The Flight
In an effort to wear our children out so they would sleep on the 13 hour flight we decided to take them to Disneyland the day of the flight. Turns out it worked out quite well. They were exhausted all right.....but so were we! What we didn't plan on was the three hour check-in line once we got to the airport. Fortunately, we had had a lot of practice waiting in lines that day so what was another line at this point?! Apparently, the computer systems were on the fritz. I couldn't help, but wonder if this was a bad omen for the rest of the trip to come. I just prayed this was the only glitch and we would smooth sail from there. As the minutes turned into hours in line and worn out hungry children became more and more difficult my patience began to wear thin. We couldn't walk anywhere because I had to stay with the giant cart full of 9 pieces of luggage, 7 carry ons, kid pack and car seats while Todd stood in the cattle herders. We traded children back and forth through the line and tried to maintain some sort of order. Finally, we were able to check in--at least part went smoothly.
Next, onto security. So apparently, the giant LAX airport only has one elevator to the second floor in our particular terminal and it was.....wait for it........OUT OF ORDER! Mind you we have 7 carry ons, three children, three car seats and a kid pack. So, we stand in some line at the bottom of the stairs to go through some security and then up the stairs to stand in another line to go through more security. By this time we have 10 minutes to boarding and at least a twenty minute wait to get through this line. And, now our children are even more tired and hungry. Joey is refusing to walk Katie is having a minor meltdown about how bad her legs hurt and John has had a blowout that is leaking onto my arm. AWESOME!
So, we finally get up to the security point and we start unloading everything as fast we can...jackets, shoes, belts, carry-ons, laptops, hard drives, cameras, 12 jars of baby food and bottles. I think at this point we had the sympathy of everyone in line behind us except the two French pilots breathing down my neck while they pointed and jabbered in their foreign tongue like they've never seen a family of our size going on a place before! We make it through and it's a race to the gate and pray they have some sort of food to grab along the way. Hooray, there was a Burger King, but wait you guessed it, the line was too long to get anything! So, at this point Todd grabbed a few overpriced chips and treats, I changed John's diaper (realizing I did not have an extra change of clothes for him) and we attempted to board the plane with John in his diaper duds.
This is where our luck really did change. The cutest, sweetest, and most kind stewardess' ever set us all up with kid bags and a bassinet that attaches to the wall (Anyone else ever seen these before? They are awesome!) for John to sleep in. Hands down the best airline experience for kid friendliness we've ever had. We each had our own TV screen stocked with more than 50 movies, TV shows and kid games all free of charge. Things were really starting to look up.
We finally take off and within 10 minutes we are served some ok plane food. John settles into his little crib thing, we all watch our own movie and then sleep for most of the next 6-8 hours. Then it's breakfast, a little more movie watching and we're landing. It was amazing. John cried for a grand total of three whole minutes during the entire flight and the other two were perfect.
If the check-in hadn't been such a nightmare it would have been perfect.
Once we landed, we had to change money, go through customs, get our luggage, go through biosecurity and get the rental car. All went smoothly except the luggage and biosecurity. In our flurry to get on the plane they had asked at the gate if there was anything else we wanted to check. We assumed gate check and Todd handed them a few items including his fishing rod made by his best friend. *Don't ever do this on an Air New Zealand flight. They have no idea what a gate check is. Apparently, they just throw everything in with the regular checked luggage. So, of course, when all the luggage appears his rod doesn't. We wait and wait, Todd check's in at lost luggage and is basically told forget ever seeing your rod again and by the way, we won't reimburse you because your rod was "sticking out" of the top of your backpack. But, you can't get mad because they are so friendly and so nice that you just can't do it. So you're left seething!
Then it's onto biosecurity with our giant stack of luggage. So, these people give you all kinds of grief about anything outdoor or food related that you are bringing into the country. So once again we unload...baby food, tent, fishing waders, boots etc. Thinking we've got it all out we head through the scanner. Oh no, they want the kids' rain boots, my Uggs, anything with a rubber sole, so I'm digging through giant duffles looking for any shoes with a rubber sole and this lady, who was not so nice, turns to her coworker and says(insert extreme sarcasm tone), "Can you believe this family?" Like we're some sort of anomaly and she is just so annoyed with us. I wanted to turn around and say something not so nice, but really I just wanted to cry. I was so done! And, fortunately after that we were done.....with that part of the adventure.
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