Saturday, February 20, 2010

Flyin’ with Four…

Johnny needed to finish his thesis, I needed to meet the tiny little Molly, no one had met Alex, and my baby brother Danny got home from his mission. FOUR good reasons to justify flying home BY MYSELF with ALL FOUR munchkins.

And, it was awesome. (mostly, awesome…)

The kids were SOOO good.

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This is Zack, just after he said “BARF” into his barf bag.2010-01-11 cell phone 23

On the way to Utah our flight got in at what felt like midnight to me and the kids. Zack had a little (ok a ginormous) meltdown about 20 minutes before we landed and about 10 minutes before we landed the three big kids finally fell asleep. My sister Tami took this picture of me as we walked to see everyone. When Zack and Abby were freaking out at the end, a sweet lady from Kentucky volunteered to hold the baby. She saw my family waiting for me at the baggage and kindly told my dad that I needed help. He went and got a pass from the airline and came to my rescue.

imageAfter a reasonably great flight in (really… it was mostly great!!), I was really nervous about the flight back. I mean, how lucky could I be to get two great flights? But lady luck was on my side. There was absolutely NO crying. NONE!! (And if you know my history with flying and crying… 4 hours of straight crying… you know that this is a miracle.)

Abby & Zack even scored some new suitcases to try and make things easier…

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We had a four and a half hour layover in Denver. I was really worried about it, but the kids had a great time.

We rode the train…

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Dreamed of becoming astronauts…

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And made ourselves at home on the third floor of concourse C by playing some cards, Barbies, and “Inja” Turtles,

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Some of us even had a little nap…

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The trip would have been perfect if Abby hadn’t gotten airsick and puked while we were landing. Too bad I didn’t teach her to use the barf bag!!

14 comments:

Mindy said...

You are amazing! I am so impressed and it looks like the kids were good. They sure are cute too!

Tami said...

I am so happy that you guys came here and spent 1/4 of Alex's life here with us. It's crazy that you guys are gone now. I miss you all.
P.S. I love the picture of Abby napping by the two "Baby Alexes!"
Love you guys!

emilyaaa said...

wow. i am absolutely speechless. i cannot believe that you ventured to the land of flying on your own with FOUR kids!! but if anyone could do it, it'd be you!!

i can't believe you were just 45 minutes from my house for FOUR hours!!! if it weren't for that danged security, i'd have been there in a heart-beat to see you and let our kids play.

You're like a modern-day pioneer, doing things the rest of us don't even consider as possibilities.

keep your posts coming. i love the little glimpses i get into the russes life :)

Amy said...

Wow. Just wow.

Tanya said...

incredible. you are my kinda mom! at least the kind of mom i would like to be someday :o)

Cheramie said...

i'm SO glad the flight went well for you. i have nightmares about flying with children. this gives me hope!

Josh and Melanie said...

I am so happy that it went well for you! It is worth it even when they scream because you know you get to see family. It is not much different from any other day other than that the whole world sees the screaming. Love you guys and hope you make it down our way soon.

Emily Widdison said...

2 things: You are a brave, brave, woman. And we're sorry we didn't get to see you!!

katieo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
katieo said...

I bow to you.

(that last picture is the cutest ever)

Cassi said...

You really are amazing. I can't believe you had a four hour layover and a puking incident and still talk about how smooth it went. I guess you know better than anyone, it could always be worse. We for one LOVED seeing you. I am still a bit bummed we didn't get pictures, and can we just betrothe Josh and Abby now. They might make for an emotional/dramatic couple but I think Josh already has a little crush. Love you all!

Jacee McGuire said...

I can't believe you did that! You are AMAZING!! I was just thinking that with three there was no way I was going to fly by myself. I guess I can't use that as an excuse.

Anonymous said...

I talked to Johnny and heard that you were going to be doing this and wondered how everything went. I am very impressed, but not surprised. You are an amazing mom, glad it went smoothly for you and that you had a great trip. Hope to hear more about it one day. Love reading your blogs and seeing your pictures. Such cute kids!! I will have to call you guys soon. Miss ya, Mary Ann

Eliza said...

wow, way to go Em! I love that your courage was rewarded and matched by the goodness of your children. I give them a wow too.

I am curious, how many times did people make this comment, "YOu sure have your hands full!"? and on a scale of one to ten how much do you love it when they do?!