Th., 3/27

This is the first part in a series of posts to recount our time attending Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's wedding in Philadelphia, and travels to and from there, this past weekend. I'm sparing you most of the details:

We awoke sometime around 3am so that we could be on the road no later than 4am. Our plan was to be at the airport by 4:30am since our flight was scheduled to depart at 5:45am. Everything went according to plan, until we arrived at the airport.

The five of us (me, EM, Ellie, Nanny and Grandpa), with all of our luggage, were standing in line (ok, Ellie wasn't actually standing) to check-in when the news started to spread... first a whisper... then a roar: the flight was canceled. Ugh! I wanted to get mad. I wanted to rage. I probably did both for a minute - inside; but, at 4-something in the morning, with a baby, and the need to come up with a plan B, it wasn't a luxury I could afford.

Speaking of affording things, we quickly realized re-booking the flight was something we could not afford, and taking their next offered flight - Friday morning - was not an option. So as a group we retreated to a seating area, dumbfounded and seemingly defeated. We kicked around several ideas, and vented and watched others vent before we settled on a plan: drive to Philly. However, that meant renting a large enough vehicle to carry all of us and all of our stuff. Fortunately, we were able to wake Uncle Bill and have him make a reservation for us since we did not have a computer and the rental booth at the airport was not yet open.

By 7am we were on the road. Grandpa and I spent most of our time up front, taking turns driving. Nanny and EM spent most of their time in the rear caring for Ellie. Including stops, we were on the road for close to ten hours. Ellie did remarkably well for the bulk of that time minus a few bouts of fussing around nap time. That is due in large part to EM's efforts to play with, and otherwise entertain, her in every way imaginable. We even stopped at a Target to reload on toys.

Once we arrived at the hotel things were significantly easier. We tended to some business, visited with friends and family, and eventually collapsed in our beds still in disbelief as to what transpired earlier in the day.

-ED