living like a local: thanksgiving in denver

Friday, October 14, 2016

thanksgiving in denver

classssssssic

so good to get these kids together!

watching baseball

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We did the planes trains and automobiles thing (at least on the way home) and headed south to Denver to visit Karin and Claire and their families, and we had a great time. Rob had never met Erik's Brinkman cousins before, and Jordan was new to everyone - as was Dave, Claire's fiancé, so it was great to get everyone together for a few days. The trip down wasn't without its challenges; as we were about to board the plane we were asked to step aside as there appeared to be an issue with Hendrik's ticket. The entire plane boarded and despite e-receipts for all four tickets, we were told we'd have to pay for one more seat or we couldn't get on the plane. And so... we did, but in all of the confusion Robyn Doggy, Alana's most loved stuffy, got left behind at the gate. We asked the flight attendants to help and the pilot called and asked someone to pick it up - but there was no response from the crew in Detroit - and there continued to be no response by United (at ALL) all weekend. I must have called 30+ times, and the phone was answered once - and it was a number I got from central reservations, one that was "private" ("How did you get this number?!" said a bothered-sounding employee when she picked up.) When we were back in Detroit on our way home we visited the United lost and found where I was told "no, no we don't have that here. I don't see why anyone would keep something like that - it was probably just thrown in the trash." Oh really. Anyways, even though she could have been recovered, she was not... and so life must go on without Robs. And I had no idea I was so attached... to a stuffed dog! But she was much loved by all, even mom and dad. Erik gave Alana one of his "lovies" and so that is what she's taking to bed these days, and what we thought would be a serious deal (getting her to accept that Robyn Doggy is gone), it hasn't been too bad. And then on the way home (we flew back with Delta and it was WAY better) we had a flat tire - but that wasn't as big a deal as it could have been with our what-should-I-call-it... electric pump? The leak was slow enough that we could get home safely, and I had it patched yesterday at the gar-age. Steve is away in Winnipeg until Sunday so getting the kids to school on time (they didn't get out of bed until 8:15 and the tire was flat) was a big of a challenge (i.e. it didn't happen).

I made a list of four things to get done today, and this is the last (YAY) thing to cross off - items 1-3 were WALK (it was in caps on my list), go to library book sale and vacuum. I spent $19 at the annual London Public Library sale (on tomorrow and Sunday too) and came away with a good haul. Jordan was very entertained with all of the books - so much so that after an hour of kicking and grabbing in the carrier he fell sound asleep... allowing for another hour of browsing. I know there's more to write about but I've got to get to bed early tonight... J-bubs is still in newborn sleep mode, with 4-5 wakeups a night, and I am ready to call it a day!