Allan, Megan, and Ethan had a layover in Detroit. They got to Detroit just fine and were due back in Ft. Worth at 3 p.m. except they ended up having a delay in Detroit because of SNOW IN TEXAS!! Yep, it snowed on Christmas Eve in Texas!! Allan and the kids were not going to get here until 6 p.m. Just enough time for the snow to fall like crazy and the roads to get all messy. I had already had the car loaded with all the presents (4 heavy boxes) and our overnight bag. At this point I still thought we were going to Tyler, despite my mom calling me and warning me how bad it had gotten outside. So I packed a couple sleeping bags in case something happened and we needed to stay warm. I also packed water, snacks, the adapter for my phone to charge it just in case. I left the house at 5:45 p.m. to head to the airport, made it down to the end of Mustang Drive, and called my mother to assure her we would not be going to Tyler!
I got to the airport to find a van sideways on the ramp I needed to get to terminal E so I went to terminal C to see if Allan and the kids could get to me. While I was there waiting channel 11 news did a news report and Nate and I were seen on T.V. in the background. I was on the phone with my mom and she turned the news on and saw us!! HA! Finally, Allan called me and said I had to find some way to get to him. The airport had closed all the bridges down but opened up the service roads. I made it to terminal E, gave Allan, Megan, and Ethan the biggest hugs and kisses ever, and we all headed home.
Here is a picture of the kiddos after they arrived!
We had Christmas morning with just the five of us and it was all I could have ever asked for after the last 24 hour fiasco. Stay tuned for tomorrows posting of our Christmas morning.
