Andrews Family

While JR was traveling for work, my mom and grandma came to visit Olivia & I.  They arrived late on St. Patrick’s Day (Friday) and were originally planning a short trip with a departure on Sunday, but ended up staying until Tuesday (more on that later)!  Saturday we went baby shopping with stops at Babies R US, USA Baby, and Special Addition.  We made Great Grandma Hatt’s signature spaghetti for dinner and had good wine & conversation.  Sunday we got up to go to the airport and that is where our adventure began!  Their flight had been delayed two hours for mechanical failure, so we waited in the airport and enjoyed the extra time for visiting.  We said our goodbyes and they went through security and Olivia and I drove home.  Right as we were walking through the door, the phone rang and it was Grandma saying their flight had been cancelled and they were re-booked on the 8 o’clock flight later that night.  I put Olivia back in the car and we drove down to the airport to pick up Grandma and Great Grandma (again).  After grabbing some lunch, we hung out at the house for the afternoon and enjoyed the extra time for visiting (again) .  We headed back to the airport around 6:30 and Olivia decided on this third trip of the day that she was tired of the 30 min car ride to the airport.  She screamed at the top of her lungs for the second half of the drive.   I pulled into the parking garage and told Grandma and Great Grandma they would have to check themselves in and I was going to feed Olivia in the car and try to calm her down.  We said quick goodbyes (again) and they were off.  After sitting in the car for about an hour debating whether to go home or not, I got another call from Grandma saying that this flight was delayed two hours due to weather.  I told her to grab us some ice cream on their side of security and meet us at our "usual table".  We sat there and had a good laugh about the crazy day and enjoyed the extra time for visiting (again).  Suddenly, we realized that Olivia needed a diaper change.  I took her to the bathroom to clean up her fullest diaper ever, and after a complete "bath" in baby wipes, I realized I had no more diapers in the diaper bag!    I had a cloth diaper that we use for a burp cloth so I put that and a spare outfit on her and then ran out to the car for the spare diapers in the glove box.  By the time I made it back in, she had wet the cloth diaper (and the spare outfit)!  Oh, the adventures of motherhood!!  We got everything cleaned up and said our goodbyes to Grandma & Great Grandma (again)  and sent them through security.  At that point, it was definitely not worth going home since we had to pick JR up from his work travel at 10:45pm.  We hung out at the hotel bar since it was the only thing open (thank God for smoking bans).  Grandma and Great Grandma had been given vouchers for use at the airport resturaunts for all their trouble, but of course they were no good at the bar (or for the ice cream)!  The waitress took pity on us and gave us a complimentary bottle of water.    Just as we were about to go downstairs to baggage claim and wait for JR, Grandma called and said their plane was cancelled (again)!  Apparently the storms in Dallas had not subsided and the pilots had too many hours on the job at that point.  Grandma & Great Grandma were told to call American Airlines and rebook.  Most of you northerners are aware of the blizzard that hit Nebraska early last week.  There were up to 24 inches of snow in some places!    Well, that system brought severe thunderstorms to Dallas that ended up cancelling Grandma & Great Grandma’s plans of getting to Dallas Sunday night (they were to spend the night in Dallas Sunday and continue on their journey Monday morning).  At first American said they couldn’t get them out until Wednesday, but we eventually got a Tuesday itinerary and were grateful for that.  Happily, due to the blizzard in Nebraska, all the appointments that Grandma & Great Grandma had Monday and Tuesday were cancelled and what better way to spend two snow days than in sunny Texas with your only granddaughter/great granddaughter!    We eventually got JR and headed back to the parking garage (through the torrential rain) to go home.  Monday we were given a beautiful, sunnny, 75 degree day and we spent it at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  The Bluebonnets were blooming and it was a much-needed peaceful day.  We headed back to the airport Tuesday morning and everything went off without a hitch.  Grandma & Great Grandma got home safe & sound Tuesday night.  We sure enjoyed our marathon weekend!!