The fourth of July: Traveling to Natures Fireworks.

Written July 4th

A lady on the plane walked by and her t-shirt read, “Who are these kids and why are they calling me mom?”  I chuckled to myself… Jerry and I could relate.  The stewardess had already spoken to us several times because the kids were disrupting the people in front of them.  However, in their defense, it would have helped if they had just turned around and told them to stop kicking their seat instead of tattling, I hate tattlers. 

After two days of packing, doing laundry and cleaning our trip started off with a bang.  Our neighbor drove us in his Party Bus to the airport.  Last night when he brought it over to load it up you would have thought that Sam hit the lottery he was so excited.  We left the house at 4:15 am, but instead of a sleepy ride, all the kids were fascinated by the disco lights and drinks hidden in the seats. 

As we pulled up at the airport, which was quite busy for such an early hour, we felt like rock stars.  Everyone was staring at us.  I quickly learned though that they might be staring at us not because we were stars, but that six kids, two adults, an enormous amount of “carry on” baggage and a dog came out.  I quoted the words carry on because I thought we would beat the system of paying for bags by only checking two and bringing on the rest… so multiply 2 by 8 plus a stroller and car seat and that was what our security line looked like.  I absolutely pity those who wound up behind us at the x-ray machine, we took forever! 

By the time we checked our few bags, got Puppy all settled and through security we didn’t have much time to get to our gate, go potty and grab a snack.  This was a little amusing to me because we got to the airport almost two and a half hours early.  I did accomplish one helpful task; I was able to score another seat so that we could put Max in his car seat instead of on my lap.  I always panic that he will fly from may arms during take off or landing.  This extra seat however opened up a new can of worms, where was everyone going to sit. 

We settled on Savannah and Sam getting the solo seats in front and behind our row, Max had to be by a window, me, Jerry and on the other side Sage, Saxton and Brayden.  All was going okay (after the traffic jam we created by putting up our one hundred bags cleared) and then Sage had a complete panic attack at the thought of not being by the window.  Jerry solved this by switching her and Brayden, simple enough? No, because he had his heart set on the window so now he had a sour attitude.  We couldn’t win.  And neither could the people in front of us because they caught the brunt of our decision and Brayden’s feet. 

Savannah and Sam were quiet for most of the flight, watching movies and listening to music and through some miracle Max fell asleep in his seat before take off, so that left us with the other three littles.  The funny part is I had a pipe dream that Jerry and I could catch some Zs. Ha! It was a flight filled with police work and food catering.  Oh and several bathroom trips including a false alarm poopy diaper.  Man does my son have smelly gas!  (On a side note, he has now produced the real thing I think because I smell a constant whiff coming from the seat behind me, but he is sleeping and so are the rest of the kids so we aren’t going to pull over just yet...especially if I am wrong and it is just another false alarm.) 

The good news is that we landed and after the stewardesses shoved us off the plane without a hint of, “Have a good day” or “Happy Forth” we caused another traffic jam while unloading, gathering our stuff, stroller and many children.  We then caught a glimpse of Grandma and Papa, a true sight for sore eyes.  They had come in two vehicles to collect us.  God bless them and the day of driving they endured to gather us up.  To save money they drove both of their cars four hours to pick us up and then had the return trip as well.  And not only did they do that, they came bearing gifts, home made muffins and breads and coolers filled with drinks and bags of snacks!  Thank you! 

Happily we all made it, including our bags and Puppy.  The bad news (for a moment) was Sage was temporally misplaced when she snuck away to return the cart.  We found her no problem, I had only a slight panic attack and she said she knew where she was the whole time.  And now we are off, kids are finally settled down and sleeping or resting...

Written Today... 

The fourth was awesome.  It was so wonderful just getting to the lake.  We started our trip off with a bang by getting a tubing session in and Saxton catching her first fish, (last year the poor thing did not catch a single one.)  We were are pretty tired and decided to not travel to any fireworks, especially since mother nature was starting her own and a storm was rolling in.  Plus the kids were super excited just to be at the lake and most of them were fishing. 

The storm did roll in and our firework show viewing moved to the covered patio down below.  After we got the kids in bed, (they were exhausted) Savannah, Jerry and I continued to watch the storm blow in.  And did she blow... the night when from a dead calm to gale force winds.  The lightning show was fabulous.  We got so nervous a few times we ran from the porch to inside the house.  It was awesome!  Nature truly did provide us with some of her own fireworks.

I am so happy to be here.  I will post again with some big news and more details of our trip... but being here is like visiting heaven for two weeks out of the year.  I love the time with the kids and being able to see them smile and laugh.  Jerry and I are able to relax and have time to unwind and re-connect.  It is amazing that just a year ago I was pregnant and we were learning to become a family.  This year we are a family, Max is here, the kids are so much more adjusted and loving just being together and enjoying life at the lake. 

Max's First Fourth of July!!!