Birthday Fun and Snowstorm Fears

Brandon's parents arrived at our house on March 11th.  The kids were thrilled with their surprise visit and assumed that they were here to celebrate Brandon's Birthday on the 12th.  The kids had no idea we were leaving for the airport on the 12th!  

M was on a Yahtzee kick and recruited Grandpa Tom for a game almost right away.  Tom said it was the first game he ever played.  They played many many games over the following 10 days. 

M: It was so much fun to teach Grandpa Tom the game of Yahtzee.

The kids decided that we could eat Brandon's Birthday cake (and pie) the day before his Birthday because they really couldn't wait.  It was very special to have Tom and Judy here for Brandon's Birthday.  It has been at least a decade since they have been with us on his Birthday.  We told the kids that night about our travel plans and they took it pretty well.  We were very glad that we waited to tell them until the final day.  

M and T:  Thanks for making Daddy's cake in our favorite colors Grandma Judy!

Our family... T decided earlier that day that winking was the coolest thing ever!

So thankful for Grandpa Tom and Grandma Judy!

Brandon's Birthday was a Sunday this year... and spring forward day so he had very little sleep the night before and a very busy morning at church.  Spring forward day is super fun for me because when else do my kids sleep in? The kids were very excited for Brandon to open gifts when we got home from church.  His gifts were mainly food and things T drew, but I figured spending a week with me was a pretty good gift. 

Two family pictures in two days, a record!

T: We were so excited for Daddy's Birthday.

T had spent hours wrapping presents (her drawings) for Brandon.  She was frustrated with the time it took to tape the gifts so she glued the wrapping paper to the boxes.  Also, I precut the paper to fit the boxes, but she managed to turn it so that it didn't fit and needed extra scrapes glued to it.  Her finished products were works of art that depicted her personality. 

T: Isn't Daddy handsome. 

M: I gave Daddy his card a few days ago.  That was good, right? 

M: As soon as the presents were opened it was time for more Yahtzee. 

After opening presents we ate lunch and began to investigate the pending snowstorm.  We were scheduled to fly out of our local airport early the following day.  We were to have a layover in the City before flying to Puerto Vallarta.  We kept checking the weather and pondering our very short layover.  If our first flight was delayed we would be in big trouble.  We decided to drive to the City where our second flight was to take off and just skip the first flight.  We canceled our first hotel and booked on in the City near the airport (without researching it... sigh).  Then Brandon got a voice message saying our flight from close airport to the City has been canceled and we were rerouted to go from home city to Dallas and then on to Mexico.  Oh dear!  This was not what we were hoping to hear.  We decided to call the airline and change back to the first option without the first flight.  There was a big storm brewing all over the midwest and expected on the east coast a couple days later.  When Brandon called in the recording estimated 2 hours on hold.  We put the phone on speaker and packed to the music and words of American Airlines hold service.  It was stressful for everyone.  We were expecting to have a slow paced afternoon of packing and then a quick drive to the hotel after dinner.  Instead we were packing crazy fast and eating early and then having Tom and M drive us to the hotel in the City and then home again.  It was not ideal at all.  It was probably not a great way to spend a Birthday.  I just kept praying that we would get our flight out and remembering that we would soon be able to relax.  

We left the house in total chaos.  I felt awful leaving in such a hurry with piles everywhere.  Judy was so laid back and wasn't phased at all.  Wow, am I thankful for her!  

We arrived at the hotel to discover it was not as nice as we anticipated, but we were there in one piece and the snow hadn't started and we were thankful.  We had a sweet goodbye with M and then made our way to bed wishing we could just take a night flight out and keep the traveling going.  

The day was not what we expected, but everything ended up working out OK.  Check back in tomorrow to hear about our travel day during the snow storm back home, the crazy check in and our relaxing week in Mexico!