Little side note: the day before we left, the touch screen on my phone went out and I couldn't use my phone at all, I could answer it and see that I had a text, but I couldn't get into the messages or my contacts, great timing. Bart brought his old blackberry home to try to get me through until we could get a new one. It would just shut off on me and wouldn't turn back on unless it was plugged in. So that just added to the anxiety.
Day 1: Wed. January 26th
The plan was to leave, Wed. I had Owen all set to go, medical releases signed, grocery shopping done and we took off on time to get to Angie's. We dropped Owen off and headed to the airport. Our flight took off as scheduled, but 45 min. into the flight the pilot came over the speaker and said we were headed back to Salt Lake because Newark Airport had lots of wind and power outages. Even though we were headed back to SLC, he said we had to circle for about an hour and a half because the fuel was to heavy to land so he had to burn some up before we could land. This has never happened to me before, we ended back at SLC and had to figure out how we were going to get to New York. We got a flight for the next morning and asked if we could pick up our luggage. The answer was NO, "it needed to stay in their secure location to ensure that it would arrive at it's destination." (Had I known what I was in for, I would've thrown a stink to get it)
We headed back to Angie's, she was nice enough to let us stay the night, with nothing but the little overnight bags Delta gave us.
Day 2: Thursday, January 27th
Happy Birthday, Ginna. We woke up and got ready to go: no makeup and ugly hair. We woke up to my favorite breakfast ever, BREAKFAST ROLLS. My sweet sister, Angie, made them for me, put a candle in it, took a picture and sure made the morning a very special way to start the day.
SLC airport: as we're waiting in the security line, power goes out. We just looked at each other like "serious?" Luckily it didn't delay our plane too much. We got on the plane and were off. Arrived at Newark Airport with our shuttle already there to greet us and get us to our hotel, we just had to get our bags. It seemed as if our luck had turned around.
After watching the turn thing go for an hour and realizing our luggage was not coming. They promised it was on it's way and they'd have it delivered to our hotel. The shuttle had left at this point and we weren't sure if we'd even make it to the Knicks game we had tickets for. We called a new shuttle, and had them drop us off at Madison Square Garden. It was such a fun game, Knicks beat the Heat and we had a blast, especially Bart. They pulled out all the stops for that game it was totally awsome.
We got to our hotel around 11:30 pm. I was amazed at how everything is still open. So at our hotel, no luggage. Bart checked online and it said it was still in SLC. "Are you joking?" We realized we had to go out and try to get some pagama's, laundry detergent (it's not like we can just pick up new garments). Also the hotel only had valet laundry that they would pick up in the morning. You could request same day, but that would do us no good. So we were back out, about 12:05 am. Just our luck just about everything closes as midnight. Forever 21 was the only clothing store still open until 1 am and they did have a very small men's dept. We grabbed pj pants, t-shirts, and socks. Then hit us a convenience store for toiletries and laundry detergent and headed back to the hotel to do some good ol' fashion wash in the sink...
We were also told that luggage was usually delivered during the night. So I went to bed with high hopes of having luggage in the morning.
...Still no working phone
Day 3: Friday, Jan. 28
Woke up to NO LUGGAGE. At least online it now said it was at Newark Airport. So I'm thinking, at least by this afternoon we should have luggage and I can change my clothes before going to Mary Poppins.
It was a great and very exhausting day. We did alot of walking and shopping, but it's amazing how when you look terrible, no makeup, hairbrush, etc. It's hard to really get into the spirit of NY shopping and new clothes. It's also a little troubling when your not sure if you'll even have a way to get your purchases home?
One of the funnest parts of the day was a bicycle tour through Central Park. That is incredible and the one place we didn't hit on our first trip. I found out later, that Bart was secretly hoping I would turn the guy down who was trying to sell the tour. But he kept saying after he was really glad I didn't. We got a lot of history, saw Maury Povich on a daily stroll and I got to relive a lot of classic movies (Friends, Elf, Home Alone, Enchanted, Maid in Manhatten, etc. etc. etc).
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| The "Friends" Fountain |
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| The Lego Store was a favorite of Bart's |
Then off to the Main Event: Mary Poppins!!! All I can say is WOW!!! What an AMAZING production. The scenery and stage was incredible, a real 2 story home. I loved every second of it!!!
We got back to the hotel around 11:45 and actually had an update that our luggage had been released to the delivery company and we should be receiving it within 12 hours. Sort of comforting, but not really. We would be leaving our hotel at 9:30 to get to the airport, just shy of 12 hours.
The classic line of the day: Bart flops down on the bed, totally frustrated and says, "I'm done with this trip, I'm sorry, Happy Birthday, but I'm done with NY" :) I had to just smile. It was totally true, I don't think either of us had been more ready to just get home.
Day 4: Last Day: Saturday, Jan. 29
Woke up at 7:30 and received a call, our luggage had just barely arrived. Relived, for the first time in 4 days, I had a change of clothes and undies. I actually could do my hair and put makeup on!!! We had 2 hours to repack and put the purchases in our suitcases and went to meet our shuttle, home bound.
Things actually worked out pretty good, we got home on time, luggage arrived. And we headed to pick up or little boy.
On the bright side, I don't think Owen even knew we were gone. He was having the time of his life with his cousins and all the attention, basketball, new toys, and place to run wild. His cousins are so good to him and he sure loves being one of the boys. When we got to the door, he came running and when he saw us, he was happy, but it was almost like we were crashing his party. He was excited to show us all his new tricks, though. He was super excited for his new NY Yankees bat and ball and Bart couldn't be prouder.
A few weeks later, we're still finding out new things that he learned. So much fun.
