Getting there is Half the Battle

We have been planning our "last european adventure" since November. A Disney Cruise on the Mediterranean. However, recent events have made this little adventure a bit more interesting. Grandpa and Grandma Carrell were supposed to fly to Dublin on the 14^th of April. They made it 3 hours into their flight from Philadelphia and the plane had to turn around because of the volcano in Iceland that erupted. Ash issues. Danny was supposed to fly to NY on Sunday- but the Dublin Airport was closed (it had been closed since Thursday…) so- he stayed home (not that we were overly saddened by this). However, we were starting to get concerned- how would we get to Barcelona to get on the cruise if we couldn't fly? We went over the different possibilities- a ferry from Ireland to France (appx 20 hours) and then a 12 hour drive to Barcelona. The other option was a ferry to the UK and then train to London- eurostar through the chunnel (under the english channel) to Paris and then another train to Barcelona. The last option proved to be too expensive- so our only other option was the ferry and drive. I had this feeling that with our luck- our car would break down somewhere in the middle of France (most likely in the middle of the night) and we wouldn't make it to Spain in time to get on our boat. THANKFULLY- the ash was cleared enough so the Dublin Airport was opened. Then we decided to play it safe and fly out on Thursday instead of Friday evening. Better safe than sorry- right?

We made it to the airport, ate and headed through security. Then we saw the Parkins family (our good friends who are on the cruise with us) and they told us that they were worried at first because it said that there was a 6 hour delay! We all agreed that it was such a good thing that our flight was on time. THEN we found out that there actually was a delay- but just 4 hours…

WAITING! Lucas (with his back to us), Emery, Cara, Claire, Oscar and Madison. Moments after this photo was taken, Emery fell off the ledge and landed on her forehead. Ouch. (She's fine- just a nasty bruise.)


So what do 10 children do for 4 extra hours a the airport?

Play with new Strawberry Shortcake dolls. (Oscar thought this was great fun!) The girls thought the little dolls were pretty fun, too.


Jake watched a movie.


Shelby did some artwork.


Ipods and Nintendo DS's were very useful. We also walked around a bit and ate junk. The kids did great. It was a late night (we arrived in Barcelona at 2 a.m.) but we were so glad to arrive safe and sound and NOT have to drive and take the ferry!