We almost missed our flight again!!! It was an unbelievable morning! We arrived at LAX with plenty of time to check-in and get breakfast. We got in line and then were told we needed to go to another line because we were first class. This happened 3 other times. Before I knew it we were in a completely different terminal. I asked an agent where our gate was and she told me we were in the wrong terminal. I almost had a heart attack! Teddy actually started panicking...poor guy, "Mom, are we gonna miss our flight?" he pleaded. I explained to the agent that we had been told repeatedly to keep getting into different lines because we were first class. I had known something seemed fishy...first class is special and all...but normally that doesn't mean you go to a totally different terminal from the commoners. The agent tried to reassure us that we had 20 minutes and go catch the flight....if we ran....so ran we did! Poor Teddy....his anxiety was through the roof and so was mine!!! I kept reminding myself and him to take deep breaths.
We ran as fast as we could...then we saw a woman in one of those little airport golf carts. I raced up to her and told her our sob story. She felt bad enough that she gave us a ride to our terminal. It took us 5 minutes to arrive at Gate 71A by cart when it would have taken us 20 by foot! I enthusiastically thanked the women and Teddy and I ran to the gate. They had just started boarding first class....so on board we went! As soon as we boarded the plane, Teddy's anxiety was gone! He literally sighed and said, "Boy that was a close one!" I laughed! He was right!!! We walked on-board and found another passenger sitting in my seat. She apologized and realized that she was in the wrong one. The funny thing was that the passenger was none other than Dilling Yang, the wife of Chancellor Henry Yang of UCSB. What a small world!
Once we got our bags in the overhead compartments, Teddy and I were able to absorb the reality of first class! I have never flown first class. Now I know why it costs so much! Teddy was in heaven! From the moment we sat down until we landed in Boston we were served and pampered like nothing else! Teddy could not believe how wonderful flying was. The kid is now ruined for life!
The flight was wonderful to say the least! Teddy ate all of the snacks we were given, played a few video games, watched an episode of Star Wars, and spent the last hour of the flight re-enacting a fight sequence from the movie with his fingers as substitutes for action figures....and non-stop sound effects! One of the things I most love about Teddy is his imaginary play! Teddy has incredible pretend play skills, way better than Nina. He has always had a talent for imaginary play and kids are drawn to him because of that! Part of his pretend play consists of sound effects. I have never known another child to have better sound effects than Teddy! It is an incredible talent and one that I cherish dearly. On multiple occasions as his index fingers battled (one was Anakin and the other Obi-Wan) the flight attendants or other passengers would smile at me, enjoying the sweetness of his sound effects and pretend play! What a cutie-pie my peanut is!
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| Loving First Class!! |
We were greeted at the airport by Eileen and Dave's fathers! Mr. Klein sweetly had a tiny pumpkin for waiting for Teddy, which Teddy immediately incorporated into his pretend play. We drove about 20 minutes to Dave and Eileen's place in Lexington. Their house was darling in a picturesque New England neighborhood. As soon as I saw my darling best friend, I wrapped her in a huge hug! She had been waiting for this moment in her life for a very long time. I was so happy I could be by her side, albeit incomplete without Nina and Todd.
We hung out at Dave and Eileen's for about an hour then we were off to the rehearsal dinner at the Capital Grill, an incredible upscale and gorgeous steak house. I was worried that after a 5 hour plane ride that Teddy would be a monster during dinner. Not only was he not a monster, he turned out to be Prince Charming! It sure helped that he had his Macbook and played Club Penguin the majority of the evening but he was amazing! Everyone fell in love with him. He had perfect behavior and manners! Eileen's father talked about how Teddy was the most photogenic child he had ever known and he was right. Teddy had never taken a bad picture in his life. A few years back he had told me that he couldn't remember how to smile. Adelae was present when he said that so she told him the trick was to pretend he was laughing. So...since then Teddy has always had the perfect smile on command because he makes himself slightly laugh (it's barely audible but is there!). As we ate our appetizers (me the most incredible crab cakes ever and Teddy Cesar salad) photos were being taken left and right. Everyone started cracking up because all I had to do was tell Teddy, "Now!" and he'd stop what he was doing and flash a perfect smile! Eileen and Dave's family could not believe their eyes...but then again there is only one Teddy Fredeen!
After dinner, we returned to Dave and Eileen's. Teddy played with the Lego gift Eileen's parents had given him and Eileen and I finished packing her bags! Eileen was the perfect calm bride. Dave was her living Prince Charming so there was no need for nerves! I could not stop smiling for her! After another hour of visiting Teddy and I said goodnight and went to bed. Teddy kissed me and told me he loved traveling with his mama! My heart melted. He fell asleep and I proceeded to polish my speech for the toast! I was determined to give a great speech....just needed to figure out how to avoid all of the land-mines when it came to talking about Nina :(
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