We are just now settling back in from having gone on an 8-day family vacation which called for flights to and from Virginia. With the exception of Hannah flying as a baby, none of our children have ever flown on an airplane before. Coupled with the excitement of seeing some friends, the countdown to "flying day" began over a week before our travel date.
I chose a 5:35am flight going to Virginia, specifically because it got us there at noon and we would have the whole day to spend with our friends. Our other option was to leave here at noon and get to our destination at 6pm, which simply seemed like a waste to spend the whole day traveling. Elliott worried how the children would behave waking up at 3:45am, but it was silly of us to assume that for as soon as Elliott turned on the light all the children POPPED up and jumped out of bed!
We talked to the children about being a blessing to the other travelers, choosing to keep their excited voices down even though they were bursting with joy. People looked at us sideways as we boarded the plane, you could read their faces saying, "Please don't let them all sit next to me..." With the exception of a few squeals of excitement, the children did wonderfully. We were afforded multiple opportunities to give glory to God as many of the same passengers who looked so scared of us getting onto the plane, complimented the children as we left the plane.
We still had fun. We talked about the "dollhouses" and "broccoli trees". We put our arms up when the airplane tilted far to one side as it turned to prepare for the the runway. We were awed by the sunrise, as well as the sunset. We played with the tray in the back of the seat, and tried to figure out how anything in the plane could turn into a "floatie". We turned on and off lights. We opened and closed vents. We tried to see who could drink their orange juice the fastest out of the teeny-weeny coffee stirrer straw they gave each child with their drink. We did all these things while reminding the children to practice their quiet voices since "not all people are used to kid noise".
We had some helpful grandmothers who passed Micah back and forth through the rows when our seats got separated. As well as one who played peek-a-boo with him when he grew bored with us. We read some great books. Drew some sweet pictures. Listened to some Adventures in Odyssey.
All told, I would do it again. And again. And again.
brave woman.
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