My mom (in Wisconsin) called for me. Here's what she said:

reached the gold line.
the change fee has been waived (if you rebook for Oct 27-Nov 1) It may be extended. If those dates don't work you can rebook for a later date with the $25.00 change fee. Your ticket(not going into San Diego) would not be exempt from the change fee now.

Still this creates a problem, since I'm travelling with the kids only as far as MSP, I can change their tickets... but not mine. So, I can't just postpone the tickets until Christmas for all of us.

I'll keep trying to hunt down their dad and also brainstorm solutions for the rebooking possibilities. I have a feeling NW will be somewhat flexible in this situation. If the kids can't go to San Diego... I don't need to fly with them to MSP.

(I still need to read the thread with the reference to the sheet cake!)

Sheila