Nebraska: Friday

Our whole family traveling to Nebraska was not something we had planned at the beginning of the summer. It came upon us rather spontaneously after Chris and John flew to Nebraska for priestly ordinations, stopped in to visit my grandparents, and came home with a Grand Idea Hatched. And thanks to the exceedingly generous gift of my grandfather paying for the whole endeavor, the plans were put into action!

The children had been counting down for weeks . . .

Joseph checking off a countdown calendar

. . . and last Friday the big day had arrived! It took no small amount of planning to organize six children, and I made plans, charts, and lists (was there any doubt?). I packed us 'lean and mean:' Each child took only four outfits--all of them purposefully on the dressier side so that we were ready to go to any museum, restaurant, or church without needing to change--in a backpack he or she could carry him- or herself, and most of them even had to carry their own booster seats. Among our family of eight, we checked exactly one suitcase.

I don't let any kiddos take their favorite 'lovies' when we travel--having lost some in the early years of having our first tot--but I let them take one tiny stuffed critter each. So cute!

Four nice outfits + one pair of good shoes + one book + one lovie = that's it!

Joseph's tiny 'Mousie'

I was anxious about losing kiddos in the airport, so I had them wear travel ID bracelets just on travel day. I also ordered emesis bags ahead of time, but nobody needed them, thank goodness.

At each location, our method was that Chris would drop me off or do the needed action, while I guarded the group of children and luggage. It was a method that ended up working very well.

All was going swimmingly--really calm and orderly--until it was time to board and then . . . well, now I have to choose words carefully such that they are not untoward. Our children have rarely flown in six years, and most of them never in their memories, so their universal excitement at Getting to Ride an Airplane! began to crumble.

We were in the last group to board, with Chris leading the way with most of the children. I had been delayed a few seconds leaving my stroller with the steward on the gangway, so we were separated as I began walking with David on my back, my three-year-old, and another child. My three-year-old began panicking at the crowd, the confined space, and the loud engine noises, screaming repeatedly, "Me no like it! Me no want to go on airplane!" The other child, who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, had what we think was a sympathetic panic response and began screaming and weeping, "I don't want to fly on an airplane!"

My husband was all the way at the back of the plane as I began the walk from the front. I had picked up Thomas (who weighs 35 pounds), with 20 pounds of David on my back, and a heavy carry-on purse over my arm. Thomas began grabbing every single seat to cling tenaciously while he kicked and screamed, and I was not strong enough to keep walking, so at each seat, kind strangers had to unpry his fingers for me. Seat by seat by seat.

Let's not forget the other child also screaming for the entire walk. I now know what it would likely sound like if someone were walking to his or her death and screaming in terror.

It is rather a blur, but I think I was loudly saying, "I need my husband! I need my husband!"

We got to the back of the plane and all I knew in the blur was that Chris and Thomas disappeared. I was wrestling with installing David's car seat (we actually got the baby a ticketed seat this time!), while doing what I could to calm the other screaming child, and ultimately an exceedingly sweet neighbor lady took over with that child, talking calmly and soothingly to said child.

That's when Thomas, who had been in the bathroom with Chris escorting him, escaped and my three-year-old, still screaming, ran waddling down the aisle looking for me with his naked bum for the world (at least the airplane) to see, his shorts and underwear down around his ankles.

Ultimately, after what seemed like an eternity but was perhaps ten minutes, we got Thomas happily calm by playing 'Fireman Sam' (what else?) on Daddy's cell phone (oh my shame, that I required television to mesmerize a child of mine) and then the other child could be reasoned with and calmed to quiet. Even later, that tender child came to the same conclusion and said, "I think I panicked because Thomas started crying."

My take-aways?

1. God wanted to make sure I'd guard against pride for the rest of the trip (which did go swimmingly and was full of compliments by strangers about our well-behaved children . . . clearly these strangers don't ride in the car with us) as I was constantly guarding my heart, knowing that these precious souls have their own emotions and wills and can change behavior at any time.

2. If anyone knows of a recent viral video on social media of That Crazy Huge Family Boarding the Airplane in Charlotte, North Carolina, do let me know. I haven't had the heart to look.

Really, this precious boy was a terror a few minutes earlier!

We arrived in Nebraska, let the tots nap for the hour-drive, and drove by rental car straight to see my grandparents. What a joy! I haven't seen my grandparents in three years, and they had met only a few of our children, so this was a momentous occasion for our family.

Six children changing their quiet lifestyle!

Me, with a mobile hanging in the background, looking like it is a jaunty feather coming out of my hair

Playing cards with Grandpa

Gramma Camie showing us her glass collection

We settled into the hotel and ordered delivery pizza so we wouldn't have to go out again.

Over the course of our stay, our Mary (9) kept up an encouraging correspondence with our room maid, who told my husband how touched she was.

There were also two large bunnies who lived in the large, grassy meadow below the girls' hotel room window, so we watched Hazel and Buttercup, as we dubbed them, each morning and evening.

To answer a question one might have about how a large family travels: We require two hotel suites (not regular rooms) and currently, we divide it up with Dad caring for boys age 11, 3, and 5, and Mom caring for girls age 7 and 9 and baby boy--everyone two to a bed.