We must be in the FRONT ROW!

As I mentioned previously, our original American Airlines flight to Puerto Rico was cancelled because the FAA was giving AA a hard time about some inspections they skipped or failed or something like that. Inspections, schmections.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had to wait two days for a flight that could accommodate all of us. This gave us two extra days to pack and re-pack and re-re-pack. I really enjoyed that. This gave us time to finely calibrate the weight and distribution of every bag. Each ticket allowed us to bring 2 fifty pound bags - and that... is EXACTLY what we checked in with. It may be no small coincidence that shortly after we arrived in Puerto Rico, major airlines started charging for checked luggage. Sorry.

When I arrived at the AA counter in Salt Lake City to check in, without saying anything, the AA agent changed our seats to FIRST CLASS! Score. It was just for the first leg of our flight - Salt Lake City to Dallas - but I thought that was a classy thing to do. I'm not sure that the legitimate first class passengers were amused by the giddy interlopers - but most seemed generally cheerful about sharing first class with our small herd. And, to the animals credit, they were very well-behaved (although a devious Mary Margaret did manage to order a fully-sugared, fully-caffeinated Coca-Cola while her parents were briefly distracted).