This weekend, we went to visit Greg's grandmother Marion in Dayton, Ohio. She was recently widowed, just before Christmas, when her second husband Bob passed away. He had been in failing health and was ready to go. While Grandma and Bob had only been married a little over 2 years, they had been friends for many years and it was sweet that they had each other's companionship and were able to take care of each other. The last time we saw Bob was in July at the Muse family reunion at Murphin Ridge Bed & Breakfast in Ohio--smack in the middle of Amish country. It was nice to catch up with Greg's extended family on his mom's side, see his cousin Michelle's new baby Noah, and learn about the Muse family history (thanks to his uncle Ken).
Anyway, getting back to Dayton...we were supposed to fly out with Greg's mom on Friday night and return on Sunday afternoon. When Nicholas came home from school, he said he didn't eat any lunch because he wasn't feeling well. He was really excited to fly since it had been a while since we had flown anywhere, and I think he was more excited about swimming at the hotel (we had to find some way to make the weekend appealing for the kids). Anyway, he kept complaining all the way to the airport and after fighting the Edens' Friday night rush hour traffic, we decided to spend the night in Northbrook and fly out the next morning.
Saturday morning--we wake up at 5:30am and drive to O'Hare for the 8:15am flight, only to find when we get to the gate that the flight is delayed until 10am. Then 11am. Since we are flying United Express, we walk out to the tarmac and climb up the plane steps to board (the first highlight of many to come during this trip). Well, if you've ever been on these little planes, they are bumpy compared to the regular jets and if you sit in the back of the plane, a bit more so. About a half hour into the flight, we hit a huge air pocket and all the passengers go flying out of their seats. Thank goodness the kids were still buckled at this point--Sophia flew up out of her seat until her seat belt stopped her. The flight attendant, who had been serving drinks, hit her head and flew back, completely airborne before landing and hitting her side. When we got to Dayton, there were paramedics waiting to take her off the plane. At the end of the flight, Sophia wanted to know where her Sprite was.
We had a nice, albeit short, visit with Grandma. The kids were good and patient, considering their total lack of sleep during the weekend. It helps when you can periodically threaten them with no swimming when they start getting restless. Grandma has some health issues but is much more independent than what you might expect from someone who is almost 90 years old. And she had enough cushions in her apartment to keep the kids entertained for hours.
We had a hurried lunch with Grandma before rushing to the airport for our 1:23pm flight to Chicago. Greg's mom dropped us off and then we ran to check in, only to find our flight had been canceled. Apparently, this happens a lot in Dayton simply because there are not many people flying there. So we sat and waited at the most desolate airport I had ever been in for the 4pm flight, which got delayed until 5:15pm. And when it took off, I think there were about 20 people on the plane that had like 135 seats. Greg and I commented that the trip and the Dayton airport reminded us of Stephen King's The Langoliers. It's one of King's freaky stories you don't really want to think too much about regardless of how unrealistic it may be.
Anyway, when we got home last night, about 7 hours after we should have, we felt like the trip was longer than the 36 hours that we were roughly gone. But we feel better for having gone than not, simply because it was good to see Grandma and good for the kids to have more memories of their great-Grandma as well.
