YAY Alaska Airlines

HI-

Here are some cute pics of the kids (the extreme close up of Ana is a bit crazy but Sasha is at a better angle/distance) at a Halloween party this weekend. Sasha (a pirate if you are wondering about the bandana) was not 100% sure about the bouncy house- while Ana was willing to bounce and jump all around the place he was content to hang on to the side for dear life and just very very gently bounce up and down, as long as we were right there- Aaron inside and me outside. This is funny because at home he is daredevil Sasha the destructor - willing to do anything, no matter how risky. I think it was the other kids- he was scared- some of them were much bigger. How cute are they though- Ana is a butterfly but it is hard to tell because it was so cold she put a big sweater over her outfit at the last minute.

In other news...

How often do you see someone saying an airline did a good thing? Rarely these days, yes? Well, I am so psyched with Alaska Airlines at the moment. If you recall we had a ticketing issue- Sasha's name is wrong on all of his US docs- his COC, his passport etc. So it did not match the spelling on his ticket for our upcoming vacation to Mexico.

Yesterday, I finally went down to the airport with his passport, a picture of my adorable children, and my sad sad story of government gone wrong, ineffective clerks who cant spell, my desire to show my little Siberian babies the Caribbean, the family nature of our vacation- I am telling you - my halo was shining bright and I laid it on THICK for this lady at Alaska. I was super scared they were going to cancel his ticket and then charge me full price for a new one- as others have experienced with similar problems.

Well, she got on the phone and after several conversations with supervisors where she repeatedly mentioned the fact that he was only 2, that he was a "little orphan boy" etc they finally changed the ticket - for free. Now I wasnt totally sold on how this all went down- as I am not sure I like trotting out our kids past to all and sundry but it truly is a product of the dumb government etc that his papers are all wrong. And it meant we werent charged $800 which helps too.

So, I am glad Alaska had a heart and we are all set now for our Mexican vacation next month. I am not sure what they will think of us when we approach check in with 2 umbrella strollers, 2 car seats, enough luggage to facilitate a move to Mexico and 2 kids in tow, but by then it will be too late!

The funniest thing is that the kids are growing so fast that all of Ana's summer clothes no longer fit so I am running around consignment stores trying to find 4T ones that will work - I dont want to buy "resort wear" for a child that is growing so fast that they will literally only be used for this one trip. And Sasha is finally fitting into his 2T clothes with no rolling of the legs! It is crazy. He is having a harder time with the growing part though- he keeps telling me his legs hurt at night- I know it is because he is growing but no idea what to do for it. Any ideas?

And, yesterday was Ana's last day of school. As many of you know we feel that the school she was in enrolled in was not the right choice for her- way too big of a class, not enough structure, the teacher did not 'get' it and Ana had super duper anxiety about Aaron leaving. So, I am thankful we only paid for a trial month and now we will start again in the Spring. We are thinking Montessori so if anyone knows of any spectacular places in north Seattle let me know!