I will start with the plane ride. It is important to note that Ileigh can be freely interchanged with the words "my cat". Unless you do this, you will not understand the full meaning of our experience.
We got to the airport early and let Ileigh run around with her leash on. We got on the plane and warned everyone around us. They were so nice, saying how they had grandkids and such. Ileigh was an angel on the plane. She delightfully played with play doh, colored, and ate snacks. We had no extra seat for her so she was on our laps. Andy sat next to a stranger and Austin sat next to two behind us. We were so relieved the flight went well. After landed though, we had about a half hour wait while Continental found an empty loading dock. The lady next to us may have missed her connecting flight. We had an hour layover so weren't worried. We were scheduled to change planes in Houston and were and to depart around 8:30 Houston time.
We boarded around 8:15. A mechanic was busy fixing some important plane emblement when we situated in our seats. This flight had a lot of empty seats so Ileigh got strapped into her car seat. I gave her a bottle and hoped she would sleep. Nearly 45 minutes later, no one had boarded except us. It was frustrating to find out they were repairing an ARM REST.
When we should of been half way to Orlando, our flight left the Houston airport. Ileigh was good if you asked Andy or me. The fat man in the seat in front of her, may have had a different experience. Oh yeah, and about 20 minutes before landing, Ileigh woke up, screamed and started to vomit. I quickly caught it in a handy airline blanket. I let the stewardess know that she probably didn't want it back. She said lots of babies throw up during desent.
Once in Orlando (at about midnight), we headed up the ramp to collect our stroller which had been gate checked. Of course, it wasn't there. As my arms grew more tired holding on to Ileigh, and the airline checked the plane "one more time", I began to panic, and cry. Yes, I had the claim check. But the numbers would be different since we had gate checked it twice. Once in phx, and once in houston. The Houston people said they would change the ticket numbers on my stroller, but I never got a new stub. BIg MIStAke. They told us to go check with our baggage, and then file a claim. Oh, this is going to be a longer night then I thought, I cringed.
Choking back tears, and picturing us carrying Ileigh around Disney for 6 days, I filed a claim form. Thank you God, Ileigh was being so good. At least something was going right! The airline gave me a loaner stroller. The first one they offered, was nice but a simple umbrella stroller and I told her I really needed a reclining one. She brought me a very old no name one that was rickety, but reclined and looked very comfortable. I was pleased. We held our heads up high as we then searched for a way to get to our hotel.
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