Cancelled Flight and 4th of July

Remember that awesome getaway I had planned for 4th of July weekend in Syracuse?

Guess what?

I'm still here in Natick, and I will not be going to Syracuse this summer. 

To make a long story short...

Neighbor drove us to airport.

Checked in two car seats and luggage.

Got through security with two kids, a stroller, and a carry on.

Ate dinner, went to Starbucks.

Before heading to gate, I receive phone call saying my flight is cancelled.

CANCELLED.

Due to some pesky hurricane name Arthur that was brewing down south on the coast.

It was about as nightmarish as you can imagine at the airport with two kids and a cancelled flight.

There were SO many cancelled flights which meant SO many angry travelers...and crowds...

I had to figure out a way to reclaim our checked bag and car seats.

Once I got my huge suitcase and both car seats, I had to load them up on a Smart Cart (4 freaking dollars, btw).

I entrusted my almost 5 year old daughter to push her brother in the stroller, so that mommy could manage to steer this cart without the car seats and luggage toppling over.

I then had to find a reasonably priced cab to drive us home back to Natick.

Eighty five dollars later, we made it back home.

Then came the task of contacting the airline to rebook my flight.

I sat on hold for almost 2 hours before the airline told me I would have to call back in the morning.

I went to bed exhausted, and woke up at 7am and called the airline like I was told to do.

6 hours and 4 minutes later (on hold), I finally talked to an actual human being.

 Instead of being angry and irate (how I was really feeling), I chose to be cheerful and polite. 

The customer service agent was so appreciative that I wasn't screaming at him and cursing him out that he tried his best to get me on another flight AND push my return date back. 

After I decided it was not worth flying in to Syracuse on Tuesday and coming back Thursday, he gave me a FULL refund on my non refundable ticket because I was so nice. 

It pays to be nice sometimes.

So we spent 4th of July at home, and thanks to Hurricane Arthur, it was rainy all day.

All the parades were cancelled and there were no fireworks.

Instead of mope about how awful 4th of July was this year, we made the best of it...

We played soccer in the rain...

Blew bubbles...

I bought all these adorable 4th of July outfits for my kids for our trip to Syracuse.

I wasn't going to let them go to waste, so I dressed them up, and tried to snap a few photos.

This is the best one I got of BOTH kids together...

And I bribed Dannika to cooperate.

Little man has been running a low grade fever (probably teething), so he wasn't too happy.

We raced...

And I even let Dannika jump in puddles!

Miss Emilee played in the rain too!

Dannika worked on her handstand push ups.

 

Despite our cruddy circumstances, we made the best of it!

I hope everyone had a happy 4th!