The "Hawaii Pile" is gone

And not because we have packed it all but rather because we are not going to Hawaii. We are caught up in the ATA debacle. We had 2 tickets booked thru ATA directly, and paid for via credit card, and we had 2 tickets booked thru Southwest using RAPID REWARDS tickets (for Hawaii you need 2 RR for every 1 ticket to Hawaii). At this late date no airline can get us to Maui on Sunday. We are bummed!
But fear not, the HAWAII PILE has been renamed--it is now the ORLANDO PILE. Southwest was able to exchange the 2 Maui tickets for 4 tickets to Orlando. Not exactly what we wanted but it will be a nice, warm, FAMILY vacation none-the-less. (Actually it does have its good points. The boys are now able to attend the Spring Game at the Air Force Academy and then attend orientation. AJ will now be able to attend orientation with a few friends and he and Dave will be home for the 2nd night of Passover. Due to the Hawaii trip they were going to attend different orientation dates. Now they will leave Orlando on Friday, while Erin and I stay until Sunday, and fly to Denver, stay for 4 days and come home on April 15th.)
So this morning I shed a few tears, spent 3+ hours on the phone (over 2 of them on hold) and now have put the bad behind me. I am looking at the bright side--I am not STUCK in Maui and unable to get home, I got all my money back for my airline tickets and I still get a vacation(just a little more costly than I had planned).
I will blog from Orlando--wish us luck!