Another plane trip!

Traveling with my children is always interesting. I am still completely amazed (and proud) that I have traveled cross country with them on an airplane not once, but twice since November. The things that they find to stress over both entertain and confuse me. This morning as we stood in the airport in Memphis, I was surprised to learn that we would be paying an additional $100 to fly our suitcase to California because it weighed over 50 pounds. Packing enough stuff for five people including one really nice set of clothes for a TV appearance tends to produce suitcases that weigh a lot. Keeping in mind the fact that we will be reimbursed for our baggage fees by the kind people at AFV, I casually swiped my expired debit card. And no, I have no idea why it's still in my wallet. Naturally, swiping an expired card did not produce the desired result, so I stood there stupidly while all the people in line behind us bored holes in my back with their laser beam eyes and tried to figure out whether they were on the same flight that we were. Walking up to the line with a bunch of little kids is always good for inciting a few terrified glances from the people who are already there. As long as people travel with children, there will always be prayer in airports. I could practically hear the people behind me silently begging God not to seat them next to us. 

Realizing what I had done, I pulled out the new card and waited for the machine to tell me none too politely that my card had been declined. Then I caught sight of my daughter's face. She was right on the edge of a major panic attack. I assured her that everything would be alright, which it was, after I swiped a current debit card.

As we finished checking in and started walking toward the terminal, I noticed the same child with a concerned, tearful look on her face. "What in the world is wrong with you?" She looked up slowly and said, "Well, I mean, it's just so expensive... a hundred dollars? Oh, my." She shook her head mournfully.

I couldn't help but giggle at her woeful expression. I reassured her that we would be reimbursed for the baggage fees (and even if we weren't, they have already paid for the ticket. A flight for five people to Disneyland for $150? I'll take it!)

The current crisis averted, we were in the midst of gathering up our luggage to head to security when my other six year old said casually, "Well, I hope we don't crash on the way there." Did I mention that she's just a ray of sunshine? I gave her my standard, "Well, if we crash at least we'll all be together" and we were off to security.

It's always exciting to see what we have that does or doesn't make it through security, particularly now that my girls are adding things to their backpacks that I don't know about. On this particular trip, Savannah set off the  walk through alarm, presumably because of the change in her backpack and then was the lucky recipient of a random security check. Since she's six, the TSA agent informed me that they would be screening me instead. Excellent. As I stood there wondering if I was about to be patted down, felt up, or body cavity searched, I briefly wondered if I had made a mistake by submitting our video to AFV. Then he told me that all they wanted was a residue test on my hands, so needless to say I was tremendously relieved.

When we finally made it onto the airplane, my daughter asked me at least 27 times how much longer it would be before we took off. As is often the case, getting to the plane was much more nerve wracking than the actual flight. I feel certain the people behind her enjoyed Savannah's rendition of "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog." And now for the layover in Houston and a much longer flight to LA. Should be fun!