GG Arrives in Hawaii

Today we went to the airport to pick up my mother! We were so excited to have her come visit us. We got there early and picked out the most beautiful lei we could find.

No cheap "touristy" lei for my mother. This one is the real deal!

Katie was also holding a sign which read, "Welcome GG!!" GG is what the kids call my mother. it stands for Gorgeous Grandmother. And no she did not pick that name out for herself. It was chosen for her against her will.

We found out which door she would be coming through and positioned ourselves right by it along with a dozen other people awaiting their family members. They all had leis too........ours was prettiest. Of course, we couldn't go right up to where the passengers disembark. We had to wait at the bottom of an escalator on the other side of some glass doors. We watched as droves of people swarmed down the escalator. Then there would be a gap. Then another swarm. Then a bigger gap. Then a smaller swarm. We waited and waited. When the pilots and stewardesses came down the escalator and through the doors I started to wonder where she was.

Now I should just say, my family has a travel demon that plagues us. The first time my mother came to visit us in Alaska, she caught the flu, had to be taken to the hospital and given fluids intravenously, and ended up cutting her trip short and heading back home because she was just so sick.

(And one of these days, when I am short on things to blog about, remind me to tell you about the plane trip where I had blood, vomit, pee, and poo on me all in the space of one nightmarish flight. Or the time I missed my plane to Texas. Or the time I got stranded overnight in the Salt Lake City airport with two kids and no diapers.)

So you can understand my concern when my mother didn't come down that escalator.

Turns out, she had trouble getting on the plane in the first place. She had to go through the metal detector four times before they finally let her on the plane. Her earrings, necklace, and bracelets all made her beep.

Then, when she got off the plane, she got turned around and went towards the wrong baggage claim.

Then, the bottom of her shoe split.............

And the side came detached until it was only held together by two little strings and good luck.

So I'm back at the bottom of the escalator, and getting a little worried so I get out my cell phone and call her. She answers and I ask her where she is and she says, "I'm here but I'm having trouble finding the baggage claim area........." and her cell phone battery went dead at that exact moment.

I am not making this up.

So I knew she was there, I just didn't know where. And I had no way of contacting her.

She actually managed to bypass us somehow, and came down a different escalator and snuck up on us from behind.

She's here!

We managed to get the lei on her and hoped the soothing floral smell would calm her nerves.

And we are ready to take GG out and show her Hawaii!!