Over the River and Through the Woods . . .

So the wife and I basically took turns staying up all night packing . . . I had hoped to be out the door at 6:45am but we were doing pretty good by getting on the road by 10 after 7.

First stop was the Club Foot clinic. We pulled up and the doctors were walking in from the parking structure. We got the old casts off and the new ones on - wiped the plaster off Annie's face and we were back in the car.

Next stop was to pick up our friend in Point Loma who had agreed to drive us to the airport and hang onto our car while we were gone. On the way to the airport, i asked him, "You have flown with your three kids, right?"

He nodded. "It's quite a production . . . but then again, we usually give them 'medicine' . . ."

"Benadryl?"

"Yep . . ."

"My parents used to do the same to me!" my wife laughed.

He dropped us at the curb and it was "go time".

As I mentioned before, the wife and I were sort of nervous about this trip . . .

1) Did we have too much luggage? (two full-size suitcases, one carry-on suitcase, my briefcase and a diaper bag)
2) Was security going to confiscate the bottles of formula that I had premixed and stored in our carry-ons?
3) If they confiscated the pre-mixed formula, would they allow us to carry on the bag of powdered formula that was in a plastic zip-lock looking like a big bag of cocaine that you see in the movies . . .?
4) Were we going to be able to get through the security check without creating a total commotion and bothering everyone in line behind us?
5) Once on the plane, were little Annie's ears going to bother her on take off and/or landing?

We headed to the ticket counter, check our two suitcases, confirmed that we did not have too many carry-ons and that was that. Wow, that was easy . . . Off to security . . .

We qued up in line - the wife with Annabelle and the diaper bag, me following with the carry-on and my briefcase . . .

When we got to the conveyor belt, the wife handed me the wee-one, put the diaper bag on the machine, took off her coat and boots and sent them through. I handed Annie back to her and the two of them made it through the metal detector on the first try . . . So far so good . . .

I let the next three people in line go ahead of me as I got my stuff together . . .

- laptop out of the briefcase - both on the conveyor . .
- Carry-on suitcase on the conveyor
- Shoes off, belt off, cell phone, keys etc into a bin and onto the conveyor

I breezed through the metal detector and then BEEP! Back through . . . (I had touched the sides I guess and set it off . . .) I got through the second time and joined the girls at the end of the conveyor.

The wife handed me the wee one and got her boots and coat back on.

"Miss, I am going to have to search your bag . . ." The security guard was holding the diaper bag . . .

"You take Annie and go with him", I said to the wife . . . I will stay here with the rest . . .

"Sir, we are going to have to rescan your laptop and briefcase . . ."

"No problem . . .", I said as I was putting on my shoes . . .

"Sir, I am going to have to search your bag . . .", Guard #2 was holding the carry-on . . . crunch time . . .

"No problem", I replied as I was re-threading my belt through my pants . . .

The guard paid no heed to the suspicious bag of white powder and didn't give a hoot about the pre-mixed formula I had in a small cooler . . .

"Thank you sir . . ."

I was fully dressed, had the briefcase, laptop and carry on . . .the wife rejoined me with the wee-one and diaper bag and were were done! Total time? about 2 min 30 seconds . . .

The wife and I looked at each other in amazement.

"Wow. Good job Linden family!" I exclaimed.

"Not bad at all", my wife replied . . . .

We slung our bags over our shoulders and I reached for the carry-on suitcase that was still on the examining table . . . with a triumphant yank, I pulled the bag off the table . . . flinging all the contents across the floor of the security area in the process . . . I had forgotten to zip up the bag .
. .

People around us burst out laughing and I had to laugh too as I chased down my socks and skivvies . . .

"I guess we spoke too soon", my wife laughed . . .

Our flight was delayed for about 45 minutes due to the snow in Seattle. Annie-Lu did just fine the whole way - no fussing what-so-ever. She even slept through the landing.

Good job Linden family!