San Diego 2010 - Day 8

Jim left the night before (Friday, Day 7) to go to his new hotel room that is near his testing location. On Saturday, he was scheduled to take his Professional Structural Engineer Exam #3 (3rd hardest, not his 3rd attempt).  We both decided it would be best if he had a chance to get a good rest the night before and no stress the next morning, so that left the kids and I the next morning. We were mostly packed and ready to go. Our flight didn't leave until 2:30, so we weren't in a hurry. I was really disappointed to see it raining when we walked out of the door for a morning walk. Instead, we loaded up and headed south. Laura realized that she didn't have her souvenir postcard from the Safari Park, and since we had time, we went back to the front desk for a key, drove back to our "villa" and searched. No luck, but she dealt with it pretty well. Its a life lesson, right? Back in the car to San Diego. We passed 2 crashes on the way, so it was slow going. We finally made it to Seaport Village, which is a little village of fun shops on the Embarcadero overlooking the harbor. We checked out some cool shops and ate a fantastic brunch before heading to the airport. At the rental car return, I was prepared to pack up everything and take forever trying to get out bags, kids, and car seats, but as soon as they realized I was by myself, the rental car guy hopped in the car and drove us over to the airport in our car!!! It was the first of many act of kindness we were to receive that day. I must have looked pathetic with both kids, 3 carry on bags, and 2 car seats. I didn't really feel pathetic or harried, but enough people went out of their way to assist us that I must have looked like I needed the help. We unloaded near the curbside checkin, but Delta workers informed me that I couldn't check in the car seats at the curb, so I had to go inside and up a lever. Grrrr...I guess I'll get a cart. But then - "Would you like some help with your bags?" "Yes, please!" Usually I always refuse help, but I realized how silly that was in this situation. So the Delta guy loaded up all my bags and car seats on a cart and we followed him up to check in. He deposited them right up near the desk, and we were checked in in no time. Security was a breeze, even though they searched my backpack. Apparently, I had too many "organic" items in there and they wanted to make sure it was all appropriate. Translation: I packed a ton of snacks and they wanted to make sure it was all legal. We had time to waste in the airport and we all kept it together nicely. They got free stuffed carrots (?) in an airport gift shop. We boarded the plane and realized it was only half full and Adam would get his own seat after all! Yipee! That made such a difference in our flight. The kids did well, with only one incident that I might write about later if I get the courage. Both kids fell asleep for about the last 45 minutes and woke up pretty nicely to put their seatbelts on. The baggage was waiting for us, we got a cart, and our shuttle was waiting when we walked out the door. Unfortunately, as we loaded onto the shuttle, Laura lost her new carrot. There were some tears on the way to the car, but the driver came back and told us that another driver had found it and was bringing it to us! Wow, how incredibly kind! So we got the carrot, drove home, and went to bed. Amen.