Flying Solo

In the second week of June I decided to be really brave and fly out to Nevada with our children, alone... Initially when I bought the tickets I was super stoked to have a direct flight to Las Vegas. I was really nervous about keeping track of all of my kids while rushing to another gate. And then all those 7-37s were grounded and I lost my direct flight. There was a lot of weeping and wailing from me but I sucked it up and still went through with it. 

I prepared a lot for this trip. I tried to think of treats that would keep the kids all happy. We went to the dollar store and stocked up on coloring books. The Daughertys brought us activity books and the Fidlers brought us some delicious snacks. We role played going through security and getting on the airplane. 

Tanner walked me into the airport and as we left the car I told him to let me carry everything so I could make sure I would be able to do it on my own. Eliza was in the Ergo and I had a huge check-in bag with all the car seats in it. Mariah and Chet were each dragging a suitcase which both weighed fifty pounds. We hobbled roughly a hundred yards when I declared, "Ok, we know I can do it, now please help me Tanner." . He got a real kick out of that.

The most stressful part of the airport was the bathroom trips. Airport bathrooms are crazy by yourself, add four children and it's a circus. Chet was mad because he didn't want to go in the girls' bathroom. At one point I thought I had lost him and was on the point of a breakdown when a woman asked if the little boy standing outside the bathroom was mine; it was Chet. Austin was terrified of the automatic toilets and Mariah had to keep Eliza from pitching off the changing table while I helped Austin decide it was safe enough to go to the bathroom. There was lots of screaming, and whining and crying. We did this three times in the day...three times. I think it aged me five years.  

The kids were great on the actual flights. On our first flight there was a seat for Eliza which was really nice. She liked standing and sitting by herself. The older three enjoyed Charlotte's Web and eating all the junk I had brought. Chet made sure to remind me to bring out the gummy bears for all take offs and landings. For their ears of course. No drinks were spilled and there was only minor meltdowns when the headphones were tangled up.

 Eliza and Austin both took a nap during our layover. And Austin always curls up into a little ball like that when he is taking a nap, it's real cute. 

Chet's wink...

After landing in Vegas I worked up the courage for one last bathroom trip and then we went to get our bags. I grabbed all the bags, praying that someone would ask if I needed help to the shuttle. There were lots of big strong men around...nope. A woman in a dress and heels offered to help. She carried my big ol' car seat bag all the way to the shuttle. I was so grateful for her help. Once we got to the rental kiosk the kids and I mustered our strength and hauled our junk into Enterprise. As I went to leave, I asked the Enterprise employee how far it was to the cars. She said it wasn't too far. As she watched me load up she offered to help carry some stuff. It was far and I was once again so grateful for some help. 

The drive to my parents was uneventful until a deer decided to jump right in front of the car. I was able to slow down enough to only hit him hard enough for the deer to fall down and then jump right back up. We finally made it to my parents. Exhausted but happy to be there. 

I was so grateful for my amazing children and how awesome they were. Granted the bathroom trips weren't a walk in the park, but in all fairness, we didn't rehearse that part. All in all, they were troopers.