mystery smoke?

The descent into Tulsa was not good.
Terrible turbulence, and the captain asked the flight attendants to "stop collecting trash and just buckle up".

Comforting.

All three of my kids had slept the entire flight from Denver, but they woke up from the flickering cabin lights and people yelping "Oh my---!" every time the plane dipped. It wasn't the worst turbulence I've ever had, but it was still pretty bad.

Quincy woke up screaming.

And she didn't stop screaming until after we were on the ground.

I couldn't get her to look at me, and her words weren't making any sense. She was just freaking out and thrashing around like she was having a night terror, mumbling a barely understandable "I need my mom!" (even though I was holding her, talking to her, and trying to get her to recognize me. She was shaking and screaming and it lasted so long I started to get really worried. I don't think she was all the way awake. Anyway, in the middle of this, the Captain says, "Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for an emergency landing."

Huh? Uh oh.

So while Quincy is screaming (and we're talking UGLY screaming, where you just want to cry, too...or rip your ears off to make it stop), and people are freaking out (luckily, there were 3 other kids that cried the entire flight while mine slept peacefully, so it definitely could have been worse...and I'm pretty certain that any animosity between passengers on our flight was aimed that the other people...or at the airline for such a terrible descent), the flight attendant is telling us to locate the closest emergency exit, and that as soon as we get the word, we are to abandon our personal belongings and just get off the aircraft as quickly and calmly as possible.

Great. quickly and calmly? Leave my personal belongings? What are those? My arms were full of kids when I boarded this aircraft! The guy across from me offered to help, then crossed himself as we started to descend really quickly.

Then there was a TERRIBLE noise outside the right side of the plane, and gas started coming out of all of the air vents! I'm sure it was just oxygen to correct the cabin pressure, but did the flight attendants tell us that? Nooooo, instead, everyone is just freaking out as we land. It doesn't show up very well on the videos at all, but I recorded it anyway, hoping it would show up better when I watched it later.


As soon as we landed, the flight attendant said, "well, no emergency landing was necessary, but please use caution when you open the overhead luggage compartments as items tend to shift, blah blah blah" and Quincy suddenly went silent and totally pale.

Then she threw up in my hands (awesome. really wishing I hadn't pumped her with junk food for 6 hrs straight) and Corbin fell back asleep. The mystery gas didn't stop, and it smelled really terrible (like car exhaust). It was pretty thick, and came out in a powerful stream, like when you press the steam shot on an iron...but at a continuous flow. The passengers pushed ans shoved to get off the plane, and when it was our turn, an older couple behind them mowed Reese over and told her to get out of their way. I went mama bear on them and told them to sit down and wait their turn. Then I took my time asking Reese if she was ok, gathered our carry on, the car seat, my diaper bag, and the kids and hobbled off the airplane.

When I got to the front of the plane, the flight attendant said, "oooh, I would help you with all that, but I can't step off the aircraft." So polite.

I've never been so happy to see Aaron.
Probably because he had a cold Dr. Pepper in his hand.

On Saturday morning, I slept in until 9, then Aaron came in to inform me that I should probably get up, because he had scheduled a massage appointment for me at the day spa (where he had given me a gift certificate to for Christmas, but I had yet to redeem, because I always feel guilty taking off on a Saturday when I am already gone ever saturday morning until 9am to run). He must have known I'd never get around to scheduling it for myself.

Icky landing, but nothing a good man, a good soda, and a good massage can't fix!
I had a wonderful vacation and I already miss my family in Ca as much as I miss the cooler weather (which is a lot), but I am so happy to be home.