He was Very Excited! as only small boys can be (I think). He told everyone (including those quite clearly not interested) about the 2 trains and the 2 planes (another thing only small people do).
The first part of the journey; getting to London was easy. The car journey was fine, the train to Paddington was easy, although I did get stuck in the ticket barrier (I'll save that for another time but suffice to say it wasn't pretty) , and the Heathrow Express was great. However things started To Go Wrong once we got to the airport............
Ned and I caused chaos at the bag drop as our bag was either not registering or registering twice. Eventually a lady from SAS came over and explained that because we were transferring, the system was booking the bag in twice, oh and by the way you'll have to collect your bag and take it to the drop off in departures and go back through security. ......say what?
"Right" I said, "all in 45 minutes. With a 3 yr old?" "Oh yes", came the reply, "SAS wouldn't sell you a ticket if it couldn't be done in that time" . "So what happens if the flight is delayed and I miss my connection?" (always thinking of the positives!), " I don't know, you'll have to ask at check in if you miss it."..........thanks......
So filling me with confidence (not) we set off through security, being told regularly that you can't take that bottle of water through! did you know you've got liquids in your bag? I did refrain from shouting "Can't you spot a stressed mother when you see one?! "................How? Read the signs people......
For those of you who know Ned, this bit won't come as a surprise...........Whilst in the queue to go through security and x-ray, he started dicking about (technical term for toddler malpractice) which resulted in his falling over backwards and banging his head...........A lovely security lady offered to get a medic to look at it (sorry what), the lady in the queue was a nurse and also wanted to have a look - Ned became scared and didn't want anyone to look at him, and I did the most useful thing ever (for a stressed mum) and burst into tears (and I wasn't wearing waterproof mascara!) They were very lovely and very kind, but Ned showed no after effects. (other than being irritating, I on the hand had panda eyes).
Then there was the lovely cleaning lady who had obviously heard our 'discussion' about Ned wearing pull ups on the plane, not pants. (as we wouldn't have time to go to the loo) who asked Ned why was he crying. I don't know where she was from originally, but she had such a lovely accent, and she stopped him from crying - I wanted to hug her!
He cheered up even more when we saw the airplanes and the badger carts (baggage carts). On boarding, I overheard another mum talking to her little boy (possibly 7) about their connecting flight. It transpired that they too where heading to Trondheim, but she knew about the collecting hold baggage malarkey, armed with hand luggage only wished us luck!
Ned fell asleep which was the only good thing about the flight, as it arrived about 10/15 minutes late. For ease I'd taken off my watch, but it also meant that I had no idea what the time was and also meant I was continuously checking the time. I asked Neddy if he had his running feet on, and we were off!
Through security (who analysed Ned even though his photo was taken when he was 8 months old so at 3 of course his photo isn't the bloody same!) Along a very long walk way, down an escalator, to baggage claim. Found the 'ugly' bag (borrowed my mums suitcase which is ugly so no one steals it!), through the arrivals hall, up the lift, out into departures, to the wrong bag drop off, back to the SAS bag drop off, who asked me what was special about my bag, as I was at the special baggage drop off, not normal bag drop off (I looked at the 2 men there and pleaded) I've only got 15 mins to make my connecting flight, please take my bag I don't know where the normal drop off is. Bless them, they recognised the desperation on my face... so I left my bag, shouted "Tusen Takk!" as we headed off for the family priority lane, as they were shouting which departure gate I needed.
Now the queue for security was long, but the family lane cuts out the waiting, although the man at the head of the queue was not going to let me in, but I was terribly rude and completely barged in.
Through security, and then the bags got held up. I'd left the iPad in one bag and the portable DVD player in the other, and we also bumped into the lady off the Oslo flight who was also having a stress, but she did return Ned to me who had run off and I hadn't spotted as I was dealing with the security people! She went off, with me asking her to hold the flight!
So we collected everything and then went for it. The flight was flashing boarding, and we were at gate 30 needing to get to number 13. (Should I be worried)
Ned was a superstar, although his poor little legs were giving out, he managed to get to the gate without being carried. Got to the gate and a lady asked us if we were going to Haugesland, I said no, Trondheim! And another lady check in lady shouted Trondheim and waved us over!
I cannot tell you how relieved we were.
We were the penultimate passengers on the plane, but by the skin of our teeth we made it! Best thing of the whole experience..........the little high five my boy gave me.
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