The Best Laid Plans

At this very moment, my husband and all four of my kids are sleeping upstairs in our house in Illinois. We ate breakfast when we got home from the airport around 5:00 this morning, and then we all went to bed. 

Now I'm up. Of course, I'm up alone, but I am the happiest mama alive. Our house is full of family. Tomorrow we will have seven of our nine kids all under one roof. The weekend will just get better and better. 

They're HERE! After a very long night of traveling from St. George, Utah, they are finally here. Everything did not go exactly according to plan, but when does it do that?

Here was the original plan: Chuck and I would wake up by three A.M., and arrive at the airport before the kids got there at 4:37. We would greet them at the bottom of the stairs with the sign I made. We'd grab their bags and go home.

But that's not what happened. Here's how it went down. Just after 1:00, I saw this picture on Instagram. 

My kids had left Vegas 52 minutes earlier. How could I possibly sleep now? So while Chuck went to rest on the couch, I cleaned the counters, made some coffee, and read in the living room. Chuck's alarm went off at 3:00, and we were out the door less than 30 minutes later, with plenty of time to get to O'Hare, park the car, and be waiting at the escalators to welcome the kids to Chicago.

Except. While we were driving to the airport, I got a text from Sierra at 3:41: "The eagle has landed." WHAT!!! They were an hour early! She said the pilot told them they were ahead of schedule. That's unheard of for Frontier. Trust me; I've been late more times than not. 

So, while we were driving to the airport, my kids had no smiling faces searching for them through the crowd, and they saw no hand-lettered poster board personalized for them. They made their way to baggage claim without us. Chuck and I were still driving, and I felt sad that my plan was falling apart.

I asked Sierra to let us know when they had their bags because the airport security doesn't like cars parked outside the terminal. 

We waited and waited in the cell phone lot. Chuck and I played Words with Friends with each other to pass the time. Chuck had been texting the kids in a family group message, and this cracked me up:

Finally, Chuck said, "This is ridiculous. You need to be with your kids. I will take you to the terminal, and drop you off so you can see them, and I will drive around until they're ready."

I love that man so much. When I walked into the airport, I spotted Dylan first. I ran up to him with my sign, and he smiled a tired smile, and gave me a great big hug. Then I got a group hug from the girls, and finally, I found Bridger for my hug from him. By then, my weary travelers had their bags, and we headed to the exit.

Hopefully our big plan to treat Dylan and Jamie to their first deep dish pizza pie from Giordano's goes better than the airport welcome plan. I have high hopes. 

Even though "the best laid plans of [mamas] and men often go awry, everything tends to work out anyway. I'm just so happy they're here.