On a break...and on to adventure!

Sorry for the delay in posts, but last week was our fall break - we survived midterms! Hooray! So we celebrated by taking a break - from blogging, from school, and from Canada. We traveled back to East Tennessee to visit family. (Please do not be offended if we do not get to spend time together as this trip was mainly for the grandparents to have some one-on-one baby time, and seeing us was a mini-bonus!) Without further ado, here are some of our adventures from last week.

We had plans to fly to Tennessee on Friday evening so that Adah could sleep on the flight.

Super Baby Spann

We took our exams early during the week and had all day Friday to pack our bags and empty our refrigerator. At 6 AM on Friday morning, Kevin received an automated wake-up call from the airlines telling us our flight has been cancelled. What?!? Now being awake, Kevin called to speak to a human being in an attempt to try and get some more info on our flight. It was indeed cancelled, with no explanation; but they were happy to accommodate us. Our next flight was Sunday. Not later on Friday. Not Saturday. But Sunday morning. Kevin, being the ever patient pilot/mechanic, tried to find out about other options: departing from Montreal, departing from Vermont, arriving in Knoxville, arriving in Nashville, arriving in Atlanta, arriving in Charlotte, arriving in Lexington, etc. Nothing could connect us to a location near Tennessee anytime before we would arrive Sunday on the regular flight. So, Sunday was our only option with an 8 AM flight. Luckily, they put us in a hotel in Montreal Saturday evening so that we wouldn't have to drive 2 hours with a 5 month old at 4 AM.

Sleeping in between flights

We had a 5 hour layover in Chicago, but baby cooed her way into many people's hearts. She did great on the flight! She nursed a little and even took a pacifier for the first (and only) time! Some people even commented  they didn't know a baby was even on the plane!

Sweet baby, even after missing all her naps!

After arriving in Tennessee Sunday evening (flying and waiting all day), we spent the next week in a whirlwind of family visits and cleaning up our old house (which is on the market). We have no idea where the time went.

Four generations: Me, mom, Great Aunt Ruby, and baby

The following Sunday morning, bright and early, we headed to the Knoxville airport to fly back to Canada. Unfortunately, the airlines had other plans....again...  The baby was not registered (even though we registered her in Canada for the flights and payed her taxes).  We waited while airline personnel worked hard to find the problem. Three agents, one phone call, 10 printed-off ticket mistakes, and one hour later, we rushed to make out flight. We arrived at the gate with 2 minutes to spare!

After grabbing a quick bite to eat during our layover in Chicago, we settled down for a short wait for our next flight (30 minutes)...until it was announced that our flight was delay due to mechanical issues. Kevin knew right away that we were on the same airplane we were on before, coming from Knoxville. During the flight, he noticed the anti-ice system wasn't as it should be, causing a loud noise during flight. 2 hours later, the mechanics deemed the airplane to be airworthy and we were on our way. Adah was a trooper! She nursed and slept happily while Kevin and I began to watch a movie on our laptop.

Halfway through the flight, Kevin noticed that the airplane made a very long turn and was heading back towards the sun. He gave me a look that said, "oh no." Sure enough,  a few minutes later, the pilot announced we were headed back. The anti-ice system issue was still not fixed and we had to turn around before we got into an area where ice had been predicted. (For those of you unfamiliar with flight mechanics/travel the plane is equipped with the anti-ice system to prevent any possible ice build up on the aircraft in order to keep the weight down/improve visibility and proper airflow over the plane).

Sleepy baby is trying to play

So, after a one and a half hour scenic tour over Michigan, we arrived back in Chicago. Luckily, by the time we walked back in to the terminal, the airlines had already arranged for another plane to take us to Canada. We waited an hour for them to clean it up and fuel it and we were on our way! We touched down in Canada (bags and all!) at 6 PM and slipped through customs and baggage quickly (Canadians love children and you get to cut to the front of the line)! We made it back to our car and drove home and had Adah in bed by 10 PM.

We are thankful to be back and are ready to finish up our first semester of French. We were grateful to everyone along the way who helped us through the airport, the kind airline service people who worked hard to get us where we needed, and all the random strangers who did not complain when our tired baby refused to take a pacifier on the flight home! God is so good!