Our trip to Ft. Collins (aka: You aren't going to believe me!)

In my last post I mentioned that we were headed out to Ft Collins for an interview. Ethan and I are excited about the opportunity...we won't know more for a few weeks, but we'd be glad if he gets an offer ; but we still have other interviews to go, and we'll know more about what we want later...The interview went really well, and the evening dinner (where I was basically interviewed) was good, too. They took us to Jay's Bistro off of the downtown mall there; a great place and a fun time.

But...let's back up. This is the part you aren't going to believe: The interview was the easiest part of the whole trip. (Oh, and the half day spent with a realtor that the group had set up for us so that we could get a feel for neighborhoods and such...that was easy, too.)

I understand why families these days don't take vacation. I understand why no one flies anywhere with small children. Not only is it just impossible to make it through security (what with taking off four pairs of shoes, taking out the computer, iPhone, DVD player, emptying sippy cups, taking off jackets, folding up strollers and carseats...) but the dirty looks and unhelpful attitude of every other traveler and all of the security people is absolutely mind numbing. Let's just say that there is a serious lack of grace and/or humor in airports. Not to mention the fact that after all of the trouble it takes to get there, everyone on the whole plane expects your 3 and 1 year old to behave like little adults. It's rather crazy. So, that's just the "normal" part of traveling with small children; this happens to parents everywhere who go anywhere on an airplane. Here's the unbelievable part of our tale.

The day we're leaving is Saturday, so we wake up and have eggs and bacon and juice. A fun breakfast for all, and filling, because we knew it was going to be a long day. We pack up our things, get in the car and head to Dulles International Airport in D.C. We expect the drive to take 2 hours, and since it's 10am, and our flight leaves at 2pm, we were doing well!! Until, that is, Everett gets sick. Yes, he threw up eggs and bacon all over himself and the car. We weren't quite sure what was going on; we'd had no indication he felt poorly. No feverat all, and he had a healthy appetite, so we chalked it up to carsickness. So, we pull over to a gas station, strip him down and wash him off with wet wipes. We clean out the car and get a garbage bag for vomit filled clothing and car seat covers. Ev is feeling fantastic, or so he says, and he wants McDonald's for lunch. OK, that sounds great! We're sure it's carsickness and that he's just fine. He has a wonderful appetite, and eats his whole hamburger and all of his fries, so we head out on our merry way to Dulles. We get to Dulles and can't find Frontier Airlines anywhere. We ask someone and they say it's upstairs to the left. Still can't find it, so I go to the United desk and after about 10 minutes of deliberation, they tell me that Frontier flies out of Regan, not Dulles.

WHAT?!

Great. We are idiots on top of it all. Both of us were certain it was Dulles; when we bought our tickets, we'd double checked that since it would be easier to get into and out of with our kids. No matter now...our problem is that we're not going to make our 2pm flight. So, we call Frontier and talk to someone in reservations. The next flight leaves at 6pm, but they don't "do" stand-by anymore so we'll have to, essentially, buy a new ticket. They said, oh so graciously, "We'll waive the $150 change fee per ticket, and just charge you the difference between your old ticket and new ticket. And yes, that's $336.19 per ticket." (Mind you, we have 3 tickets!)

WHAT?!

No way. Now we're in a mess. We don't have an extra grand sitting around to pay for tickets for our family to fly to Colorado. We made several phone calls to family...my parents offered to give us miles so that we could buy one way tickets to Denver...my mom even had American Airlines on the phone ready to push a button and get us there. (THANK YOU, MOM!!!) My sister gave us the same option and was standing by to help us as well. We decide to suck it up and go and pay for our own mistake ... After 3 more calls to Frontier, getting the same answer each time, we decide to buy the new tickets. All of this happened en route to Regan Airport while it's pouring down rain, we're lost in Washington DC, and the windshield wipers decide to quit working. As SOON as I hang up with Frontier after shelling out big bucks for our new tickets, Ev gets sick again. No, I'm not kidding. Well, now what?? We really want ME to go with Ethan to Colorado to the interview, but what about the kids? What if they're really sick? And, what about the new tickets? But Ev is acting just fine, so we chalk it up to carsickness again. I begin to bawl like a baby. We find some neighborhood off of the highway, get Ev out and clean him up again while he throws up again a few times in someone's front yard. (Sorry!!) We're SOOOO lost, but thankfully the iPhone begins to work again and we find our route to the airport... Not only is all of this going on, but I'm in the middle of what seems to be a possible miscarriage. Talk about the worst day ever.

Finally! We get to Regan...we decide to bite the bullet and pay $100 to park close to the airport. I mean, we're out all of this money now, what's $100? We rush in to the ticket counter and the wonderful lady behind the desk asks, "Why did you buy new tickets? You could have flown stand-by." We explain what we'd been told, and she says, "But there's a 2 hour grace period. If you notify us within 2 hours then stand-by is available."

WHAT?!

Are you freaking kidding me? Are you for real?? We just shelled out all of this money and had all of this stress, put my family through the ringer when we didn't even have to? AGH! Can we just have a do-over today?? Please? So, Debbie at the ticket counter calls all of her friends in Customer Relations to get us our money back, but it's Saturday and no one is in. She gives us her card and personal cell phone number and says she'll guarantee getting it fixed for us. So, as this is happening, Ev throws up in the airport twice and Tate has the worlds biggest poop ever. We know that bathroom inside and out now. At this point, Ev is throwing up water, so we assume he's sick, but there's no going back now. Not after what it took to get this far...

We finally make it to security (which I spoke about earlier...) and on to the plane. And we sit on the tarmac for 50 minutes. Yes, the children LOVE that. (Insert roll-eyes here...) We take off and the kids just crash. Thankfully...some respite from the storm!! Sleeping children!! BUT WAIT! What's that?? MY tummy is rumbling.

It was my lucky day. I got to vomit in an airplane. And so did Ethan! Yes, folks, we were ALL sick. And now we were spreading it to the world. I apologize to everyone for this...We really had no idea. No fevers, not feeling bad...But we did take our wipes and clean everything out, so hopefully we spared a few...It was a horrific experience. McDonald's onions on a hamburger will NEVER be eaten by me again, needless to say. I can still feel them in the back of my throat. Gross. I know.

So, now we think we're going to be OK. We go to Advantage Rent a Car to get our cool SUV that we had rented. But WAIT! They say we only have an economy car on our rental info.

WHAT?!

Seriously. Could we please get a break? Oh, that's right. Orbitz had a deal: rent an SUV for an economy price. Oh, our mistake. We gave your SUV to someone else, but how's about this one? Fine. Sure. We don't care anymore. In this hour long process, Tate decides it's his turn and he pukes all over the floor at Advantage. Thankfully, all of the people there were moms, so they totally came to my rescue and lent a hand.

Ok...now we're in the car. Littleton is in sight. Kirsten (Ethan's sister who we were staying with for the night) knows we're sick and wants us anyway. We make it to her house by midnight... or 2 am our time. We're exhausted. I tuck Ev in bed and he just falls out. Tate, however, refuses to sleep unless it's on top of me...Well, at least he's asleep. Me? I got about 2 hours of sleep, but hey, we had made it and survived.

Thankfully, on Sunday, everyone seemed just fine, so we left the boys with Kirsten (who insisted we go no matter how sick the boys were) and drove off to Ft. Collins. I spent my first night away from Tate and missed my boys, but we slept like logs! Ethan interviewed and I spent the day with my cousin Molly. She showed me all around town, and her daughter Claire was a great sport the whole time. What a great day!!! That night we had our dinner with the group and it was good. A fun time and great people for sure. The next day, we drove around with the realtor and then make our way back to Littleton. It's been a good time, except for the fact that now I know I've miscarried. I'm weepy and emotional, but God grants me a strong husband and a sense of calm, thankfully.

The boys have been just fine; no one is sick...until I get there and Tate wakes up from his nap covered in vomit.

NOT AGAIN.

So, we spend the day cleaning up poop and vomit, and get back on the plane the next day. Everyone is FINE. No sickness, no nothing. We make it to our car (which REEKS of old vomit) and clean it all out, change diapers and get going. We stop at Burger King on the way home and everyone is hungry and eats to their fill. About half an hour away from home, Tate decides he didn't like his french fries and vomits yet again. *sigh* We'll never eat fast food again. We pull over, clean him up and make our way home. We finally make it here by 10pm and crash. I mean, we totally crash.

It's good to be home.

And yes, we're getting a refund.

What's the saying, "It's the little things in life..."