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You are here: Home / Parenting / Six Kids On A Plane – Flying for the first time

Six Kids On A Plane – Flying for the first time

by Alan 3 Comments

My kids have been curious about flying for a long time now but with budgets and time, we have never had the opportunity. Not to mention the thought of getting six kids ages ranging from 2 to 15 on a flight seemed very daunting to us at the time.  As we were planning our Fall family trip, Alaska Airlines contacted us to see if we would be interested in collaborating with them for our kid’s first flight. We had heard a lot of great things about Alaska Air so it felt like the perfect fit for our kid’s first time flying. We decided to surprise the kids with the announcement and their reaction was priceless (see video below).

We decided that Oregon would be the perfect spot for our Fall trip and quickly made arrangements to stay at a cute little beach house in the fishing town of Waldport. Our flight was really early in the morning, and we knew that would pose a problem as we were a couple of hours from the airport, so we stayed at a hotel close to the airport the night before.  We thought we were doing good getting there early enough, but as we were going through security we realized that when we checked in online we didn’t double-check to make sure that our boarding passes had been emailed to us, Nikki had done the checking in, and I assumed that she had the boarding passes, she assumed I did.  Needless to say, I left Nikki and the six kids at the front of the security line and booked it back to print out boarding passes.  Once we had our boarding passes and started through the line we hadn’t realized that Wil and Rockwell’s sippy cups which were stored nicely in their carry-on, were full of water, oops. We had to wait as the agents took those sippy cups out and tested the water for us to make sure we could get them on the plane, all the while knowing that they were in final boarding and getting ready to close the doors on our flight.  We made it to the gate as they were closing the doors.   I’m sure we were a site with six kids, all carrying or rolling luggage and their backpacks,  a double stroller packed not only with two Littles but overflowing with extra baggage, sippy cups, the boy’s favorite blankets, etc.
The flight attendants were so helpful and patient as we tried to situate everyone in the correct seats with the correct bags and our kid’s excitement and energy were through the roof! That was the best part of the flight, was seeing their excitement and wonder throughout the whole thing. And of course, I those epic moments, I like Ali yelling “woo hoo” as we took off, and Rockwell proclaiming as we landed “I did it!”
Alaska Airlines was amazing, from holding our flight to being super patient with our kids, and everyone was so friendly.
Somethings we did learn from our kid’s first flight.
  1. They tell you to be two hours early for a flight for a reason.
  2. When traveling with lots of kids,  Rolling suitcases are a must.
  3. If you have an excuse to need a stroller, take it, they are great luggage carriers.
  4. Always double-check your carry-ons. You might have remembered to empty your water bottle, but the baby sippies are full of water.
  5. Pack lots of snacks, their favorite movies, toys, coloring books, etc. Even if it’s a short flight, it’s hard to keep the little ones entertained.

Alaska Airlines

Thank you Alaska Airlines for sponsoring this post and for the incredible memories for our kids!

Filed Under: Parenting, Travel

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Betty Ware

    at

    I love their reaction. There answers to you questions we fun. I hope you all have a wonderful flight.

    Reply
    • Betty Ware

      at

      It looks like they did.

      Reply
    • Alan

      at

      Hi Betty, I had so much fun putting this video together. As the plane took off Ali yelled “Yahoo!”, it was the funniest thing. I wish I could have got it on the video.

      Reply

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Alan Lawrence

thatdadblog

After lots of prayers and counseling with her doct After lots of prayers and counseling with her doctor, Nikki has started talking a medication called Hyramoz which after time (hopefully in a year or two) can put the Ankylosing Spondylitis in remission. 
she’s also taking something to help ease her pain. She called me from Costco crying, she was so excited that she could lift a bag of flour into her cart without pain.
Diet is another big change that she is doing to help
Well, thank you so much for your prayers and ask you to please continue to pray for her that this will soon go into remission.
Yes, we are that family. If you’re a part of the Yes, we are that family.
If you’re a part of the T21 tribe you get it - we take care of each other and if we can meet another family in the tribe nothing gets in our way.
#downsyndromelove #downsyndrome #downsyndromeawareness
#downsyndromerocks #21 #trisomy 21 #upsyndrome #morealikethandifferent #nothingdownaboutit #theluckyfew #mystory #dadlife
I was showering and thought I heard someone come i I was showering and thought I heard someone come in the bathroom.  I finished washing my face, turned around and there was Wil 
“Hey Dad!” 
He knows how to pick our bathroom lock and said he was bored and missed me. It’s hard to get mad at that. 

He is still learning the concept of privacy but at least he rolled up his pant legs! 😂

#dadlife #downsyndrome
Throw back to when Wil was young and we were comin Throw back to when Wil was young and we were coming home from a vacation and were letting everyone exit our plane before we organized our big family to exit. While we waited, Wil made everyone’s night a little brighter. #downsyndrome #reels #dadlife #downsyndromeawareness
Sharing this with permission from Nikki to possibl Sharing this with permission from Nikki to possibly connect her with others who have been through this and also to ask for your prayers as she navigate her daily pain and for guidance on solutions.  Thank you! 
these photos are from a recent trip to a Hot Springs in Idaho, which felt so good on her joints. 
#ankylosingspondylitis #ankylosingspondylitisawareness
“My butt is ouchy” 😂 Leidy and Rocko spent “My butt is ouchy” 😂 Leidy and Rocko spent the day on the mountain with me learning to snowboard.  They both did great! Leidy was very nervous and told me she was worried that she was going to throw up but by the end she was going on the lift by herself and told me she was happy. 
Rocko was a trooper and told me I could go do some runs by myself he wanted to concentrate 😂 
These two pushed themselves and over came some fears today and I am very proud. 
#prouddad #familyiseverything #dadlife
Sweet 16!! It’s hard to believe that its been th Sweet 16!! It’s hard to believe that its been three years since I first met Leidy in her orphanage while helping to film a project that was advocating for orphans in Colombia who were close to aging out.  Now she is home celebrating her first birthday with her new family! 
This happy, and stubborn girl has a big heart and even bigger dreams.  She was full of joy on her first birthday with her new family!
Meeting a fellow Dad that shares the same Down Syn Meeting a fellow Dad that shares the same Down Syndrome connection erases all awkwardness of bear hugging in the middle of a shopping center. 
YOU ARE OFFICIALLY BROTHERS FOR LIFE!! 
-
#advocatelikeadad #dadlife #extrachromosome #downsyndrome #downsyndromeawareness #downsyndromerocks #t21 #trisomy21 #upsyndrome #morealikethandifferent #nothingdownaboutit #theluckyfew #mystory #changingthefaceofbeauty
You sourdough mamas know the feeling. if you want You sourdough mamas know the feeling.  if you want to be a domestic goddess and try sourdough bread but you’re intimidated. Send me a DM - Nikki is sharing some of her starts and she also has a 15 minute instructional video on how to make sourdough bread from start to finish 👍
#sourdough #sourdoughstarter #sourdoughmama #sourdoughbaking #domesticgoddess #funnyvideos 
#homeschool #pioneerwoman
Three Running tips I learned from my new trainer:  1. Randomly laugh for minutes at time for no apparent reason. 2. Always check to see if you are being tracked my a bear or racoon. 3. Hug your running buddy while you are running to motivate each other. Looking forward to learning more from my new running coach. He is the best in the biz. 
-
#runhappy #noexcuses #downsyndrome #theluckyfew #fyp #prouddad #viralreels #dadlife
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